Dealing with tiny carry-on

I suppose you are right Steve. I thought that there was alot of good advice contained in the thread to him but it kept coming back to the boycott and letter writing campaign. It certainly wasn't for lack of trying on a number of peoples parts here.

Most consumer led boycotts are not terribly effective. Everyone is all gung-ho and say they will participate and then just ignore it at the end of the day. Some people, like me, simply can't afford to boycott the airlines. First of all I worked for them for too long and the price I get is well....very good. Secondly, if I wanted to go see my daughter my surface transportation it is a good 5 days drive and a 9 hour ferry ride each way. Hardly feasible when I can jump in an airplane and be there in 7 hours or so.

I really do wish the OP luck in his venture but I think he would be better off finding an alternate solution than to beat a "dead-horse" issue.

One thing also entered my mind when going through this thread. Let's say you write to the airlines and the appropriate government authorities to complain about the security regulations. Everyone is so gun shy (literally speaking) about the terroist issues these days that your name could end up on a watch list that you really don't want it on. Far sillier things have happened.

The problem is really that the terrorists are winning. They have caused panic among governments and populations with a plot that didn't stand a snowflake's chance of happening. I am very keen to see just how many of these alleged plotters get convicted and how those convictions stand up to scruitiny 10 years from now. An excellent article to read about why the terrorists are winning can be found here http://www.schneier.co​m …6/08/what_the_t​error.html.

We do need to introduce some sanity to government regulations or it's just going to get worse. We've already had innocent photographers searched and interrogated for standing on public land, taking photographs of fairly innocent and harmless subjects. The fact is that if a terrorist needs a picture of something he'll go there with a camera phone or will get a couple of friends to stand with the subject in the background so he gets the photo and it all looks innocent.

I am pretty much convinced that we're not going to defeat the terrorists because nobody is prepared to stand up for liberty and freedom. It won't be long before they start issuing camera licences and banning photography at this rate.

Going back to my original point about carry-on sizes. I've examined the sizes of all the camera systems and it seems to come down to one thing - it's impossible to fly to/from the UK with minimal kit and a laptop. One or the other has to go. Sadly, I believe these restrictions will soon apply worldwide.

I emailed BAA after getting a working email address but had no response from them so I guess my email enquiring about possibly introducing exceptions to the rules fell on deaf ears (or was read by a civil servant). My email to the UK Customs and Excise enquiring about waiving duty on things imported temprorarily was received and I had a nonsense reply in which they demanded my VAT number before they're prepared to reply to my question. As I don't have a VAT number nor ever intend to have a VAT number then it's rather hard to give them one - as I pointed out to them.

You've succesfully turned this into a political issue. Not allowed here...

No they won't.

Restrictions on such things don't normally become tighter gradually. They become tighter in a flash and then are gradually relaxed.

I can fly with my full kit. I don't see this changing unless some other whacko decides to try to blow up an airplane. At that point, I will have no problem not flying with my full kit.

You're offended that you can't fly with what you want to fly with. Well, tough. Deal with it. Your little proposed boycott would do nothing but, hey, if that's how you want to spend your time, knock yourself out.

They require information that you have no intention of either getting or giving to them, and you want to complain about not getting a response?

Geez... what a piece of work you are.

I don't believe I've ever met someone as paranoid as you...

I don't have a VAT number because it's not relevant. I don't run a VAT rated business in Britain. I live in the US, not the UK.

Well, then I guess you don't get to have your questioned answered.

Seriously, man, people here have tried to help you by offering suggestions, and all you've done is turn it all into some political tirade.

Boycotts, even if they worked (which they rarely do), don't work overnight. Also, those who are commenting on the "restrictions" you're complaining about, apparently, either A) are unaffected by them or B) have not seen the restrictions of which you speak. Attempting to enlist them them in a boycott will be an excersize in futility.

Even if you could get people to join your boycott, you'd still have to deal with travelling in the interim.

By the way, I think Carnival Cruises go out of Miami...

Actually, I found a link for passenger transport on cargo vessels which is cheaper It works out at 100 Euros a night for the crossing.

rhys wrote:
Actually, I found a link for passenger transport on cargo vessels which is cheaper It works out at 100 Euros a night for the crossing.

A cargo vessel?

Hehehehehe... Yeah... enjoy that...

Maybe they'll throw him in one of those Yang Ming intermodals.

Rhys, your ship is about to set sail:

Seriously, they have about 20 passenger cabins per ship. There's a schedule published and there's a booking service. Not many people travel this way and not many people know about it.

Documenting the journey could be quite an interesting little article for a travel magazine.

I think that's the first thing you've said in this entire thread that I would agree with.

Bear this in mind: Cargo ships aren't exactly known for their luxury accomodations...

Of yeah? Which container is yours??? Not even close to any luxury accomodations.
How long do you get for vacation? I can't imagine being on something like that for How long does it take to get anywhere on one?
Steve is right, though. Please take your political views elsewhere. (Maybe to someone who cares :lol

johnnybfan wrote:
Of yeah? Which container is yours??? Not even close to any luxury accomodations.
How long do you get for vacation? I can't imagine being on something like that for How long does it take to get anywhere on one?

Ok. My holiday length is entirely dependent upon how long I wish to schedule for a holiday - just in the same way my wife's holiday length is. We just have to arrange our clients around our chosen holiday period.

It takes 7 days to cross the Atlantic or a day to get from New York to Charleston and there are stops on the various freighter routes all the way around the world. Each freighter has a round trip of about a month visiting all their scheduled ports. There are several freighters in each direction at any one time.

Luxury accommodation doesn't really interest me. As long as I have a place to sleep, use of a bathroom and access to food/water, I'm fine. All I ask is that the bed be clean and the food edible. I used to live and work in some pretty primative accommodation in the Baltics.

How about a constructive way ahead - which is to contact HM Revenue and Customs about temporary export of equipment bought in the UK for use abroad and reimport. Something has to be possible - after all, you can export equipment for repair or refurbishment abroad without paying tax and duty on the full purchase price.

If there's a way to send a Pelican case or two full of gear abroad via a courier service, insured for full replacement value, then reimport it by insured courier service when you're done with it, and not get charged tax and duty on the temporary import and export, that would seem the most logical way ahead.


US Customs has a scheme where you can take your gear and the receipts to a Customs post and get a certificate made out that allows you to bring gear back into the US without any arguments, though I'm not sure whether it only applies to equipment you're accompanying.


Whilst the restrictions on the size of cabin baggage in Britain are annoying (there's no way that a Pelican 1510 qualifies, for example), the truth is that many people taking Pelican 1510s and bags like my Lowepro Stealth Reporter D650 AW full of camera gear were well in excess of the cabin baggage weight allowance on most airlines. My Stealth Reporter D650AW fully loaded is 12kg - most airlines allow somewhere around 5-6kg for cabin baggage. They didn't used to weigh these bags, so you got away with it most of the time, but it always was twisting the rules.

David

You think British restrictions are troublesome? I flew back from Poland a few days ago and they still have a complete ban on carry-on luggage. Only wallets, passport and tickets allowed - no bags, no electronics, nothing. It was the first time on the holiday I was glad I didn't have a DSLR with me!