In today's day and age of instant communication, almost every other individual carries a laptop, and this is no longer limited to business executives flying first class. Therefore, it is essential for you to know some basic rules that apply when carrying your laptop on airplanes.
When you are carrying your laptop on an airplane, you have no right to it. It is applicable when you are flying or driving across nations. Any border security official can ask you to handover your laptop. Under such situations, do not argue or try to negotiate, just hand it over. The good news, however, is that there have not been many cases reported of such confiscations.
Almost all airlines allow you to carry your laptop bags as carry on baggage, and this is considered additional to the one bag that you are already allowed to carry. Therefore, it is best to take your laptop along with you; never try to check in your laptop bag, as no airlines make any guarantee for it. It could get lost or damaged in your checked luggage, and the airlines would not be responsible.
You are allowed to carry spare laptop batteries in your carry-on baggage, only if you have packed them in a plastic bag. Also, make sure that you do not put spare batteries in your checked in baggage, as these are not allowed, unless installed in an electronic device.
When you are at the security checkpoint, you have to remove your laptop from the bag and put it in a separate bin to get screened. However, if you are using a checkpoint friendly laptop bag, then you need not take out your laptop. In any case, ensure that you put only one laptop in one bin and nothing else inside this bin while submitting it for screening.
Every airline will have separate, specific directions for on-board laptop usage. You can check the details on the website of the airline beforehand, or else you can listen to the announcements properly. Generally, you can switch on your laptop only after the flight has taken off and is at a cruising altitude, and turn it off before the flight descends to land. Unless your flight has Wi-Fi capabilities, you are usually not allowed to turn on your wireless card during flight.
