Despite recent news smart suitcases are being semi-banned from planes, most people will still be able to bring their smart gear onboard an aircraft. God, you and your Instagram.
Only Alaska, American, and Delta have announced that smart suitcases without removable batteries are no longer allowed on plane cargos starting Jan. 15. The key words? Removable batteries and check in.
The only exception is Delta, which will not accept smart suitcases (cough Bluesmart) as either carry on or check in. For anyone else and any other brand, if you're carrying on, it doesn't matter. It only applies checking in, which means at that point, you'll have to detach the lithium battery and bring it onboard.
Basically, this only affects passengers (all three must apply!):
- Flying on Alaska, American or Delta
- Bluesmart bag owners
- Checking in a bag (carry on is fine, unless Delta, then screwsville)
Luckily, four out of the five major smart suitcase brands (that we know of) all allow the battery to be removed, either from the interior or the exterior. Bluesmart is the only smart suitcase manufacturer affected and does not have a removable battery, presumably to keep its other electronic components powered.
Here's the list of smart suitcases allowed to be checked in.
| Arlo Skye | Away | Bluesmart | Horizn Studios | Raden | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | |||||
| American | |||||
| Delta | |||||
| Frontier | |||||
| Hawaiian | |||||
| JetBlue | |||||
| Spirit | |||||
| Southwest | |||||
| United | |||||
| Virgin America |
