Hi,
my wife was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea and we'll be flying the short hop from Berlin to Vienna in December. I see many carriers are requiring pre registration of the device. A little research has shown me that the devices routinely goes through security checks without issue the security staff are well used to seeing them, they just need to be taken out of the bag, similar to a laptop.
My question is can my wife simply put the machine in her hand luggage without registering beforehand with the airline (which seems to be a bureaucratic pita depending on the carrier)? For example, packed in normal hand luggage, thru security then onto the aircraft and overhead bins. The airline won't know nor care what's in our hand luggage anyway. I can't see any reason why not and most of the registration necessity seems to relate to the airline wanting to approve the device can be brought on independently of a passenger's on board luggage allowance.
If it helps, of course she won't be using the device on board, it's mains powered and the flights are with Austrian.
Thanks in advance for any experiences or info.
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Re: Travelling with CPAP Question
I travel with my CPAP all the time. You're correct that it needs to be removed at security.....but just the CPAP portion with the motor .... you can leave the rest in your carry on. I have never registered either of my two machines but always carry the card that came with the machine showing it's make and model and the supplier (although I've never had to provide it). They don't like water or lots of moisture in the humidifier portion but I'm assuming like me you'd dry it out first. I also routinely plug it in and use it on overnight flights.
In summary, I foresee no problems and hope you have a safe trip
In summary, I foresee no problems and hope you have a safe trip
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- dangerhere
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Re: Travelling with CPAP Question
steveinbc wrote:I travel with my CPAP all the time. You're correct that it needs to be removed at security.....but just the CPAP portion with the motor .... you can leave the rest in your carry on. I have never registered either of my two machines but always carry the card that came with the machine showing it's make and model and the supplier (although I've never had to provide it). They don't like water or lots of moisture in the humidifier portion but I'm assuming like me you'd dry it out first. I also routinely plug it in and use it on overnight flights.
In summary, I foresee no problems and hope you have a safe trip
That's great, thanks Steve, much appreciated. Exactly what I was looking for, someone with practical experience about travelling with one of these. It's not that we mind jumping thru hoops if needs be but if the hoops can be avoided in the first place by her placing it in her regular hand luggage, then I believe that's handier.
Re: Travelling with CPAP Question
Luckily no personal experience with that, but a quick search revealed the following list: https://www.austrian.com/Info/Flying/Da ... g=en&cc=UK
Austrian requires a pre-notification for CPAP devices. For some reason, there is no contact given in the link, but the German version of the list mentions that any notification should be given to specialcases@austrian.com
I wouldn't expect any issues, these devices seem pretty normal these days, looking at it from the outside. Giving Austrian a heads-up should avoid troubles in my opinion, but of course, your experience may vary
Austrian requires a pre-notification for CPAP devices. For some reason, there is no contact given in the link, but the German version of the list mentions that any notification should be given to specialcases@austrian.com
I wouldn't expect any issues, these devices seem pretty normal these days, looking at it from the outside. Giving Austrian a heads-up should avoid troubles in my opinion, but of course, your experience may vary
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- dangerhere
- Posts: 169
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Re: Travelling with CPAP Question
Thanks yeah I spotted that the other night. I think we will chance it with Austrian as per Steve above. So long as security in Tegel or VIE have no issue with it I can't imagine Austrian give a monkeys so long as it's not suddenly being used in cabin or we are not trying to waive hand luggage with it. In any case she has the manufactuer's label attached. From the research I did the other night, this policy of registering seems to be about different carriers trying to use a one size fit all approach to the issue of say a passanger wanting to use their machine on flight (long or short haul) versus someone taking the (compact) machine on board packed away.
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