Vape Friendly Airlines

[Ruwan]

please note that I am not trying to start a flame war.

I understand the urge to flip the bird to an airline company god knows I hate em just as much as other but, why is it such a big deal to vape in an airport?
the way I see it the airlines are a business and I am purchasing there goods by flying with them, which means I have to behave by their rules. so if they say no ecig use then as much as I dislike it I have to follow it, whatever there justification is no matter how Ludacris it is still a valid rule.
I think we should be able to vape in an airport and I believe the use of e cigs should be up to the judgment of the air craft captain, but until that rule is finalized by an airline company then I will play by the rules. I just use a nic patch or gum on a airline, keep in mind this is just my opinion.

 

[VapieDan]

All this reminds me years ago of sneaking into the restroom at school to smoke cigarettes. How much things change yet they stay the same.

 

[rmk_kelly]

I just tried to set off the smoke detector in my house but couldn't.

Oddly enough it does go off when I open the bathroom door after a shower.

-Gooney0

You must take a really hot shower. Lol

 

[TheToxic_jon]

i set off a fire alarm in a hotel room a few times. had the fire department come once

 

[rmk_kelly]

Thank you so much for starting this thread. I shall definitely try to support the airlines that support us!

On airlines that officially forbid "vaping," I wonder whether a black PV would be noticed?

As I sit reading this thread, I am practicing NOT exhaling--LOL.

I have been practicing too! Lmao!

 

[Bob Chill]

I vaped in a quiet corner in bwi airport and nobody cared. Very discreet of course. I also vaped in a quiet corner of a philly airport terminal and a TSA guy startled me. He was on break and wanted to sit in a quiet corner. I told him I would put it away and apologized. His reply was perfect. "I honestly have zero problem with what you're doing and you can continue at your leisure. If it smells bad I'll tell you to switch flavors. If it's your only flavor then I'll direct you to another quiet place nearby." made my day.

 

[Boletus]

I did a United/Sky West flight out of Ontario, Ca last week. I used my eGo a few times in the airport and on the plane without even thinking about it, until I went to exhale and remembered where I was. I didn't try real hard to hide it, but I made a token effort at being discreet. On the plane, I did feel more comfortable taking it into the restroom. No issues were encountered. At the airport security check-in, I took the eGo out of my pocket and put it in the plastic tray with the rest of my pocket clutter, and that did not raise any eyebrows.

 

[blueGrassTubb]

I just flew on a transatlantic flight aboard Delta and I had no problems.

I was mindful not to exhale any appreciable vapor (take a drag and hold it a few seconds, inhale air and hold a few more seconds, exhale), but I never tried to hide my MOD (it was sitting, atty down, in the seat pocket with about 1/2 of it sticking out) or hide that I was hitting an e-cig. I simply went about my business. Not even the person across the aisle from me knew anything at all.

I did the same in both the Detroit airport and Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. The only time I let out any vapor was when a security agent (in Amsterdam) wanted me to demonstrate it so they could verify that it was indeed a e-cig. They had never seen a box MOD and were pretty amazed by it. Their reaction? "That's cool!"

My advice to anyone is to not look conspicuous and not exhale any vapor, and you won't have any problems. No one will pay any mind to you at all.

 

[Tbev]

That's pretty much how I do it anywhere in public.

 

[pascuba]

Just finished a trip from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Dallas and then to San Antonio - returning a couple days later from San Antonio to Dallas to Miami to San Juan. I had no problems with my MVP and iclear 16 in my pocket which I put in the dog dish with my glasses. 15ml of juice in the zip lock baggie. I vaped in all of the terminals and on every plane. (American Airlines) On the plane I did the blowing what little vaper I produced into my sweat jacket. The people who saw me said nothing.
My feeling is that an e-cig is the device that looks like a cigarette. I don't e-smoke an e-cig. I do my aroma therapy with my MVP inhaler. Every time I'm in public and someone does ask me what I'm doing - I tell them I'm vaping - not smoking. I always ask if they can smell anything on me or the vaper cloud I produce. The answer has always been no! Kind of off subject - but I was in my doctor's office a couple of weeks ago and she had one of those vapor volcano's producing a constant vapor cloud of menthol. She said it was aroma therapy - when I told her that I vaped menthol also - she said it was a good thing. She said that menthol is healthy.

 

[pdxjlb]

About to go PDX > ATL > FSM (arkansas regional) on DELTA.... I'll let everyone know how Portland Airport Does with my Hana 30watt and Sigelei 100watt, 1 VTC5, 4 VTC 4's and a FUhattan mod along with a Stillare, and two tugboats. I'm sure I'll bring a few boge's. Wish me luck

 

[renacer]

I have to say. Can you guys really not go that long without vaping? Seriously. Have a little self control.

