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1) The carrier weighs your bags at check-in
and records this weight on your ticket. The
airline's maximum liability to you is that
weight multiplied by $9.07 (or by $20, if
the weight was recorded in kilos).
2) Instead of weighing your luggage, the
carrier assumes that each of your bags
weighs the maximum that it agrees to
accept as checked baggage, usually 70
pounds (32 kilos). This yields a liability
limit of about $640 per bag.
This international limit also applies to domestic
segments of an international journey. This is the
case even if the domestic and international flights
are on separate tickets and you claim and re-check
your bag between the two flights.
Keep in mind that the liability limits are
maximums. If the depreciated value of your property
is worth less than the liability limit, this lower
amount is what you will be offered. If the airline's
settlement doesn't fully reimburse your loss, check
your homeowner's or renter's insurance; it
sometimes covers losses away from the residence.
Some credit card companies and travel agencies
offer optional or even automatic supplemental
baggage coverage.
Hazardous Items
Except for toiletries and medicines totaling no more
than 75 ounces, it is illegal and extremely
dangerous to carry on board or check in your
luggage any of the following hazardous materials:
Hazardous materials
Aerosols*Polishes, waxes, degreasers, cleaners,
etc.
Corrosives*Acids, cleaners, wet cell batteries,
etc.
Flammables*Paints, thinners, lighter fluid,
liquid reservoir lighters, cleaners, adhesives, camp
stoves or portable gas equipment with fuel, etc.
Explosives*Fireworks, flares, signal devices,
loaded firearms, gunpowder, etc. (Small arms
ammunition for personal use may be transported
in checked luggage if it is securely packed in
material designed for that purpose. These may not
be placed in carry-on baggage.)
Radioactives*Betascopes,
radiopharmaceuticals, uninstalled pacemakers,
etc.
Compressed gases*Tear gas or protective-
type sprays, oxygen cylinders, divers' tanks
(unless they're empty), etc.
Infectious substances
Poisonous materials*Rat poison, etc.
Matches (both ‘strike anywhere' matches
and safety or ‘book' matches) may only be carried
on your person.
If you must travel with any of these
materials, check with the airline's air freight
department to see if special arrangements can be
made.
A violation of the hazardous materials
restrictions can result in a civil penalty of up to
$25,000 for each violation or a criminal penalty of
up to $500,000 and/or up to 5 years in jail.
On U.S. airlines, you are guaranteed a no-smoking
seat worldwide.
Under U.S. government rules, smoking is prohibited
on all domestic scheduled-service flights except for
flights over six hours to or from Alaska or Hawaii.
This ban applies to domestic segments of
international flights, on both U.S. and foreign
airlines (e.g., the Chicago / New York leg of a flight
that operates Chicago/ New York / London). The
ban does not apply to nonstop international flights,
even during the time that they are in U.S. airspace
(e.g., a Chicago / London flight). The prohibition
applies in the passenger cabin and lavatories, but not
in the cockpit.
Smoking is also banned on other
scheduled-service flights by U.S. airlines that are
operated with planes seating fewer than 30
passengers (e.g., certain “commuter” flights to
Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean). Cigar and pipe
smoking is banned on all U.S.-carrier flights
(scheduled and charter, domestic and international).
The following rules apply to U.S. airlines
on flights where smoking is not banned (e.g.
international flights, domestic charter flights). These
regulations do not apply to foreign airlines;
however, most of them provide non-smoking
sections (although they may not guarantee seating
there or expand the section).
The airline must provide a seat in a non-smoking
section to every passenger who asks for one, as long
as the passenger complies with the carrier's seat
assignment deadline and procedures. (Standby
passengers do not have this right.)
If necessary, the airline must expand the non-
smoking section to accommodate the passengers
described above.
The airline does not have to provide a non-smoking
seat of the passenger's choice. It doesn't have to seat
you with your traveling companion, and you don't
have the right to specify a window or aisle non-
smoking seat. Also, the airline is not required by this
rule to provide advance seat assignments before the
flight date in the non-smoking section, as long as
they get you into the non-smoking section on the
day of your flight.
The flight crew must act to keep passengers from
smoking in the non-smoking sections. However,
smoke that drifts from the smoking section into the
non-smoking section does not constitute a violation.
No smoking is allowed while an aircraft is on the
ground or when the ventilation system is not fully
functioning.
Carriers are not required to have a smoking section.
An airline is free to ban smoking on a particular
flight, or on all of its flights.
None of the regulations described in this chapter
apply to charter flights performed with small aircraft
by on-demand air taxi operators.
Over 40 million Americans have disabilities. The Air
Carrier Access Act and the DOT rule that
implements it set out procedures designed to ensure
that these individuals have the same opportunity as
anyone else to enjoy a pleasant flight. Here are some
of the major provisions of the rule.
A person may not be refused transportation on the
basis of disability or be required to have an
attendant or produce a medical certificate, except in
certain limited circumstances specified in th
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