Bringing a GPS on the plane

[JoeCathyAngelina]

I'm planning on bringing my GPS with me on our Delta flight to WDW for our April trip.
I'm bringing it to use in our National rental car, (it cost $90 to include it on the rental fee) when we get to Florida.
Has anyone recently brought a GPS in their carry on bag?
Has anyone recently brought a GPS in their checked bag?
Good luck all,
Joe

 

[ccudmore]

Have many times brought my GPS in my carry-on. Never an issue. In fact if I have a window seat I'll sometimes turn it on and hold it up to the window to see if I can get a GPS signal and watch the landscape go by on the screen. It's cool to see the "Actual Speed" number go over 800km/h. I GPS is generally a receive-only device so there's no issue using it.

 

[perpetualplanner]

I carried a GPS in my carry on in January for the same purpose. No problems at all but I never got it out and tried turning it on.

 

[Brian Noble]

I'm not sure if things have settled down yet, but immediately after the attempted Christmas bombing, DHS required foreign flights to turn off their map-locator service in cabin over the US. Using a GPS during a flight without checking in with an FA first might draw some unwanted attention, rightly or wrongly.

That said, I carry mine on all the time. Not an issue. You don't even need to have it screened separately, as you might with a laptop.

 

[pamjb]

We had our GPS in out carryon in June, July, October and November of last year. No problems, but TSA in Philly did question it. Just asked if it was a GPS, said yes, and away we went.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We also carried a GPS on board with our carry ons. No problems. I wouldn't recommend putting any electronics in your checked baggage.

A suggestion, I don't know what kind you have, but you may want to turn on your GPS as soon as you land and electronics are allowed back on. It took a while before our GPS acquired the satellite after we landed.

 

[disneyboy2003]

Sorry to join in on this thread so late. I, too, have brought my GPS receiver as part of my carry-on on airplanes. It's actually one of the electronic devices that you CAN use above 10,000 feet.

GPS receivers work best when you're sitting at a window seat. Sometimes, I can't get a GPS lock even when sitting in a middle seat (ie. 1 seat from the window).

It's really neat seeing how fast the plane's flying (about 500 mph), how high we are (about 30,000 feet), and how many GPS satellites it sees. Turn on your tracklog and record your entire flight path! Just don't let the flight attendants catch you during takeoff or landing!