Lost Laptop

[a64pilot]

Years ago I read Delta’s luggage policy I guess you would call it, basically Delta will only pay you a few bucks a lb. for your luggage, and they stated that anything of real value you should hand carry.
That’s when I started hand carrying all the aircraft avionics I used for delivery, and more often than not that really got the TSA idiots going.
I mean they work at the airport, you would think they would know something about airplanes wouldn’t you?

[JPA Cate]

El Ping:

It was in between an orthopaedic neck pillow and my clothing, padded all around. It would not have been hard to reach in and grab it. I tie my zips idiosyncratically with a small cord, so it was not tied back up properly, but TSA never ties 'em back any way. ....Well, never's a long time, let's just say they haven't yet.

Actually, it struck me funny they didn't take the charger, so maybe they just removed the computer on the chance it had a lithium battery, somewhere along the line. There was plenty of time to call the passenger to the desk, We had long waits, but maybe they don't do that any more.

No MacBook. Just a Dell, with windows 10. Did what I needed, but they put the off/on switch in a really silly place.

A.

[IslandHopper]

Just phoned Qantas for clarification of Condition of Carriage - 7.4 Restrictions on Checked Baggage.

Essentially what it means is that if you carry in your checked baggage any of the items listed they will not be covered by Qantas insurance or any other travel insurance and any claims will be defended, as per last paragraph of 7.4 below....

Then when i asked if i can still pack my Laptop in my checked luggage the answer was yes, but you do so at your own risk and Qantas will not accept any liability for loss or damage, again that is what 7.4 is saying....

Qantas are not prohibiting anyone from carrying a laptop in checked baggage.

Addendum: the Apple Mac issue mentioned by El Ping still stands though.

https://www.qantas.com/us/en/book-a-...html#--baggage

7.4 Restrictions on Checked Baggage

You must not include in your Checked Baggage:

fragile, delicate or perishable items
computers
items with a special value, such as money, jewellery, precious metals, silverware
negotiable papers, share certificates, securities or other valuable documents
cameras
personal electronic equipment including compact discs
commercial goods or business documents, or passports and other travel documents.

If you carry items in contravention of these Conditions of Carriage, we will use all available defences against any claim in respect of any damage, loss or destruction of those items.

[JPA Cate]

@ A64,

Look at who the employees of TSA are. Is there any reason they have been trained to know about avionics? I'd guess, more about how to frisk someone without getting belted. They all asked me this time if it would hurt if they patted me down. That's a change. And, over age 75, you are no longer required to remove your shoes before you get out of the wheel chair.

[jmh2002]

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

Rule # 1 Encrypt the disk/memory of all smart devices and storage devices, and use strong passwords.

Rule # 2 Use a good password manager such as LastPass, Myki, 1Password, or Apple Keychain -

Rule #3 Make the password for every site unique and don't use a pattern or sequence for changing passwords

Rule #4 Enable Multifactor (2-factor) authentication on every account that supports it.

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Thanks to SailFastTri for the 4 step method in Post #5, noted.

If you are not familiar with this method I can highly recommend that you use:

- "LastPass" (free) as your Password Manager
And install it on more than one device, normally your phone and your computer (as a Browser extension)

https://lastpass.com/misc_download2.php

- "Authy" (free) instead of Google Authenticator
And install it on more than one device (in case the primary authenticator device is lost - normally your smart phone).

https://authy.com/download/

https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/be...ntication-app/

Make a long and strong (and different) Master Password for both LastPass and Authy, and thereafter those are the only two passwords you need to remember.

Hope this helps

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Thank you for all the feedback, guys. Qantas policy is as stated above, and AA, too. It was only my laziness, not wanting to carry the weight that brought this down on me. My bad....

Not your bad Ann; and not your laziness.
The reason you had this problem is because some low life stole your property - no other reason!

And most likely that weasel is an employee of the government or the airlines or the airport - very very sad state of affairs.

Made worse by the fact that every single person who had access to your luggage after it was checked in would have had to hold an Aviation Security Clearance - assuming the US airports operate in a similar manner to Aussie ones.

[Chotu]

Sorry to hear about this Ann. This has to be right up there with losing an ID/passport. One of the more difficult, time consuming and utterly pointless feeling experiences there is.

Hope you didn't lose too much in terms of files/pics. Hang in there.

Thieves. They don't understand what grief they cause.

[danstanford]

So sorry Guys, the loss of the data must be devastating. Here's hoping somebody gets a conscience and returns it to you.

Having had a similar loss quite some years ago I took to keeping all the critical stuff in Dropbox to have a painless and consistent back-up. Not sure if it would be a problem given your limited access to the net but it sure is slick and easy.
Dan

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

Just phoned Qantas for clarification of Condition of Carriage - 7.4 Restrictions on Checked Baggage.



Essentially what it means is that if you carry in your checked baggage any of the items listed they will not be covered by Qantas insurance or any other travel insurance and any claims will be defended, as per last paragraph of 7.4 below....



Then when i asked if i can still pack my Laptop in my checked luggage the answer was yes, but you do so at your own risk and Qantas will not accept any liability for loss or damage, again that is what 7.4 is saying....



Qantas are not prohibiting anyone from carrying a laptop in checked baggage.



Addendum: the Apple Mac issue mentioned by El Ping still stands though.



https://www.qantas.com/us/en/book-a-...html#--baggage



7.4 Restrictions on Checked Baggage



You must not include in your Checked Baggage:



fragile, delicate or perishable items

computers

items with a special value, such as money, jewellery, precious metals, silverware

negotiable papers, share certificates, securities or other valuable documents

cameras

personal electronic equipment including compact discs

commercial goods or business documents, or passports and other travel documents.



If you carry items in contravention of these Conditions of Carriage, we will use all available defences against any claim in respect of any damage, loss or destruction of those items.

