I have a couple of laptops. One for work and one for personal use and don’t want to carry it on me. Can I chuck them in the checked in baggage and be done with it? Is there any prohibition for that? If it helps, I am flying out of Melbourne Tullamarine on Hainan Airlines to Abu Dhabi - UAE with a stopover in Hainan (Haikou) - China.
Further updates as many have asked about battery size. One laptop is a MacBook Pro 14” and the other is a MacBook Air 13”. Both less than 100wh I would imagine. I might even have to carry a Lenovo Thinkpad that’s around 53Wh. I’m going with family so we have about 6 bags. I can spread the laptops across the bags. The reason don’t want to carry on with me is that we already have stuff that will reach allowable limits of 10kgs. Things like iPads and Switch. And basic stuff that we need to carry as a family. But if push came to shove I’ll just suck it up and carry on.
Lithium ion batteries cannot go in the hold.
They are a huge amount of stored chemical energy that wants to turn into a fire, and fires on airplanes are one of the most dangerous things. Fires in the hold even more so.Lithium ion batteries need to be carry on, so if they do try and start a fire they can be quickly spotted and dealt with
This is inaccurate. OP , look it up for your airline. You’ll find all the information you need for your particular circumstances in a handy guide on their website, because they very much want you to know.
In general though:
Devices containing batteries with less than 100Wh capacity can go in checked luggage as long as they are completely turned off and can’t be accidentally turned on. There are limits to how many, for example a suitcase full of laptops will be frowned upon. Vapes and other similar devices (that is, things designed to get hot) need to go in carry-on.
Spare batteries (for eg power tools) need to go in carry-on and again, there are limits to how many.
Anything > 100Wh, like scooters or biiiiig powerbanks need special permission or are banned outright.
Ignoring the lithium battery issue, and the actual regulations, consider that the checked in baggage will be treated with the same level of care that routinely destroys guitars and suitcases. Maybe you dont want to have your laptops dropped on the tarmac.
Also check with your work, you may have rules that prevent you putting work laptops in checked luggage, as its easiest for them to be stolen from there (or if your really paranoid, easiest for malware to be installed without your knowledge)
I’m not concerned about handling as it’ll be the original packaging and my work is my own business. So again, no qualms about it being lost. As I have enough security on it (FileVault, BitLocker, etc). So all security concerns can be considered non-issues.
If they have removable batteries, which you remove beforehand, that should be fine. Though make sure they’re surrounded by padding material, as checked luggage can be subject to shocks.
I would take them as carry-on myself.
Why not carry on? No prohibition last time I flew out to China, except my own for fear of loss.
