What to do With Your Laptop When You’re Taking a Flight

Posted by TheChatter

Guest Blogger

Here are some tips to help you keep your laptop safe and make sure you have a trouble-free time while at airports and taking flights. Mostly it’s about being alert and ‘streetwise’ and keeping your eyes open.

(1) Stay under the radar
Keep a low profile at the airport and on the plane. Thieves are looking for a ‘mark’ so make sure it’s not you. Be aware that if a fellow passenger asks you about your laptop, with probing questions about its newness, price and capabilities, they may be assessing it to see if its worth stealing. In such circumstances it’s best to politely say you’re tired from working and wearily put your laptop away, saying it’s an old model, slow and inefficient.

(2) Watch your laptop like a hawk
Keep it with you at all times and don’t take your eyes off it and your hand luggage for a second. Thieves are assessing people and what they have with them. If you give the impression that you’re not really ‘with it’ then pretty soom your laptop will no longer be ‘with you’. This still applies even if your things are being looked at by security or customs – a classic area for thieves.

(3) Paperwork is important
Make sure you have the receipts and the right customs paperwork for your laptop when taking your return flight. And have them accessible so you can show them to customs quickly without rummaging through mountains of paperwork at the bottom of your briefcase. This way you can prove that you bought your laptop into the country with you and didn’t buy it there. If customs suspect that you purchased your laptop on this trip, you’ll be asked to pay taxes and duty.

(4) Be prepared to turn it on
You may be asked to turn your laptop on, so it is sensible to have it charged up and on standby. Containers that are made to look like laptops are often used to smuggle items or to hide terrorist equipment. So its common practice for security to ask people to turn on their machine. Also customs may want to see if it’s brand new. If so, it may be subject to taxes and import duty.

(5) Have your laptop with you all the time
Do not pack it with your other luggage, which usually gets rough treatment from baggage handlers. Bring it on the plane with you as hand luggage, and keep it with you. Aviod using the overhead compartment, where other passengers could steal it or accidentally dislodge it when pulling their coat out, making it drop on the floor.

(6) Conveyor belt scams
Here’s a scam to watch out for. Two thieves slip in front of you as people are drifting towards the security conveyor belt. You’ve put your laptop on the belt and off it goes. The first thief goes through but the second one makes problems for the security staff and creates a dramatic scene. Everyone is distracted except the first thief who takes the opportunity for a quick getaway with your laptop.

(7) X-Rays won’t hurt your Laptop
Rest assured that X-Ray scanners are fine and will not harm your laptop or your information stored on it. The security people need to be able to see inside as there’s space for smugging items inside your machine, however slim and light it may seem to you.

(8) Metal detectors could damage my Laptop
Yes they could. Metal detectors can hurt your laptop so it’s best to respectfully ask security people to do a ‘hand check’ instead, where they ask you to turn it in to show its real. After all, there’s already metal inside a normal laptop so a metal detector won’t tell them anything.

(9) Lock your laptop case
Open cases are easy to get into, especially for a team of two criminals. One distracts you while the other either puts something into your case like drugs. Or takes something out like your laptop and anything else that’s accessible like your money or mobile phone. All in a few seconds and they’re gone before you notice anything. If you have become a ‘carrier’ for them they will pull a similar stunt to steal the whole case from you once the flight has landed and you’ve cleared customs.

About The Author
PortableUniverse.co.uk is a good place to go for laptops and peripherals. The best thing for people to do is to talk to them, let them know what your needs are (both current and future) and they will come up with the best laptop for you. They also supply software and blank DVDs there for your backup.

Written by TheChatter on May 18th, 2007 with 18 comments.
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18 comments

Read the comments left by other users below, or:

laptops
#1. February 4th, 2008, at 6:51 PM.

if you travel a lot, you should choose ultra thin laptops with a good battery life like Apple Macbook Air

Michael
#2. May 19th, 2008, at 10:25 PM.

