Don’t Pack Heat: How to Bring Your Vape Gear on a Plane

Preparing for a long trip can be stressful at the best of times, but how much improvisation is needed when packing if you happen to be vaper? In this post we'll cover the most frequently asked questions about flying and vaping, then give you give tips for packing your suitcase for a stress-free journey whatever mode of transport you plan to utilize.

Is Vaping on a Plane Illegal?
Vaping on a Plane is indeed illegal, in the US it’s covered by the same law that bans tobacco smoking on aircraft. In previous cases, passengers have been fined, permanently banned from airlines, or even sued by an angry fellow traveler.

Can You Bring a Vape on a Plane?
Yes, you can, but only in your carry-on baggage. After a spate of fires and explosions in checked luggage a ban was issued on carrying e-cigarettes in the hold. The TSA guidelines include battery-powered E-cigarettes, vaporizers, vape pens, atomizers, and all other electronic nicotine delivery systems.

Am I Allowed to Use My Electronic Cigarette Inside the Airport?
It all depends on the airport. You see, while many airports have banned the use of e-cigs in terminals, others haven’t.

As a rule, most airports are completely smoke-free. For example, JFK airport has a total ban on cigarettes and e-cigarettes inside the terminal but does have designated smoking areas located outside of the terminals. Phoenix Sky Harbor International however, does have designated smoking areas and encourages vapers to use these at the terminal.

Check the airport’s website before you travel, and if you’re still unsure then ask a member of staff.

Five Tips for Travelling and Packing as a Vaper
From here, we’ll go over our top five tips, considerations and best practices for travelers looking to carry their vape gear long distances — and managing to do so without a leaky, sticky or even explosive hitch in the process.

Tip #1: Keep Batteries Out of Unregulated Vape Mods!
Unregulated or “mechanical” vape mods don’t come with an emergency cut off feature, as most regulated or “electronic” vaping devices do. As a result, if any heavy object or even poor placement keeps your unregulated mod’s fire button held down, the device will continually fire until the batteries overheat. This can result in a battery fire and should be counteracted by either keeping your batteries out of your mechanical mod or engaging a button locking mechanism, which is available on some higher-end devices.

Tip #2: Spare/Extra Batteries & Considerations Around Conductivity
Whether you opt to keep your batteries out of your mod for the duration of the flight or are just the type of vaper to keep a few extra batteries at the ready, it’s worth noting that the metal casing around batteries is extremely conductive. This is why short circuits frequently occur when metal objects make contact with the positive terminal on haphazardly packed batteries. To avoid this, either invest in one of the many battery storage solutions currently circulating the market or consider covering their positive terminals with electrical tape.

Tip #3: Don’t Take Chances With Cheap E-Liquid Bottles!
Unfortunately, some e-liquid manufacturers are still behind the curve when it comes to the bottles they ship their vape juice in. While the standard bare minimum bottle type has been chubby gorilla bottles for years now, some budding companies are still packing their e-liquids in flimsy bottles unsuitable for travel.

To avoid sticky situations mid-transit, consider picking up some sturdy bottles at your local vape store or supplier; they almost always sell empty bottles priced at just a few bucks for batches of three to six.

Tip #4: Learn The Rules Around Your Mode of Public Transit
All airline, bus and train services have websites designed with intuitive layouts for prospective passengers to read their safety guidelines. This is definitely a step worth taking if you’re traveling publicly, as some service providers (particularly airline carriers) can be stricter than others.

As an example: you’re generally allowed to have almost all your vape gear in your carry-on baggage. However, this is a US-specific rule and other countries may have different regulations. For this reason, it’s best to always check your service provider’s website to know what you can pack and in which type of baggage it should go.

Tip #5: Check The Laws Around Vaping at Your Destination
Some countries, such as the UAE, Japan, New Zealand and practically all of Scandinavia currently have a ban on the domestic sale of nicotine e-liquids. However, these countries do allow you to import said e-liquids for your own personal use.

It’s worth doing a bit of research on the laws around vaping at your destination, if only to know whether or not you should pack extra bottles of vape juice. More importantly, you’ll also want to refer to their laws around public vaping.