[H]ard Travel

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braidman

Gawd
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Mar 6, 2003
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A friend of mine is going to China for about a year. And instead of buying himself a notebook he had me build him a micro atx computer system.

And of course he loves it way too much to ship it to china or let it in the filthy hands of baggage handlers. He's got a fairly large (larger than a notebook bag) bag and he intends to bring it as a carry on.

So the question it would this be a problem with security or what?

Another friend of mine who is in germany said the main thing is you have to turn it on and have security see it working to be able to take it on the plane. And if this is the case then will he be able to plug it into some AC electricity and a monitor and turn it on?

Maybe i should be calling our local airport (where he is departing from) instead of asking the [H] but I figured the collective experience of hundreds of traveling computer-ites would be more useful than the opinion of one underpaid security guard. :p

As always any help would be appreciated, thanks...
 
Originally posted by braidman

Another friend of mine who is in germany said the main thing is you have to turn it on and have security see it working to be able to take it on the plane. And if this is the case then will he be able to plug it into some AC electricity and a monitor and turn it on?

Maybe i should be calling our local airport (where he is departing from) instead of asking the [H] but I figured the collective experience of hundreds of traveling computer-ites would be more useful than the opinion of one underpaid security guard. :p
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from my experience when I had a laptop, they just sent it through the X-ray. But I'd call the airport just in case.
 
even if you clear it with the local airport I'm guessing china is a whole new ballgame.
 
Call the airport - at our local airport you can call a few days ahead and schedule a security pre-screening. You bring it in, explain what it is and your reason for having it, and if they decide you can take it on the plane, they give a 'Security Clearance' ticket and put it in a secure lockup - then they give it back to you just before you board the plane.

I would definitely call - it will save your friend a lot of time and trouble.
 
Thanks for the replies guys..

I would have thought that all the airports after the first one (considering you dont leave any of them) would have to depend on the first airport to have done it's job. But China might not trust us dirty americans ;).

The lockup idea sounds great if our airport has it.
 
Originally posted by arkmtech
Call the airport - at our local airport you can call a few days ahead and schedule a security pre-screening. You bring it in, explain what it is and your reason for having it, and if they decide you can take it on the plane, they give a 'Security Clearance' ticket and put it in a secure lockup - then they give it back to you just before you board the plane.

I would definitely call - it will save your friend a lot of time and trouble.
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Great advice. Who knows....having a "Security Clearance" sticky on the box may cut you some slack on the other end of the trip.

B.B.S.
 
I doubt they'll let it through. All is not lost, however. There is some special thing for computers. I can't remember what it's called exactly - but when you get there you can hand them your computer - and they'll take care of it and make sure it's shipped properly. I think it's called "special services" or something like that...
 
Originally posted by braidman
I would have thought that all the airports after the first one (considering you dont leave any of them) would have to depend on the first airport to have done it's job.
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Not necessarily. If you de-plane at a gate beyond security check and your next flight out is at a gate beyond the same security check, then maybe you're okay. But if your next flight out is from a gate in a different terminal (often the case when it's a different airline), you'll probably have to go thru another security checkpoint.
 
Originally posted by Lethal
Not necessarily. If you de-plane at a gate beyond security check and your next flight out is at a gate beyond the same security check, then maybe you're okay. But if your next flight out is from a gate in a different terminal (often the case when it's a different airline), you'll probably have to go thru another security checkpoint.
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you've still gotta deal with customs don't you? customs is way different than security.
 
Originally posted by lukeh182
you've still gotta deal with customs don't you? customs is way different than security.
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True dat. But when he said "all the airports after the first one" I was thinking more in terms of domestic airports, such as having to fly from Austin -> Denver -> LAX to catch an international flight to China.
 
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