How do you pack your electronics for a flight?

[mikegood2]

My trip is still about 2 months away, but I was just curious how people pack their electronics, especially those that bring a lot of them? Are their any tips of tricks you have learned that make the process easier? Any issues to look out for with airport security? Any items that should be or required to be put into checked luggage instead?

My plan, as of this moment, is to pack all of my electronics in my personal bag. The bag is 12"x14"x7" and I plan on bringing a dSLR, extra lens, point and shoot, iPad, portable hard drive, batteries, sd cards, my chargers and extra cables/cords. The cameras and iPad will be in their own bags/cases and most of the other stuff will be in 2 separate cases that can be easily looked at (if security needs to look at it when they scan the bag). Does this plan make sense, or am I better off packing some of these items in my carry-on?

Any advise of tips would be greatly appreciated, and hopefully others will find them useful also.

 

[sassyredhead]

We pack lots of electronics in our carryons. I am not sure it is required, but we treat out iPads like laptops and put them in a separate bin for scanning. You should be fine!

 

[TAKitty]

I wouldn't worry about it. I pack a ton of electronics and have never had a problem. I keep them all in one bag and I always carry them on.

I noticed that you don't have a laptop, but if you do take one, I'd try to get a TSA approved holder. You don't have to take it out of the case when you put it through security. It just saves time.

 

[dis_guy]

I travel with a lot of electronics as well. I have a "wheelie" backpack style carry-on laptop bag. I follow the TSA recommendations about packing electronics between layers of clothes to make it easy for them to see each item instead of a jumble of gadgets and cords that may cause them to inspect the bag manually. Even the laptop is easy with this bag, one small zip and it slides out to be put into the bin.

 

[linnell]

When I flew to Orlando in January I was told that you do not need to remove an ipad from your bag like a laptop. I usually keep everything in my carry on, I don't trust the baggage handlers enough to allow them access to my expensive electronics.

 

[sassyredhead]

When I flew to Orlando in January I was told that you do not need to remove an ipad from your bag like a laptop. I usually keep everything in my carry on, I don't trust the baggage handlers enough to allow them access to my expensive electronics.

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[ancestry]

I always carry all of my electronics with me. I never place any electronics in my checked luggage. You are definitely best to pack everything in your carry-on.

 

[ksloane]

I would NEVER pack my electronics in checked luggage. All you have to do is stand back and watch the luggage handlers on each end handle your luggage and trust me you would not want it tossed around like that.

I pack the electronics in our carry-ons, but pack chargers, power cords, batteries, extra SD cards and such in checked luggage....

 

[ZellyB]

We always carry-on electronics. We had never had problems with putting them all in one bag and just taking out the laptop until our last trip. We had a lot of cords in that bag and it was just kind of a jumbled mess on the screens, so they did manually inspect the bag and we had to empty everything and run it back through the scanner. Not a big deal, but coming back we spread out the cords and things in various bags and went through without any questions.

 

[maxiesmom]

I would NEVER pack my electronics in checked luggage. All you have to do is stand back and watch the luggage handlers on each end handle your luggage and trust me you would not want it tossed around like that.

I pack the electronics in our carry-ons, but pack chargers, power cords, batteries, extra SD cards and such in checked luggage....

You really should keep your cell phone charge with you, just in case. You never know when you may end up stuck at the airport for a while, and watching your bars dwindle away is not a good feeling.

 

[ksloane]

You really should keep your cell phone charge with you, just in case. You never know when you may end up stuck at the airport for a while, and watching your bars dwindle away is not a good feeling.

THat's a good point. I use my cell phone rarely so not a real big deal for me usually, but I carry an iGo when I travel which will charge my phone from dead at least once.

 

[NotUrsula]

The GridIt organizer is a nice little gadget for this purpose. It comes in several sizes depending on how many things you need to organize.

