Road Warrior: Electronics bans will inconvenience business travellers

The banning of electronic devices on some flights is another blow to travellers this week, especially road warriors. The US ban (which was followed by the UK) prevents travellers from bringing laptops, iPads, Kindles, and larger phones on board certain aircraft. The ban applies to nine airlines operating mainly for the Middle East and Turkey.

The ban in the UK affects 14 carriers. Laptops and larger electronics will have to be stowed in hold baggage. Passengers from Turkey, Lebanon Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia will be affected

According to a survey by the Global Business Travel Association, the biggest concern for regular business travellers, in order of worry, is terrorism (45 per cent), street crime (15 per cent), illness or disease (13 per cent), theft (12 per cent), and kidnapping (8 per cent).

Regarding destinations, from a list 16 cities provided, Washington DC, Los Angeles and London were rated top three safest destinations, while Jakarta, Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur were viewed as most unsafe.

The four seasonal American Airlines services to Ireland return in the spring. The New York service to JFK will have a completely new business class cabins with lie flat seats. The cabins will be laid out with 16 seats in two-by-two configurations. On May 6th, Dublin to Chicago and Charlotte will resume, as will Shannon to Philadelphia. All four flights will have dedicated business class cabins.

The AA network is extensive and worth exploring the multicity options. New rooms, in hotels in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, will cost about $16 extra.