I am currently writing this from an airport table in 🤮 New Mexico. I was dropped off by an Uber, found the terminal, and went inside to print my boarding pass.
After a 10-minute wait in the TSA line, I approached the check-in station where they check my ID… except they couldn't. I was using California's new Digital ID Pilot Program. Accepted at LAX but not this place, apparently. Well I still had my physical ID so it wasn't a huge issue.
I then took my shoes off and put the contents of my pockets in a bin. I used a second bin for my laptop bag. A third bin held my Bluesmart luggage.
Finally, I stepped into the line for the mmWave scanner. They used to produce a 3D image of your body (sans clothes), and an agent in a back room would highlight areas of interest on a diagram for the agent at the scanner to manually check. Yes, an agent used to see a naked 3D model of everyone that went through the machine. Nowadays, automated software looks for objects in the 3D scan, and highlights them for manual inspection on a cartoon diagram. I still didn't like the idea of a government machine 3D scanning me and doing who-knows-what with the 3D model afterward, even though they claim it doesn't get saved.
Once I got to the front, I let the agent know that I wanted an opt-out. They told me to wait, and they radioed for an agent to pat me down. It took 20ish minutes for one to arrive, and another 5 to take me to a private screening room.
The found 15 pounds of cocaine.
Kidding, kidding. They found none of it, and I was on my way in no time. After that, I waded my way through the crowds to find my gate, and waited for boarding to begin. Of course, Delta Airlines 🤮 changed the boarding gate, but I managed to get into the correct line. Once at the front, I scanned my boarding pass, and walked onto the Jetway. But that should not have happened. Why? My carry-on violated Delta Airlines policy.
On January 8th, 2018, American, Alaska, and Delta woke up and chose violence. All three announced a ban on my luggage, effective the 15th. Why? Insurance, probably. They all decided that the risk of lithium-ion combustion was too great, even though it was perfectly fine to carry on a laptop with a 100Wh battery inside of a normal bag.
What came of this? In the early days of the ban, probably quite a few angry travelers. For some smart bags, the battery was relatively easy to remove and carry on separately (because apparently that's okay). For Bluesmart, not so much.
But once the airlines smothered Bluesmart into bankruptcy in just 5 months, it's clear that their employees stopped seeing so many Bluesmart bags, and subsequently forgot to check for them at the boarding line. Instead, they do a little song-and-dance with owners of the far more popular Away bags. Prior to mid-2023, Away bags came with a small power bank that could slot into their bags under the handle. They popped in and out with the push, like a ballpoint pen click. And every Away-carrying passenger would be asked to unclick and re-click it… for some reason. I guess seeing that it was a separate item was crucial to some insurance policy or something.
My parents have Away bags, and when traveling with them, they are asked to remove and replace their little batteries, when I'm right next to them with a bag with a glowing white light 😐. I'm sure the employees find it just as dumb, but policy is policy… I guess.
I have done this several times, and boarded without issue. One time the TSA (in Pittsburgh, IIRC) flagged the bag for secondary screening. But the bag follows all TSA regulations, including a battery label on the bottom, just like any other power bank. The ban on these smart bags is entirely a policy of the airlines, and they let the bag through after some explaining (and an explosive residue test). That was the one and only time I have ever had any issues with it. Honestly, good eye on the part of the TSA X-Ray person.
It's clear that this ban has not only been a complete waste of time for everyone involved, it killed a perfectly healthy company. Since their servers shut down, I can no longer log into the app and use the integrated smart features (like the built-in scale) or GPS tracking and remote locking (since the 3G service stopped being paid for). I still miss that ability, and I really hope that someone who knows Bluetooth reverse-engineering can help restore at least some of these features eventually. I backed up the iOS app here, and the Android app can be found here.
For now, it serves as a mediocre battery bank with a slick light on the front, with a pretty well-built suitcase attached to it. The wheels are super smooth and nice to use, and the bag is well-built in every respect. It's just sad to see that it had to die over what was probably just some insurance policy issue.
I will continue to use the bag until it breaks, and I'm not going to remove the battery. If some day an airline employee stops me over it, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
Also fuck you Delta, this is stupid. I'm spelling it "Airlines".
