When I wrote about ways to protect your laptop if you needed to ship it as checked luggage, one assumption I made was that no one would do this if they had a choice. But with restrictions on luggage between the United Kingdom and the United States a few days ago, it seemed like a good bet that such a thing could happen.
Fortunately, those restrictions were eased, so as long as personal hygiene isn’t too important, travel is back to normal. Of course, if you plan to use deodorant, shave, wash your hair or brush your teeth while you’re gone, then checked-luggage rules still have a certain charm.
But one thing I didn’t think of is that people might actually check their computers as luggage on purpose. Turns out, some people do.
I also didn’t think about the problem that your efforts to preserve the integrity of your computer might just mean that a luggage thief will get your property in pristine condition. Theft, it seems, is alive and well in American’s airports. As reader Jim Wilder put it, how do you know that when you get your case, the laptop will still be inside?
How indeed? For that matter, how do you know that even the case will arrive? Reader Tony Higgins pointed out that about a third of all checked bags containing scuba equipment that pass through the Miami airport go missing. He said the Miami police are remarkably ineffective at finding this expensive gear. And he noted that something as portable and easily sold as a laptop is at least as likely to disappear. He has a point.
Read the full story on eWEEK.com: 50 Ways to Lose Your Laptop
