Travelling with a CPAP machine

[Flossie]

I will be going to China in 2 months for about 3 weeks. Has anyone had any experience with this or any advice? I have a Resmed AirSense 10 and a protable machine.

[PoolQ]

Do not put it in checked baggage, even inside a suitcase. (regretted this)

You can get a document to printout from the FAA that says the TSA rules about not being counted as a bag. Never had to use it

Bottled water in the humidifier, if you don't drink the local water don't put it in the humidifier

I never left it in my hotel room, if it looks expensive they may grab it. Yes even in 4-5 star hotels in Asia. Carry it with you  or put it in the safe at the front desk.

Other than the above I've never had a problem with it

[Sleeprider]

Your machine is designed to run on international power using the AC power adapter, but you need to have whatever outlet adapters apply to the countries you will visit. Outlet design may vary from mainland, Taiwan and Singapore. Inexpensive outlet adapters are available on Amazon and other outlets.

Don't change your machine's time to match local time when traveling, or you may have a very hard time changing it back when you return. The time on your machine is totally unimportant and there is protection for compliance data that may prevent you from changing time to an earlier day upon return. When traveling to China you cross the dateline.

[Flossie]

Thankyou PoolQ and Sleeprider. These  are really helpful advice. Much appreciated. I must admit I'm quite fearful of going to China with my cpap.

[chill]

I spent a month in Thailand this past January with a stopover in Taiwan.  No one batted an eye when I carried two bags onto the plane.  I always left it sitting out in my room, no one stole it or messed with it.  

Enjoy your trip with all of the CPAP comforts of home!

[NotADr]

I agree that you should carry-on your machine and not check it. In the US, it is law that that airlines can't count it as carry-on, and I've never had a problem carrying my Resmed bag as well as two other carry-ons (one larger, and one sized to fit under the seat) on domestic flights. However, for international travel, I would check with the airline before assuming that it won't count as a carry-on, as I recently encountered an airline (can't recall which one) that did count it.
I think it helps to have one of those 'medical device' tags on the bag to avoid questions by gate agents. You can buy one; what I did was just search online for an image and laminated it in plastic.
If the electricity where you are traveling is unreliable, consider taking a battery or portable power pack. If the voltage is known to fluctuate, take a surge protector. Take an extension cord for those hotel rooms with minimal outlets.
Have a good trip!

[Technopauper]

I've taken mine to Malaysia and to airports in country, no eyelids batted and general interest and nothing more, I used bottled water as another suggested and left it in my hotel rooms without issue. I really wouldn't expect this type of theft from decent hotels and I do more than my share of travel and often leave laptops etc in my room

Rob

[DeepBreathing]

You won't need to worry about crossing the date line as China is in the same time zone as Western Australia. Also, China uses the same plug type as Australia and New Zealand so you won't need an adapter. (You will need one if you're going to other countries, though).

I've taken my machine all over the place (eastern and western Europe, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar) and never had a problem. I'll be taking it to Thailand and Laos later this year, and again I don't expect any problems at all. I made a little "Medical device" label which fits in a standard luggage tag but nobody has ever questioned the machine and nobody has ever stolen it.

[Flossie]

Thankyou so much everyone, you have all put my mind at ease. I appreciate you all taking the time to answer my query.

[allanri]

I travelled to Greece in June, and had no problems carrying my machine on board the plane. I would recommend putting the different components into ZipLock bags though ... I had to unpack the machine, my humidifier, mask, tubing, etc.  to go through the security checkpoint.  I didn't much like the idea of these things, my mask especially, bouncing around the plastic trays they use for putting things through the x-ray machine.  Thousands of people have put their shoes and other items that touch the ground in them, and I'm sure they don't get cleaned very often.

One thing I had trouble with in rural Greece was finding distilled water for my humidifier.  It simply wasn't available.  I suppose I could have used bottled water, but it had a fairly high mineral content. As I was there for a month, I figured prolonged use of highly mineralized water might cause deposits to build in the humidifier ... so I ended up not using the humidifier. Maybe I was being overly cautious though?