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What’s the harm in whipping out your e-cigarette on your next domestic or international flight and vaping away to your heart’s content? After all, it’s just water vapor that’s given off, and you’re not causing any trouble with your fellow passenger, right?

Think again, high-flyer, because the use of e-cigarettes on flights in the US is banned.

Some of us may be old enough to remember when smoking was allowed during flights. Back in those crazy old, carefree days, cabins were filled with smoke and armrests had their own little ashtray. How quaint! Smoking has, however, been banned on planes for the last 30 years, and last year the Transport Department issued a ban on e-cigarettes and the e-juice they contain.

Taking that regulation a step further, a House panel voted in June to make it illegal for passengers to vape while flying. The move was due in large part, said Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, to the rising popularity of e-cigarettes among the public, as she possibly envisioned whole rows of passengers merrily vaping away on flights.

Jetting off with E-Cigs and E-Juice

So, whether you’re a businessperson and frequent flyer who vapes, or you’re heading off on a wild cross-country or overseas adventure this summer, what can you do with your e-cigarettes? For starters, you can’t pack them in your check-in luggage. The authorities have also banned that, as they fear the possibility of vaping devices, which have batteries, catching fire and potentially endangering an aircraft.

The good news is that while you certainly may not zap up your e-cigarette when you’re on your next flight, you can bring it on board with you. It’s permitted to carry vaping devices either in your hand luggage or on your person – as in, in your pockets. This is so you’re able to keep an eye on the device and ensure nothing happens to it, or that it doesn’t do anything it shouldn’t do.

Even vaping novices starting out with an e-cigarette starter kit with tobacco e-juice possibly after many years of smoking, have nothing to worry about. Just take your kit on board and look after it, and then you’re all set to start vaping when you disembark and are out of the airport. Some airports may have smoking or vaping lounges, inside or outside the terminal buildings, while others many not permit either on the premises.

Vaping in Public

And a word about flying and summer and all the vaping that’s going on: always keep e-cigarette etiquette in mind when you’re using your device. A relatively recent survey on the topic found that most Americans – 63% – had no problem with people in close proximity to them using an e-cigarette or other vaping device. This included in such public places where cigarette smoking is outlawed, such as malls, restaurants and bars, and at sporting events.

Nonetheless, if you’re in the company of people, or there are others nearby — at the beach or a park, for instance — be mindful of them before you start vaping. Even though you won’t be blowing smoke in people’s faces, it is always good to ask those around you if they mind if you vape.

A little manners goes a long way, and your friends and acquaintances will like you all the more for it, leaving you to get on with your vacation vaping in peace.