Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!milano!catalonia!creemer
From: creemer@catalonia.sw.mcc.com (David Creemer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Mac as airline hand baggage
Summary: Flying with your Mac
Message-ID: <2685@catalonia.sw.mcc.com>
Date: 26 Jul 89 14:21:08 GMT
References: <30351@cornell.UUCP>
Distribution: usa
Organization: MCC, Austin, TX
Lines: 41

In article <30351@cornell.UUCP>, pap@gvax.cs.cornell.edu (Paul Andrew Pritchard) writes:
> I'm flying NY (alright, Newark) to London soon, and will be taking
> my Mac (SE/30 HD40) with me. It seems to me the best plan is to
> put the Mac in one of those commercially-available padded carry bags
> and take it as hand baggage. I'd like to hear of anyone's experiences
> with this. (The airline is Continental.) Thanks.

Before I traded up to a Mac II, I flew many times between NY and Dallas with
my Mac Plus.  I had "one of those commercially-available padded carry bags"
which worked just fine, but with one small (actually large) problem: It was
about 1 inch too tall to fit under the seat.  It was also too large to fit
in an overhead compartment.  This led to an interesting scenario, which
repeated, *almost to the word* on every flight I took.
  First, I call American Airlines, (or People's Express <- this was a few
years ago :-) ) or whomever, give them the dimensions of the bag, they put
that into some screwy formula and respong with "Yes, Mr. Creemer, that bag
will fit just fine.  Thank-you for choosing X airlines."  I get to the plane,
and sure enough, it *doesn't* fit.  The stewardess then instructs me that
she'll have to *check* my computer.  Right. Anything you say, lady.  So I put
up a small fuss, we check to overhead compartment (it doesn't fit), and then
we try an bulkhead seat (still no luck).  "I'm sorry sir, but I'm going to
have to check it!"  It then becomes necessary to pull an old computer science
trick, which should work for any field known to be populated by the occaisional
"mad scientist type."  I respond with, "You can't check this! This... this...
this is *my computer*!  I have to be with my computer at all times!"  You
get the idea.  The thing winds up stored in the stewardess' luggage compartment,
and everyone is happy.
  Works like a charm everytime.

The lesson here, of course, is to make sure the bag is thin enough to fit the
Mac under a seat, but thick enough to protect it.  I suggest taking your Mac
to the airport (we should all take our Mac's out every now and again) and
trying one of those "your bag should fit in this box to fit under the seat"
boxes.

Good luck, and cheers!

     David Creemer
           MCC Software Technology Program
           9390 Research, Kaleido II Bldg.,  Austin, Texas 78759
           (512) 338-3403 creemer@sw.mcc.com    davidz@cs.utexas.edu