 

[bumbershoot]

NotUrsula, that's VERY cool! I've let my hubby see it...he travels with scads of electronics and keeps looking for the *perfect* bag, the perfect organizer, and that's definitely going to make him happy.


OP I plop all my electronics into a bag, sometimes neatly, sometimes not so neatly, and apart from one time when my non-ipod MP3 player gave them conniptions (it's a strange shape) and they put it through the scanner something like 5 times before they asked if they could open the bag (I'd been sweetly saying "it's the MP3 player, it's a strange shape, it's on that side of the bag, feel free to open the bag" the whole time), I've always been fine. I take the laptop out but that's it.

DH works for amazon and travels with scads of e-book readers and cords and chargers and modems and whatnot, and he just tries to make it as organized as possible, and he hasn't had a problem yet at all.

 

[SnipsNSnails]

We usually travel with two laptops, two DVD players, a camera, a video cam, and cell phones. We have a laptop back pack that can hold both laptops and their accessories quite nicely. They must be removed and scanned. And then we carry a small tote bag with the two portable DVDs and the DVDs. The DVDs need to be taken out and scanned as well. We attempt to put the things that need to be taken out in only 1 or 2 carryons so that we don't have to open everything at security. It's much easier to open only 1 or two bags than 3 or 4 if everyone caries their own in their personal carryon. When travelling with children this is especially key, I've got enough to worry about without having to open every single bag to take something out. We usually have two childre, 1 stroller, and at least 3 carryons, sometimes 4!

 

[mikegood2]

I travel with a lot of electronics as well. I have a "wheelie" backpack style carry-on laptop bag. I follow the TSA recommendations about packing electronics between layers of clothes to make it easy for them to see each item instead of a jumble of gadgets and cords that may cause them to inspect the bag manually. Even the laptop is easy with this bag, one small zip and it slides out to be put into the bin.

Not a bad idea, I'll have to remember that when I pack.

I would NEVER pack my electronics in checked luggage. All you have to do is stand back and watch the luggage handlers on each end handle your luggage and trust me you would not want it tossed around like that.

I pack the electronics in our carry-ons, but pack chargers, power cords, batteries, extra SD cards and such in checked luggage....

Definitely do not plan on packing any in my checked luggage. Would only do that with items that would not be allowed in carry on. Don't think I'll pack any of my accessories in my checked luggage either, just in case it was lost. I think cloths would be easier to replace at WDW. Although I may pack an extra/backup phone charger in it just in case.

The GridIt organizer is a nice little gadget for this purpose. It comes in several sizes depending on how many things you need to organize.

Thanks for reminding me of these, they are really neat item. Bought my mom an iPad bag that came with one for Christmas. I may just need to borrow it for my trip.

We always carry-on electronics. We had never had problems with putting them all in one bag and just taking out the laptop until our last trip. We had a lot of cords in that bag and it was just kind of a jumbled mess on the screens, so they did manually inspect the bag and we had to empty everything and run it back through the scanner. Not a big deal, but coming back we spread out the cords and things in various bags and went through without any questions.

I've got 2 smaller travel cases designed for accessories that I'm planning on using for some of my cables. The have nice mesh pockets that are great for holding items in and let someone (security) easily see what is in them.

 

[siropa]

We recently flew and I had in my backpack: a DSLR, 2 point-n-shoot cameras, a nintendo DS, a nook, a dvd player, headphones, chargers for all the above, and chargers for two blackberries. it must have looked like a rats nest on the xray, but we didn't remove anything and had no issues with security.

 

[mikegood2]

Do you pack your items differently for your trip to vacation than on your return flight?

On my return flight I'll probably pack most of my cloths I had in my carryon into my check-in and use that extra space for souvenirs. My electronics will probably be packed the same, but my SD cards are more important and want to be in my sight at all time because I'll have all my vacation photos on them. All my cords and cables can probably be packed anywhere.

