General US - Canada air travel with Airbag…

[Snapcase26]

Leaving for BC at the end of the week and double checking the weight of my bags and looking over restricted items from the US to Canada and found this jem in the Air Canada restricted items list:

“ Note: Avalanche rescue backpacks are not accepted on flights to, from or via the United States.”

I have the scott alpride E1 system so no canister or batteries, but would kinda ruin my trip if i lost this bag at the airport.

Wanted to see if anyone had any experience/luck on traveling between the US and Canada with an airbag.

 

[SBrown]

I just went out of Denver with no trouble (not to Canada), but check out this thread for how to deal with issues.

 

[Snapcase26]

I just went out of Denver with no trouble (not to Canada), but check out this thread for how to deal with issues.

Thanks for the thread. from what it sounds it’s a bit of a sh*t shoot going through security. Tried calling air canada last night, talked to two people and gave up. They had absolutely no idea what i was talking about…

 

[graham418]

I was just on a trip with a woman who had an airbag with her. She had no issue leaving Toronto with it in her ski bag , but on the return flight leaving Kelowna, it was a huge deal. Nobody knew what it was or how to deal with it. She ended up having to discharge it before they would allow it. Held up the oversize baggage line for 40 minutes

 

[raytseng]

This reminds me of recent flight for some hiking trip, I paid baggage fee for a checked bag; just so I could take hiking poles following the TSA rules.
Then on the plane, I see like 2 other people were allowed to take their hiking poles as carryon and avoided fees. YMMV when you're going to be unsure what is going to happen is very frustrating

 

[Jilly]

Following as I need to take an inflatable pfd to Florida in April. Using WestJet though.

 

[Snapcase26]

So info i’ve found over past day. mostly for Scott Alpride E1

https://help.scott-sports.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002510740-Can-I-travel-with-the-Patrol-E1-Avalanche-backpack-

for all airbags:

Flying with an avalanche airbag | INTERSPORT Rent

Can you take your avalanche backpack with you on the plane? Find out what to keep in mind when flying with your avalanche equipment with INTERSPORT Rent!

www.intersportrent.com

https://www.iata.org/contentassets/6fea26dd84d24b26a7a1fd5788561d6e/dgr-63-en-2.3.a.pdf

 

[fatbob]

Discharge the cannister/disarm and put it in the right baggage and you should be ok. For Scott's supercapacitor I guess it's even simpler though you might drain the battery as a precaution or is that just AAs?

 

[Snapcase26]

It’s something to do w/ us and cad border. Guys from Scott kinda said they were just giveing them a hard time for no real reason.

The top thread from SBrown was hugely helpful!!

Most ppl at airline i talked to have no idea what the bags are. I’m just bringing the msds for the capacitors and docs that show it’s safe for flight and crossing my fingers.

Feels like a lot of stress for something that is common sense.

 

[scott43]

To be fair, airline folks can't possibly know every bit of technology that can cause a problem in an aircraft. They don't want to be the person saying yeah, go for it. Think of the number of people and all their crap that they process every day... And quite frankly, they won't get fired for NOT letting something suspect go through...

 

[Snapcase26]

To be fair, airline folks can't possibly know every bit of technology that can cause a problem in an aircraft. They don't want to be the person saying yeah, go for it. Think of the number of people and all their crap that they process every day... And quite frankly, they won't get fired for NOT letting something suspect go through...

misspoke. - was addressing the ppl i had to talk to from airline specifically for restricted items.

 

[scott43]

misspoke. - was addressing the ppl i had to talk to from airline specifically for restricted items.

We had similar issues with baby seats in planes. The front-line folks. The airline directive is, the kid sits in your lap. Which I guess makes some sense? But they do allow certain seats..they just..don't care..and I don't blame the FA's.. The actual specific folks who are suppose to know..yeah, that's different. They get paid to know.

 

[Slim]

@Snapcase26, sounds like you are in Europe? Indeed, IATA rules allow you to bring any airbag (with full cartridg) in Europe and Canada.
Not in the US (search TSA rules). However, with the E1 system, you are good to go anywhere.

I commented on the TGR thread, (Tjaard) and just came back from another trip (so 2 times through TSA) with my Alpride e1 after that.

So by now I have have taken E1 airbags through 5 TSA checkpoints, and never had a peep from them, except one, maybe my iPad blocked their view, and they opened up the pack so they could see the fan/capacitor pod, and that was all. Didn’t even open the pod up.

Still, security and airline personnel might not know their stuff very well, so I would give myself some extra time, in case you need it.


I tried contacting TSA and my airline, to get a good, solid answer in writing before my trip, but no dice.

 

[Slim]

Following as I need to take an inflatable pfd to Florida in April. Using WestJet though.

That is different. Most of those use the small CO2 cartridge right? This is an electronic fan pack.
I heard they you are now allowed to take those small CO2 cartridges along. (You should, there is one under every seat in the plane already ), but better check that on the TSA website.

 

[Jilly]

That is different. Most of those use the small CO2 cartridge right? This is an electronic fan pack.
I heard they you are now allowed to take those small CO2 cartridges along. (You should, there is one under every seat in the plane already ), but better check that on the TSA website.

According to WestJet the agent makes the decision. I'm not getting check in to find out I can't take it. I'm going to call, as the virtual assistant doesn't have a clue. But think I'll just take my ski suitcase and take the full jacket I have. We may not have to wear it, just have it in the boat.

First I have find the damn thing. It's been packed away since October....

 

[Snapcase26]

Just got back from trip. absolutely no issue at either ewr or yvr. Ewr had no idea what it was and agent at YVR basically stated that if you have the bag you have it for a reason and know the regulations for travel, as long as you have info there will be no issues.

Thanks for the Help