TravelSkills

News and Tips For Your Trips

Electronics ban spreads: Advice & alternative explanations

Working on your laptop inflight now impossible on some airlines (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Today the Department of Homeland Security announced that passengers traveling on nonstop flights to the U.S. from 10 airports in the Middle East and Africa will not be allowed to carry on electronic devices larger than mobile phones. Instead, these larger devices must now be transported as checked luggage.

This morning, the UK imposed a similar ban on nonstop flights from six cities in the Middle East and Africa. The UK ban differs in that it DOES include non Middle East carriers (including British Airways) but it does not affect flights from Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi. Canada is also considering a similar ban.

This directive hits business travelers directly in the gut. Why? Because we typically spend most of our time on long flights working on our laptops, or watching movies on our tablets. We don’t check bags. And we don’t trust the airlines to transport our valuable equipment safely and securely in checked luggage (and airlines specifically state that they will not cover electronics in checked baggage).

The good news, if there is any, is that this directive affects a very small number of flights. DHS emphasizes that only 10 airports out of 250 worldwide with nonstop flights to the US are affected.

For example, at San Francisco International, it hits less than three flights per day: a daily nonstop from Dubai on Emirates Airline and the daily nonstop from Istanbul on Turkish Airlines. It also affects a twice-per-week nonstop from Abu Dhabi to SFO on Etihad.  In Atlanta, it affects two flights: the daily nonstop from Doha on Qatar Airways and another from Istanbul on Turkish Airlines.

Turkish Airlines inaugural flight with San Francisco mural arrives at SFO (Chris McGinnis)

The affected overseas airports are:

  • Amman-Queen Alia International Airport (AMM)
  • Cairo International Airport (CAI)
  • Istanbul- Ataturk International Airport (IST)
  • Jeddah- King Abdul-Aziz International Airport (JED)
  • Riyadh- King Khalid International Airport (RUH)
  • Kuwait International Airport (KWI),
  • Casablanca- Mohammed V Airport (CMN)
  • Doha- Hamad International Airport (DOH)
  • Dubai International Airport (DXB)
  • Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH)

Airlines affected by the ban:

  • Egypt Air
  • Emirates
  • Etihad Airways
  • Kuwait Airways
  • Qatar Airways
  • Royal Air Maroc
  • Royal Jordanian Airlines
  • Saudi Arabian Airlines
  • Turkish Airlines

Why is this happening…and why now? Well, the DHS says that it made the move to improve security based on intelligence that terrorists were focused on commercial aviation targets. But we’ve known about this threat since the 1990s. An interesting story in the Washington Post posits that the move is not about security at all– it’s about retaliation against the big three Middle East Carriers (known as 3ME).

Source: The Washington Post

What’s most poignant here is how the ban will affect the 3ME, Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways. These are the only carriers offering nonstop flights to the U.S. from Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. While these airlines wow us with stellar onboard service on new aircraft, business travelers are going to book away from them when faced with this ban. Instead, they’ll book one-stop flights on European carriers for the flight back to the U.S. (At least that’s what I would do…what about you? Comments below, please!)

Helpful: Q&A with DHS about the ban

How long will this last? DHS says that the ban is in place indefinitely, although Emirates said it could last until October. The ban impacts all travelers on all affected flights regardless of citizenship or trusted traveler status. It even affects flights from Abu Dhabi, where passengers pass through customs at the airport in a DHS-run pre-clearance facility. The ban was announced on Tuesday, March 21, and airlines have until Friday to comply.

TIP: BACK UP YOUR LAPTOP NOW! Especially if overseas travel is in your future. You never know when or if this ban could spread and you could be separated from your device. Also, with a new focus on laptops, it would be smart to be sure it’s always charged in case you are asked to turn it on by security staff.

How do you feel about this? Does it affect you at all? Would you be more likely to book away from one of the affected carriers? Please leave your comments below!

ICYMI, see the 25 most recent TravelSkills posts right here

In the market for a new credit card? See our “Credit Card Deals” tab to shop around! It helps us help you.

Don’t miss out! Join the 200,000+ people who read TravelSkills every month! Sign up here for one email-per-day updates!


Print pagePDF pageEmail page

5 airports with best/worst cell phone reception

Southwest at Oakland

A study finds Oakland International has the nation’s best cell phone service. (Image: Oakland Airport)

Although Los Angeles International is one of the busiest airports in the nation, a new study of cell phone service quality at the 50 top U.S. airports in passenger volume finds that LAX ranks dead last. By contrast, Oakland International ranked number one. (See rankings below)

When it comes to carriers, Verizon ranked highest, AT&T came in second. T-Mobile ranked third and Sprint came in last place.

RootMetrics collected data on data speeds and connection reliability for the four major network carriers (Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint) by sending testers equipped with off-the-shelf smartphones to all 50 airports. Results vary not only by airport, but by carrier as well, so the company compiles overall composite scores for each facility.

The company carries out these surveys twice a year, and the results show significant changes. For instance, in the second half of 2015, Oakland ranked 33rd overall and now ranks first. Milwaukee’s General Mitchell Airport jumped from 16th place last year to second place today, and California’s Orange County Airport rose from 35th to fourth place in the rankings.

BEST

Cell phone reception

And Los Angeles? “Due to very slow speeds and shaky reliability, LAX has routinely appeared in the bottom five. This time, LAX placed dead last for the same reasons. It’s not necessarily a surprise, though, given the fastest median download speed we recorded at LAX was 88.0 Mbps slower than that of our #1 finisher,” RootMetrics said.

What does that difference mean in practical terms? Say you want to download an HD episode of a 45-minute TV program, which takes up 600 MB. RootMetrics said that if you were at Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson (which ranked sixth overall) and used AT&T (with a median download speed of 40.4 Mbps at that airport), it would take 2.0 minutes. By contrast, a Verizon user at LAX (median download speed 0.5 Mbps) would take more than two and a half hours to do the same thing.

You can read the full report here, including a comparison of the overall performance of the four network carriers; the full rankings of all 50 airports; and an interactive feature that lets you compare median download speeds and connectivity rates for the four carriers at Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Ft. Worth and New York JFK.

Airports in the top 10 in addition to those mentioned above include Southwest Florida International in Ft. Myers (3rd), Boston Logan (5th), Indianapolis (7th), Sacramento (8th), Dallas Love Field (9th) and Chicago Midway (10th).  Among very large airports, Newark was in 11th place, O’Hare 14th, San Francisco 19th, Miami 24th, DFW 25th, JFK 29th, and LaGuardia 40th.

Worst

screen-shot-2016-09-22-at-10-17-30-am

 Readers: Do you run into issues with cell phone reception at airports? Which carrier do you use and why? 

Don’t miss out on these popular TravelSkills posts! Shocked passenger refuses to pay $3 for water | More Delta SkyMiles for Asian trips | Tips from a Hawaiian Vacation | JetBlue-Delta slugfest means lower fares | Test your planespotting skills! )

twitter-floowmeDo you follow us on Twitter? It’s a great way to keep up with the latest news!

Please join the 125,000+ people who read TravelSkills every month! Sign up here for one email-per-day updates!

.

facebook like

 

 

 


Print pagePDF pageEmail page
Editorial Disclaimer: This editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program. Responses in the comments section are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.”