Yes, it is a good idea to keep your hands on your notebook at all times. I would hate to lose my M90. Although I could probably get another one at a great price at:

http://www.moremikeforyourmoney.com/auctions.php

David Grey
#3. July 11th, 2008, at 10:33 AM.

Nice summary of things to lookout for. I am looking for a laptop that would be quite easy to move around so I am looking for something not too heavy and a good battery life.

Lindsay
#4. July 20th, 2008, at 7:11 PM.

Good advice. And maybe just not forgetting it. You would think no-one would just forget it. Well, how crazy is this?:

“At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, 330 laptops were left behind between September and April, up sharply from only 7 in the comparable period a year earlier. And the problem seems to be getting worse: in the last three months, the airport collected 204 misplaced laptops. In Denver, airport officials resorted to posting signs at security checkpoints saying, ”Got laptop?” after 95 computers were left in February alone.”

Maybe just forgetting it, is the most common problem?

Start your own computer repair Buisness
#5. July 25th, 2008, at 9:14 AM.

Thanks for the insight there. Although, Ive never taken my laptop across a flight this will serve as a guideline in the future..!

Airport Codes
#6. August 8th, 2008, at 10:17 AM.

Thanks for this informative article. It is going to help people who are like me means those are usually on business trips, these 9 tips are so important and I would never forget while my business tours. Great Job!

Joel Drapper
#7. September 17th, 2008, at 10:55 AM.

Good Tips. I will remember them when I next fly with my laptop.

ddos attack
#8. September 25th, 2008, at 11:16 AM.

Thanks for the great information man, ill keep theese in mind in my next flight, BTW people can guess what model u have and the newness of it, so its better to keep it close to you at all times.

Knockout Prices
#9. October 4th, 2008, at 12:57 PM.

I really don’t like using the laptop. I think that a flight is one place that I want to stay disconnected from everything.

Alcohol Rehab
#10. November 6th, 2008, at 9:29 PM.

Well, this little piece of advice is what I need for my next flight which is tomorrow night. I am taking my laptop with me and is the better to avoid any kind of trouble. So thank you very much for the ideas exposed here.

Nupo
#11. December 1st, 2008, at 2:52 PM.

I always carry my laptop in a normal (old) backpack – together with my photo equipment.

This way I do not look like “A rich guy” (in a poor country).

Article Directory
#12. December 11th, 2008, at 2:37 PM.

I would prefer Apple Mcbook because its thin, light and has a good battery backup.

Charter flights
#13. May 6th, 2009, at 6:48 AM.

People who are traveling internationally should be more aware of what they pack their laptop in than worried about someone stealing it. The chances of customs having a problem are greater than being a victim of a crime. Of course this would never happen with charter flights as your staging area is going to be completely different than most.

Small Laptop Computers
#14. May 14th, 2009, at 1:48 AM.

I never leave my laptop out of my sight, and I carry a model that is small and lightweight. Some of the newer netbooks have excellent battery life, are light, and have a decent 10 inch screen which is a good size for travel

travel agent atlanta
#15. June 24th, 2009, at 6:07 AM.

Great tips, I had some questions about metal detectors and x-rays on my laptop. I’m glad I now know that I can allow be done to my laptop. I had no idea that you should not allow them to use a metal detector on it, thanks!

Marie
#16. July 7th, 2009, at 8:06 PM.

I used to travel with a Panasonic Y2. It was the lightest and most convenient laptop I have used to date. It was under 3.5 lbs, but it was also quite expensive. Not sure if they’re still in production.

masan
#17. February 20th, 2010, at 2:46 AM.

I have Acer Travelmate 6292 that always with me wherever I go, and I don’t any problem so far. Of course I never put it on baggage,, it always with me as hand luggage.

Mention from Netbooksnotebooks.info
#18. March 9th, 2010, at 10:51 PM.

Small Laptop Computers – 3 Vital Aspects to Consider: What to do With Your Laptop When You’re Taking a Flight – Link . – May 18 2007 ...

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