That is pretty much what Delta says or did ten years ago or so.
I would assume it’s industry wide, we aren’t liable for anything in your luggage.
Delta went on to say your luggage is valued at $5 a pound or something similar if they lose it and it’s never found too.
If you travel in Central and South America, there are businesses right there at the airport that wrap your luggage with quite a lot of plastic, they say it’s to discourage theft, they put so much plastic on that I can see how it would be difficult for a thief to get through it.

[Gtstricky]

Sorry Ann. That really stinks. I hate flying anymore because something terrible always seems to happen. I have minor anxiety on a good day but on a travel day... lets just say my family knows not to talk to me.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by danstanford

So sorry Guys, the loss of the data must be devastating. Here's hoping somebody gets a conscience and returns it to you.

Having had a similar loss quite some years ago I took to keeping all the critical stuff in Dropbox to have a painless and consistent back-up. Not sure if it would be a problem given your limited access to the net but it sure is slick and easy.
Dan

I'm really sorry for the loss Ann. I'd definitely feel devastated, this is definitely an eye opener.

I do use the cloud as mentioned above, but for us cruisers, this is not necessarily a practical solution for the obvious reason that the Net is not always available. We can safeguard the documents, pictures, etc, but the navigation and boat management pieces are hard to have a cloud backup.
An external drive would work, but in this case it would not be up to date or taken away as well, but still, we hope we never have to do a full restore....

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by Wotname

Not your bad Ann; and not your laziness.
The reason you had this problem is because some low life stole your property - no other reason!

And most likely that weasel is an employee of the government or the airlines or the airport - very very sad state of affairs.

Made worse by the fact that every single person who had access to your luggage after it was checked in would have had to hold an Aviation Security Clearance - assuming the US airports operate in a similar manner to Aussie ones.

All you guys, thanks for your support and the suggestions.

Wottie, what you wrote is how I felt at first, but then i had another thought: perhaps the baggage handlers saw the computer when they scanned it, and removed the computer per regulations. It could be sitting destroyed in Chicago, or in SF. Or waiting to be claimed, if I could figure out how to do that, since I no longer have the flight numbers, and am far away from both....sigh. It's in the Too Hard bin.

Nope, at the end of the day, I messed up, whether knowingly or not, and it's more than time to face up to the consequences and get on with life, made easier by the new laptop.

Ann

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

All you guys, thanks for your support and the suggestions.

Wottie, what you wrote is how I felt at first, but then i had another thought: perhaps the baggage handlers saw the computer when they scanned it, and removed the computer per regulations. It could be sitting destroyed in Chicago, or in SF. Or waiting to be claimed, if I could figure out how to do that, since I no longer have the flight numbers, and am far away from both....sigh. It's in the Too Hard bin.

Nope, at the end of the day, I messed up, whether knowingly or not, and it's more than time to face up to the consequences and get on with life, made easier by the new laptop.

Ann

Ann, you are way too kind to others and way too hard on yourself!

Your computer was stolen (or removed illegally) by a bottom dwelling bit of used toilet paper employed in a trustworthy position. It didn't accidentally fall out of your bag, it didn't go for a walk by itself and it didn't want find a new owner.

To repeat info posted IslandHopper above, your computer was not a prohibited item. True, it was not covered by insurance and yes, you unknowingly were unaware of that but every passenger has a right to expect their checked baggage will arrive intact.

If one thinks it was OK for a baggage scan operator to remove a restricted item, then they should be removing all the money, jewellery, precious metals, silverware
negotiable papers, share certificates, securities or other valuable documents whenever they find these items.


And yes, now is the time to get on with your life but you didn't mess up!

[Dsanduril]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

...
Then when i asked if i can still pack my Laptop in my checked luggage the answer was yes, but you do so at your own risk and Qantas will not accept any liability for loss or damage, again that is what 7.4 is saying....
...

Not to derail the thread, but as a learning experience, I'm absolutely sure that Qantas' lawyers would not agree with that interpretation. The language of the contract, to which we agree when purchasing a ticket, says "You must not include in your Checked Baggage..." There is no part of that language that says "it's OK if you do, we just won't cover it with insurance." The word "must" in a contractual sense is just about the strongest word that can be used, it does not allow any interpretation.

The missing piece, to me, is what happened to the laptop? If it was removed by any airline or security personnel because of a defect/contractual obligation/any other reason then I would expect an explanation from the authority that removed the item. And I would expect them to be proactive about providing that information. Thus I presume it was stolen... But my expectations are frequently unmet and I suppose there is still some small chance that the removal was under the color of authority.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Dsanduril

Not to derail the thread, but as a learning experience, I'm absolutely sure that Qantas' lawyers would not agree with that interpretation. The language of the contract, to which we agree when purchasing a ticket, says "You must not include in your Checked Baggage..." There is no part of that language that says "it's OK if you do, we just won't cover it with insurance." The word "must" in a contractual sense is just about the strongest word that can be used, it does not allow any interpretation.
........

Further derailing by me -

Would not the last paragraph make it expressly clear why the items restricted rather than prohibited.

If not then the list of items suggest if you leave the first nickel you ever made (e.g. special value, such as money,) in your baggage, you are in the dodo.

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

...........

https://www.qantas.com/us/en/book-a-...html#--baggage

7.4 Restrictions on Checked Baggage

You must not include in your Checked Baggage:

fragile, delicate or perishable items
computers
items with a special value, such as money, jewellery, precious metals, silverware
negotiable papers, share certificates, securities or other valuable documents
cameras
personal electronic equipment including compact discs
commercial goods or business documents, or passports and other travel documents.

If you carry items in contravention of these Conditions of Carriage, we will use all available defences against any claim in respect of any damage, loss or destruction of those items.