Nicotine is life nicotine is love.

 

[Steamix]

Vape in the bathroom on planes all the time. Funny since I started vaping i have to pee all the time. Vapor wont set off the smoke detector either, blew a puff directly in one to be sure.

Don't push your luck...

It's a matter of calibration. Had smoke detectors going off on water vapour and snow flakes.
And if you got a queasy pilot upfront he makes a beeline for the nearest airfield that can accomodate his plane before even bothering to investigate it.
Even if you might get off the hook on the penal side of it, airline will take you to civil court and ask you fess up the additional expense...

Dat could turn out to be a vape your great grandchildren will remember, cuz they'll still be paying for it

 

[Ipster]

I fly weekly.
I've been carrying pvs in my carryon lugguage for a few years without any problems to the gear what so ever.
I've also not had any issues with TSA, security or immigrations anywhere.
I always abide by the 3-1-1 rules. My small sealed bottles of liquid are in ziplocks and plain to see.
The PVs, I dont take apart, I simply also drop them into a ziplock and they're in an outer pocket of briefcase
i do NOT attempt to carry the PVs which look like hand grenades. LOL!

I also do my best to stealth vape minimally in flight.
Based on others around me, the lack of knowledge,
they may believe Im smoking if they see vapor coming out my mouth.
I also worry that if I were into clouds I could possibly set off an alarm, so again, minimal, stealth.
For the following Airlines its just my experiences.

Cathy Pacific- No problemo,
JAL: Japan Airlines, No problemo,
Hawaiian Airlines: FORGET IT!, stated in the brochures, on the recordings, increw instructions-strictly forbidden.
Fiji Air: FORGET IT!, stated in the brochures, on the recordings, in the crew instructions-strictly forbidden.
ALaska AIr: has 3 different carriage contracts (international, Canadian, Domestic-US) non state anything pro or against, experience is stealth, in carry on, no problem- but shocked there's no official policy since they cover everything else down to pineapples & skateboards. LOL

Keep Vaping, be cool.
Lets not be aggressive and loose the few rights we fought so hard for.

 

[RickCain]

I fly weekly.
I've been carrying pvs in my carryon lugguage for a few years without any problems to the gear what so ever.
I've also not had any issues with TSA, security or immigrations anywhere.
I always abide by the 3-1-1 rules. My small sealed bottles of liquid are in ziplocks and plain to see.
The PVs, I dont take apart, I simply also drop them into a ziplock and they're in an outer pocket of briefcase
i do NOT attempt to carry the PVs which look like hand grenades. LOL!
View attachment 418598
I also do my best to stealth vape minimally in flight.
Based on others around me, the lack of knowledge,
they may believe Im smoking if they see vapor coming out my mouth.
I also worry that if I were into clouds I could possibly set off an alarm, so again, minimal, stealth.
For the following Airlines its just my experiences.

Cathy Pacific- No problemo,
JAL: Japan Airlines, No problemo,
Hawaiian Airlines: FORGET IT!, stated in the brochures, on the recordings, increw instructions-strictly forbidden.
Fiji Air: FORGET IT!, stated in the brochures, on the recordings, in the crew instructions-strictly forbidden.
ALaska AIr: has 3 different carriage contracts (international, Canadian, Domestic-US) non state anything pro or against, experience is stealth, in carry on, no problem- but shocked there's no official policy since they cover everything else down to pineapples & skateboards. LOL

Keep Vaping, be cool.
Lets not be aggressive and loose the few rights we fought so hard for.

I fly weekly as well and never have any bigger of a problem than a TSA agent who has never seen vape gear ask what it is...

Adding the following airlines.

American - they are against vaping
Southwest - they include "electronic cigarettes" in their announcement about smoking in an airplane

I can't agree more about people not doing anything stupid to ruin it for everyone. The worst problem we have is the lack of understanding that it is not smoking.

 

[koryran]

Hi all, as a pilot maybe I can add something to this discussion, at least in the areas I know something about.

Security - if you have less than 100ml liquid you should be okay. All devices should be okay. If the tsa has a question about what you've got, just explain what it is and/or demonstrate if asked and they should be okay. If you encounter an agent with a napoleon complex who wants to confiscated your equipment you can ask to see the supervisor and respectfully ask where in the standard operating procedures it bans ecigarettes. If they do so anyways, you can often have the offending device shipped wherever you live, at your own cost of course.

