Laptops are the best thing that ever happened to airline travel. They enable you to catch up on your work, play games or watch a movie while you are traveling. Better still, many airlines are now installing costly equipment that enables you to access the Internet during flights. Most of these systems use your laptop's built-in Wi-Fi to connect.Unfortunately, this laptops-in-the-sky nirvana probably won't last. The problem: Laptop batteries can explode catastrophically. It's happened before, and it will happen again. It's only a matter of time before it happens in-flight.
New rules came into effect Jan. 1 that ban spare laptop batteries in checked luggage. Batteries actually installed inside devices are allowed, and most spare batteries in your carry-on are fine, too. But carry-on batteries are now governed by a complicated new set of rules.
You can carry batteries with 8 grams of lithium or less in your carry-on luggage, but they must be carried in plastic bags. Cell phone, PDA and other gadget batteries, plus most laptop batteries, contain less than 8 grams of lithium.
You're now limited to a maximum of two batteries with between 8 and 25 grams of lithium in them. The most common batteries in this category are "extended life" laptop batteries, but also batteries used in larger devices like projectors. If you carry on three such batteries, security will take one of them away.
Read more about this here.