 

[dawnball]

I travel relatively frequently, and with a huge assortment of electronics. Par is two laptops (and their chargers and usb input devices), 2 cameras (and their chargers, a smart phone and charger, a feature phone and charger. Sometimes there's a wireless access point, frequently there's a power strip. Laptops go in sleeves inside my carryon, the rest is a fairly tightly packed layer beside the laptop sleeves, except my smart phone which gets dropped in a pocket of the carryon as we approach security.

My husband has a similar bag, and the small-fry has a bag with her DS, charger, etc. The process is: He goes first (because he always gets the extra probe). Pull two laptops, put the personal item on the belt, then shoes, then the laptop bag, then one laptop per bin, sitting on top the sleeve. The the kid's stuff and the kid through the metal detector. Then my two laptops, one per bin, the laptop bag, my shoes and my personal item. The whole process usually takes no longer than it takes to clear room on the table/belt to load.

The kid pulls her stuff off the belt and stands at the end of our belongings until I catch up, and usually by the time I've repacked (which takes longer than unpacking), they're done with my husband's super-uber-check.

And yes, I know, we carry enough electronics for the entire western hemisphere. It's never been a problem, and we don't take any particular care with it, although we are the type to neatly coil our cords. It does currently strain my willingness to haul things though, so if we add much more, we'll just stick it all in a box and slap a fedex label on it.

 

[NotUrsula]

I travel relatively frequently, and with a huge assortment of electronics. Par is two laptops (and their chargers and usb input devices), 2 cameras (and their chargers, a smart phone and charger, a feature phone and charger. Sometimes there's a wireless access point, frequently there's a power strip. Laptops go in sleeves inside my carryon, the rest is a fairly tightly packed layer beside the laptop sleeves, except my smart phone which gets dropped in a pocket of the carryon as we approach security.

...
And yes, I know, we carry enough electronics for the entire western hemisphere. It's never been a problem, and we don't take any particular care with it, although we are the type to neatly coil our cords. It does currently strain my willingness to haul things though, so if we add much more, we'll just stick it all in a box and slap a fedex label on it.

I think you're a REALLY good candidate for an I-Go universal charger kit. It will lighten your load considerably. You can get them at Radio Shack and Amazon, among others. The kit has one brick and cord, and you can get every possible variation of plug to go onto it. It is MASSIVELY lighter in weight than carrying several power bricks and multiple cords.

Also, if you are using plain zippered neoprene sleeves on your laptops, you should not need to actually take the laptop out of the sleeve if the zipper isn't metal. I always just put mine by itself in the bin, still in the sleeve, and it always goes through just fine.

 

[dawnball]

I think you're a REALLY good candidate for an I-Go universal charger kit. It will lighten your load considerably. You can get them at Radio Shack and Amazon, among others. The kit has one brick and cord, and you can get every possible variation of plug to go onto it. It is MASSIVELY lighter in weight than carrying several power bricks and multiple cords.

Also, if you are using plain zippered neoprene sleeves on your laptops, you should not need to actually take the laptop out of the sleeve if the zipper isn't metal. I always just put mine by itself in the bin, still in the sleeve, and it always goes through just fine.

Three of the four laptops can technically use the same charger, and we have charger contention if we only have one, so then we'd have multiple I-Go chargers... and the little stuff is very lightweight. We looked into I-Go a year or so ago, and decided that it didn't really save us anything that eliminating some redundancy wouldn't save. We just like our margin of error. We're both IT consultants, and there's a certain amount of professional reputation involved in having exactly what you need that overrides a little weight and bulk in the airport.

I agree that with the neoprene sleeves and our waterfield sleeves you don't really need to take the laptop out. I don't do it because we're required to, but out of politeness to the TSA screeners. My husband looks like they expect a terrorist to look. He's tall, swarthy, hirsute, solidly built, has a loud voice and an aggressive demeanor. And he's a special selectee. We've learned how to play the game, and part of it is that laptops always come out of sleeves. "Social-engineer the TSA" is our version of a party game for the airport.