CPAP machine and one piece of cabin baggage rule

[frequentflyer2]

As a sleep apnoea sufferer I have to carry my CPAP machine on all overnight trips and it has to go as cabin baggage. Normally, Mrs. Frequent Flyer is with me so if I also have my laptop we stuff her handbag in the suitcase and she carries that. Hence once piece of cabin baggage each and we put up with always having to check a bag into the hold. However, my employment situation has changed - redundancy alas - and if I want to go on two day courses to update my skills I will have to carry my laptop, CPAP and an overnight bag. The overnight bag will have to go in the hold but as my CPAP is vital medical equipment will they let me carry that into the cabin as well as my laptop.

[Getoutofmygalley]

It would help if you specified what carrier you are travelling with as that would enable someone in the know to answer your question.

However, have you looked on the FAQ's section on the website of the airline you are travelling with? It would be best to look at what the airline says rather than enquiring on PPrune because with the best of intentions we can say "yes", but the check in agent may say "no"....

[frequentflyer2]

Good point. I hadn't thought of different airlines having different rules. I normally travel with Flybe but also easyJet, bmi and Jet2 - in fact whoever is offering the cheapest fares at the time.

[Juud]

.. as my CPAP is vital medical equipment will they let me carry that into the cabin as well as my laptop?

Firstly what Getoutofmygalley says.
Secondly, the websites are not always very clear, and sometimes it is difficult to get somebody on the phone who has enough knowledge to answer a question like this, but it is worth a try if the website doesn't offer a clear answer.

Thirdly, as long as you can provide a letterheaded, signed letter from a physician BRIEFLY explaining what your machine is and that you need to have it with you AT ALL TIMES (leave out the bit about night-use as it will only provide a loophole for jobsworths!) there will not likely be any check-in agent, security person, gate agent nor flight attendant who will want to run the risk of killing a passenger, getting their name in the papers and their employment terminated because of it.

Good for you going for the skills upgrade, and best of luck in finding a new job soon. :ok:

[lexxity]

FF2 - Do you have frequent flyer cards with any of your carriers? If you do you should be able to get it put in as a permanent special request in your profile so that it pops up on every booking.

Please check your PM's.

[boru247]

Mrs Boru needs to take a machine very similar to a CPAP with her on every flight. We have never had any problem with taking it in addition to one piece of hand luggage. It is classed as essential medical equipment and all airlines I have had experience of allow carriage in addition to normal allowances. Even Easyjet were fine, but we have never tested Ryanair! We do carry a Doctors letter as advised, but this has never been asked for.

It has caused many funny looks at security over the yearsand has been swabbed for explosives more times thank I can remember as well, but we have never been refused. Hope this helps

[vanderaj]

Durable medical equipment (DME) is always allowed (oxygen tanks, CPAP's, diabetic supplies, etc). Don't worry - CPAPs are well known by flight staff and security.

I have a CPAP, and for the few hundred times I've actually carried it in the USA and Australia as a carry on in the last two and a bit years, the TSA and Australian security staff, and cabin crew of many airlines have known what it is. Security don't care what your bag count is unless you're traveling at peak times, in which case, they're more worried about how long you're taking rather than total bag count. CC tend to worry about if it'll fit at all, say on tiny horrible regional jets, rather than if it's DME or so on.

Airlines are not allowed to count DME towards your bag count as you need those items to live. If you do get hassled, ask for a supervisor immediately. They will know the rules better. If the supervisor doesn't know (and honestly, I've never been in this situation, even on South Worst - who have the most stringent cabin bag allowances and are known to enforce them and thus why I don't fly them unless I absolutely have no other choice), I'd ask for an airport supervisor or the airport's medical folks. They know about DME.

That said, I mostly don't carry big bags and I'm very organized with my medications and toiletries. I wouldn't push your luck with a big laptop bag, a big carry on, and a huge CPAP bag. My laptop bag is one of the new tri-fold laptop bags that allows you to leave the laptop in the bag whilst being scanned. It's a Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer. It's awesome.

If you plan well, have reasonable sized bags under the airline's weight limits, and are organized when you're approaching security and gate, you're more likely to get through without being hassled.

thanks,
Andrew