United Airlines Battery Policy !?

[Mahjur]

Hello, I would be flying united airlines soon to go on a trip . I was wondering what the rule was with their battery policy for DSLR cameras, I tried looking it up but couldn't find the answer I wanted . What I was wondering is, I have 2 DSLRS , 2 batteries for My canon and 3 batteries for my LUMIX GH4. So could I bring those batteries all in my carry on or do I have to give some to a couple of friends of mine if they have a max amount rule . And also, can I carry Triple A batteries or Double A batteries ? Thanks for the help

 

[Alan GT]

See: https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/baggage/dangerous.aspx

Basically ordinary AA and AAA batteries (alkaline etc) are fine in either the hold or carry-on.

Lithium DSLR batteries will generally be below 100Watt-Hours. If the lithium battery is installed in the camera you can take it in either hold or carry-on luggage.

Spare/loose lithium batteries cannot be put in the hold. You can only take them in carry-on luggage if they are individual packed.

The above link doesn't specify how many spare/loose lithium DSLR batteries below 100Watt-Hours you can have in total in your carry on luggage. It only mentions you can have up to 2 loose larger (100-160Watt-Hours) batteries.

The United webpage could just be poorly worded or there really is no limit on how many separate lithium DSLR batteries below 100 Watt-Hours you can have in your carry on luggage. However someone at the gate will probably have no clue on how big a battery is 100Watt-Hours, and having lots of batteries could still lead to questions. Therefore if I were you I would still spread the batteries around the carry on luggage of your travelling companions.

Alan

 

[robert1955]

The UA site refers to an FAA page 'Pack safe':

https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/hazmat_safety/

See the details under Batteries

(there is no limit on number of small batteries, as long as they are for personal use, undamaged and packed separately. Numbers about capacity of a battery are orinted on it. The reason these batteries should be in carry-on is that cabin crew can deal with for instance an overheating phone battery)

 

[OpticsEngineer]

I have flown United four times this year with quite a few spare batteries in my carry on luggage for a variety of cameras. I put black electrical tape over terminals. Wrapped six batteries together with rubber bands. Put that in a clear zip lock bag. That way if someone did want to inspect them, they were all together and easy to find. I wondered if the people running the X-ray machines would want to take a look at that, but they didn't. Just went through no problems.

A few years ago I came back from Europe with a DSLR with a completely run down battery. Which you would think would be no problem. Except the security people wanted me to turn on the camera and demonstrate it actually worked. Oops. So they settled for taking a look at the camera and having me take off the lens so they could look through it and see that the lens was a hollow tube with glass in it. So just a sixty second delay for all that that happen.

 

[bmoag]

If flying United I would be more concerned about whether your flight or connections will be arbitrarily cancelled with almost no assistance to rebook (check out the lines at the service desk in any United hub) and refusal to switch you to another carrier, if you will be stranded overnight at an airport until United deigns to reschedule you with no offer of hotel accommodations (United's self-inflicted service and scheduling problems are considered by United an act of God out of their control), whether you will be forced to sit next to someone with a self-designated service cat and the cat gets priority over multiple human passengers with allergies (one flight was delayed about twenty minutes until someone agreed to sit next to the cat--and that was on up-charged United plus seats), whether your flight will be delayed until United can coax or force a paying passenger off so they can ferry crew (almost an hour delay--I sat next to the stewardess being ferried but when I wrote United they vehemently denied the practice) etc.

Why worry about a battery? It goes where you go if you go anywhere.

United has reduced its obligation to getting the passenger there alive at any time they choose under any circumstances they choose with or without luggage--they will deliver the luggage if they find it, good luck getting them to pay for it if they lose it. All domestic air carriers have cut service as far as they think they can get away with but as I am forced to often fly United I got stories you really should believe--everything I have listed has happened to my wife and I on United business and personal trips. Repeatedly.

Problems with other carriers have been minor in comparison.

Last October my Hawaiian Air flight out of Honolulu had to turn back after forty minutes because of instrumentation issues. Hawaiian Air had a new plane ready in about an hour, no muss/no fuss. If that had been United passengers would have been discharged and told to rebook with a gate agent.

 

[Mahjur]

Thanks for the help and reply ! And thanks to everyone ! What I was planning on doing was taking clear wrap and wrapping the part with the metal on it (the reader) and putting each of them in its own individual zip lock bags . You think this would work out fine for me ? Thanks again !

 

[Mahjur]

Not much of a helpful answer to my question :/

 

[OpticsEngineer]

I also had a recent bad experience with United. But as the OP said, a bit off the topic at hand today.

 

[Tom_N]

So could I bring those batteries all in my carry on

FAA – Batteries Carried by Airline Passengers FAQ

This goes into detail about what the U.S. Government allows, and does not allow.

