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Business travelers hopping on planes this morning won’t have to place their laptops in a gray bin for a separate screening. If they have the right kind of laptop bag, that is.

As of Saturday, the Transportation Security Administration is letting people with “checkpoint friendly” bags leave their laptops inside. The TSA won’t offer a seal of approval for any of these bags, but it’s published some guidelines: The bag must have a dedicated section for the laptop that can lay flat on an X-ray belt; no snaps, zippers or buckles can cover the laptop; and there can be nothing in the laptop compartment other than the computer. The TSA says that butterfly- and trifold-style bags are in, as are sleeves. Accordion-style bags and backpacks are out.

We’ve been searching the Web for “checkpoint friendly” bags you can buy today. Not counting sleeves, which protect a computer but don’t eliminate the inconvenience of taking it out of the bag, we found three companies that have bags for sale right now:

Aerovation makes a laptop bag with a compartment for the computer that butterflies out from the main bag. It comes in fabric for 9 and a leather model for 9. Unfortunately, both are currently sold out.

Incipio makes what’s essentially a black sleeve with a shoulder strap that’s designed specifically for the Macbook Air, Apple’s ultra-thin laptop. It’s .99 and it too is sold out.

CODi sells a hinged back with a Velcro patch and buckles that hold the two compartments together. It sells for 5. And according to the company’s Web site you can currently buy one.

The TSA’s decision to allow these bags this soon seems to have caught the luggage industry off guard. Several companies, including Mobile Edge, Skooba, Targus, and Briggs & Riley have designs and prices of checkpoint friendly bags available now. Unfortunately the bags won’t ship until later this year.

Article Source: EZEDIR.COM