Battery limit on American Flights?

[griffin]

With BotCon four months away, this article caught my eye while searching yahoo for a way to download Youtube videos. It says that from January first, people can only have 2 spare *lithium* batteries in their carry-on luggage, and none in their checked luggage. All other *lithium* batteries have to be inside a gadget or electronic device. I highlighted 'lithium' because I think it only relates to those hi-tech purpose batteries
I might have to remember this when travelling in April, in case I try to take with me spares of the wrong sort of batteries, and get them confiscated (which can be expensive).

The full article is here:

WASHINGTON - To help reduce the risk of fires, air travelers will no longer be able to pack loose lithium batteries in checked luggage beginning Jan. 1, the Transportation Department said Friday.
Passengers can still check baggage with lithium batteries if they are installed in electronic devices, such as cameras, cell phones and laptop computers. If packed in plastic bags, batteries may be in carryon baggage. The limit is two batteries per passenger.
The ban affects shipments of non-rechargeable lithium batteries, such as those made by Energizer Holdings Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co.'s Duracell brand.
"Doing something as simple as keeping a spare battery in its original retail packaging or a plastic zip-lock bag will prevent unintentional short-circuiting and fires," Krista Edwards, deputy administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, said in a release.
The Federal Aviation Administration has found that fire-protection systems in the cargo hold of passenger planes can't put out fires sparked in lithium batteries.
The National Transportation Safety Board earlier this month said it could not rule out lithium batteries as the source of a cargo plane fire at Philadelphia International Airport last year.



http://tech.yahoo.com/news//ap/20071...tteries_travel

[Borgeman]

wouldnt you then just buy the batteries over there instead of here?

if you own a battery charger, plug the batteries in that - it is an electronic device per se :P

George

[SofaMan]

Before we all start panicking, the issue is with lithium metal batteries, not the far-more-common lithium ion batteries.

I was just reading Gizmodo, and there are many admonitions not to panic, as this is largely a beat-up by media people who don't understand the difference, and just know they've heard the word 'lithium' somewhere.

[griffin]

Okay, this probably won't affect me yet. It looks like it more relates to bigger batteries for things like laptops.
For my camera, I usually take a 12-20 pack of batteries with me. Sure, I could buy them in America, but I don't like the added hassle of having to track down a store over there, and I can be sure to buy them cheap here with convenience. And even if they were on the restricted list, and I did buy them over there, I would still have to throw them out before coming back.
But it seems to be moot about the small AA batteries. If I end up taking a laptop with me, I might have to check this again properly.