 

[PenPix]

Thanks for the help and reply ! And thanks to everyone ! What I was planning on doing was taking clear wrap and wrapping the part with the metal on it (the reader) and putting each of them in its own individual zip lock bags . You think this would work out fine for me ? Thanks again

I don't think you need to go through such trouble. Actually, I think wrapping it up like that would be more suspicious, like you're trying to smuggle drugs and don't want the dog to sniff it!

My spare batteries are neatly aligned in a small pouch, or in a pocket in a bag. It's how I normally carry them. I just make sure that the all items in the bag are laid out so it's easy to identify under the x-ray, or in case of a manual inspection. I've never had anyone manually examine my gear in 5 years or more of travel.

The contacts of the batteries are recessed so the only way of a short is if it crushed, or if you pack your batteries with steel wool. In either case, you have a problem.

In the last flights I took, security was very focused on my laptop and really didn't give a darn about my camera. If you are taking a laptop for doing editing, you will have to remove it from its case for manual inspection.

 

[robert1955]

Not much of a helpful answer to my question :/

Quite, though I liked 'self designated service cat'

If you want an off th shelve solution:

https://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/dslr-battery-holder-2

also in a version that holds 4. Enough protection of the contacts. Easily findable in your bag if needed (though security has never asked to get them out of the bag. By putting batteries in contacts up or down you can easily see which ones are spent.

And yes, having a battery in th camera with [some] power left is useful. The check whether it is really a working piece of gear may make a comeback.

 

[LordKOTL]

Hello, I would be flying united airlines soon to go on a trip . I was wondering what the rule was with their battery policy for DSLR cameras, I tried looking it up but couldn't find the answer I wanted . What I was wondering is, I have 2 DSLRS , 2 batteries for My canon and 3 batteries for my LUMIX GH4. So could I bring those batteries all in my carry on or do I have to give some to a couple of friends of mine if they have a max amount rule . And also, can I carry Triple A batteries or Double A batteries ? Thanks for the help

I haven't flown United in quite some time...and don't plan on it since I'm not really partial to being on the receiving end of a beatdown. That being said I think most airlines are at least somewhat similar in terms of what they will and won't allow in terms of batteries.

Standard batteries like AAA and AA shouldn't be a problem unless you try to bring a ridiculous amount. Like I think 10-20 would be okay if you can prove you have devices that require them--like my X1T-N, X1R-N, Goxox TT685N, & Nikon SB-500 all together use 10 AA batteries. So, even if you figure spares that's about 20 batteries which I think should be okay unless you run into a TSA agent who hasn't had the opportunity to engage in relations since the Bicentennial . However, if you bring a gross (144) of batteries, you'll likely raise suspicions. Make sure all of them are in no danger of shorting--like keep them in their pack or tape the terminals with electrical tape.

For the camera batteries, just keep them in your carry-on baggage and protect them from a short circuit; the Nikon batteries I have have a plastic cap that does this--if not a simple piece of electrical tape should accomplish this.

Anything lithium (Li-ion, Lithium metal, LiPoly, etc.) needs to be carry-on. However, I don't think this should be an issue. You're probably going to want to carry-on your cameras anyway, so just make sure your batteries are in the same case/bag/etc.

 

[robert1955]

. That being said I think most airlines are at least somewhat similar in terms of what they will and won't allow in terms of batteries.

I think most airlines almost completely follow the FAA rulebook, linked above.

 

[LordKOTL]

 

[Mahjur]

An update for anyone wondering! Went through security and through the airlines just fine! No questions or concerns from anyone involving the flight crew or security. What I did was place my Batteries (Lithium ION) in a ziplock bag with me for my carry on! My Triple A batteries were just fine in my other equipment.

 

[CharlesKeddie]

An update for anyone wondering! Went through security and through the airlines just fine! No questions or concerns from anyone involving the flight crew or security. What I did was place my Batteries (Lithium ION) in a ziplock bag with me for my carry on! My Triple A batteries were just fine in my other equipment.

Thanks for the update! Just in time for my flight tomorrow.

 

[Mark B.]

Hello, I would be flying united airlines soon to go on a trip . I was wondering what the rule was with their battery policy for DSLR cameras, I tried looking it up but couldn't find the answer I wanted . What I was wondering is, I have 2 DSLRS , 2 batteries for My canon and 3 batteries for my LUMIX GH4. So could I bring those batteries all in my carry on or do I have to give some to a couple of friends of mine if they have a max amount rule . And also, can I carry Triple A batteries or Double A batteries ? Thanks for the help

Take them in your carry-on, they're fine. The only other thing you should do is ensure that the batteries not in the camera have the plastic covers on them. There's nothing saying you can't bring AAA or AA batteries either.

Mark