Vaping in secured side of airport - do so at your own risk, different airports have different procedures and policies, you may be ignored or you might be facing some uncomfortable hours in a back room before getting booted. Personally I've never had a problem stealth Vaping in a bathroom stall anywhere, even if it is a little yucky. Also, a general rule is if you cause a commotion your gone, so don't stand out and you'll be fine.

On Board smoke detectors - the aircraft I'm in has particulate sensors in the cargo hold and cockpit, and light sensitive sensors in the lavatories, different aircraft may have different setups, but generally if your stealth Vaping in there and not chucking clouds directly at the sensor you should be okay. I'm not endorsing this, or saying you won't set off the alarm in every lav, just saying again if you are being reasonable and not causing the alarm to go off its your choice to do so and it should be okay.

Vaping on board - different airlines have different policies on this, from zero tolerance to open encouragement. It is up to you as a passenger to know what that policy is before you decide to vape on board, or be willing to face some potentially harsh consequences, not just for yourself but for anyone else who vapes. The prevailing attitude right now is general indifference, as long as you are stealthing it and not disturbing other passengers or drawing undue attention to yourself, probably no one will care if they even notice. I've had flight attendants call up and tell me someone is vaping, is this okay? As we currently have no set policy on the matter I have to pretend nothings going on, however if the the FA declares this person is displaying disruptive behavior or causing a commotion, they can expect to be met by a lot of burly angry men at the nearest airport who don't care what you think your rights are or that there's no legislation banning ecigs. Be considerate, be reasonable and be carefull and you'll be ok. Being obnoxious and loudly proclaiming your right to blow plumes in other people's faces will ultimately result in the need for a set policy on ecigs, and that policy will not make it easier to vape, I'm sure.

Batteries - again right now the general climate in aviation seems to one of mild indifference to vaping; if it's not causing a problem, then it's probably not a problem. Batteries, and in particular lithium ion batteries however are garnering a lot of attention as being potentially dangerous and there may be some backlash about them in the near future, and if someone is trying to sub ohm and starts a fire or explosion, whatever type of battery it may be won't matter, vaping will be the new most dangerous thing around and a zero tolerance policy will be put into effect.

Just my two cents on the subject as most of this is just common sense, but be stealthy, be respectfull and don't cause a disturbance and you should be okay.

 

[nyiddle]

if someone is trying to sub ohm and starts a fire or explosion, whatever type of battery it may be won't matter, vaping will be the new most dangerous thing around and a zero tolerance policy will be put into effect.

Oh god, that's like the nightmare situation.. Someone's battery failing mid-flight because they were dumb and had to try and stealth vape.

I'm just fond of the thought that, "Whatever hassle I'll go through if I get caught will not be worth the puffs I can get." I don't want to be the guy that causes a panic and gets a flight re-routed or stopped or delayed or something dumb. I really don't wanna be that guy, and if I witnessed that guy being dumb on a flight, I'd probably openly call him some harsh profanities.

 

[SeaBrz]

Koryran - Thank you, as a pilot, for your insight on all of this. In the early '90's, I was earning a 25K of FF miles annually, but was dropping allegiance for those perks by moving to carriers that still allowed cigarette smoking. How naive I was then to not see the future.

In 1999, I smoked my last in-flight cigarettes on a long-haul Malaysia Air flight between Orlando and KL. I still flew weekly for a couple more years, but quickly adjusted to not smoking on planes -- and binge-smoked pre-flight and on stops.

Not that anyone should care about MY history, but I am curious why a person thinks that they cannot go a couple of hours without the need for vaping during a flight. If challenging the authorities is the goal, go for it, but I am here to tell you that you CAN survive without nicotine for a few hours. Remember, you do it every night while you sleep (hopefully).

Coming full circle, I am now thrilled that I am able to get my nic fix by vaping at the gates of the airports that I occasionally travel to now: MCO and CVG. No more sucking down disgusting cigs outside, and timing TSA checks to arrive in time (gasping for air) at my gate for my flight. And don't forget those other passengers sniffing in disgust over our wreaking smoke smell.

I don't post here much anymore, but, on behalf of all of us that traveled before cigs were banned, please be respectful and do not compromise what we have gained by tolerance for ecigs.

--- SeaBrzJo
Cigarette free for three years as of Mar 13, 2015

 

[koryran]

Ha! I also remember when you could smoke on board, not much to do up front sometimes so you could go through a pack and not even realize it! Just to clarify tho, I'm not saying people shouldn't vape in aviation environs, just that knowing the policy of the airport/airline of choice is a good thing and that discretion is defintly the better part of valour when the potential repercussions of our actions could be so harsh.

 

[SeaBrz]

Koryran - I totally agree with you on all the points in your response. PLEASE stay active in this forum! You travel much more than most of us, and your insight and feedback is invaluable.