I Lost My CPAP Machine on a Trip to Portugal

Medical device mix-up gave writer a week of restless nights

Hannele Rubin,

AARP

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Published December 17, 2024

a person on a plane reaching for an overhead bin

Ryan Johnson

I unzipped my bag and screamed.

“What’s wrong?” my husband yelled from across our vacation rental in Lisbon, Portugal.

“This isn’t my machine,” I cried. “The trip is ruined!”

We had just arrived for a family vacation, and here I had someone else’s CPAP, or continuous positive air pressure machine. These devices are prescribed by a doctor to treat sleep apnea, a breathing disorder. An estimated 8 million Americans use one, and settings are customized for each patient. Without my own device, I was facing two weeks of restless nights instead of a relaxing excursion. How did this happen?

Most CPAPs come in similar gray travel bags. And that’s the problem. Looking back, this was an accident waiting to happen.

A case of confusion

Like many medical devices, CPAPs have become smaller, lighter and easier to tote on trips. This has been a boon to travelers with illnesses or disabilities, as airline passengers are advised to bring medical devices as carry-ons rather than in checked baggage, where they may be damaged or lost. By law, qualifying devices — such as CPAPs, portable oxygen concentrators and dialysis machines — don’t count against a passenger’s carry-on allowance.

So, on our flights from Texas to a change in Newark, New Jersey, and then on to Portugal, I carried my CPAP with me, along with my wheelie-bag and backpack. On the crowded first plane, the bins above my seat were full. So my husband wedged my CPAP into a bin a few rows in front of us. Curiously, when we got ready to deplane, it was in a bin several rows behind us. “That’s strange,” I said. “Maybe the flight attendants moved things around.”

Passengers behind us were waiting to get off, so my husband grabbed that gray bag and we left to catch the overnight flight to Lisbon.

Where’s my machine?

Upon realizing the mix-up — another passenger must have taken my machine — I quickly became a student in my airline’s lost-luggage policies. Unlike checked bags, airlines don’t give claim tickets for a carry-on, and they aren’t responsible for damaged or lost items not in their possession.

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I turned in the mystery traveler’s device (no contact info on or in the case) to the Lisbon airport’s lost and found and filed my own missing carry-on reports. This generated file numbers, which did eventually help me find my machine.

That same day, I received an email from the airline saying the mystery traveler had returned my CPAP to the airport ... in Ottawa, Canada. A cabin crew would take it to Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C., then pass it to another cabin crew bound for Lisbon, where I could pick it up the next morning.

That night was torturous. Without my CPAP, my airways sometimes narrow or close while I sleep. I may snore, or stop breathing. This usually happens a few times every hour when I’m trying to sleep. Then my body rouses itself just enough to gasp for air and start breathing again — but not enough to remember anything. But it was only one night. I thought.

The next morning, the CPAP didn’t arrive. I began contacting customer service multiple times a day. This meant hours talking on the phone, waiting on hold, leaving voicemails or sending emails or texts — all while trying to enjoy Lisbon’s cobblestone streets, museums and restaurants. Through perseverance, I got to someone who located my CPAP at the lost and found at Dulles. An official there gave me three options: pick it up in D.C., pay to have it shipped to my home in Texas, or pay (a prohibitive amount) to have it sent to Portugal. “But it wasn’t my fault,” I said. “It’s a medical device. I need it!”

I can breathe again

I considered scrapping the rest of my trip and returning to the States to retrieve my machine so I could get a good night’s rest. Instead, I made one last-ditch attempt to get it to Portugal: I googled my airline’s corporate officers and sent my sad story to every executive for whom I could find an email address, from the CEO and the president to the head of human resources. (I may also have sent it to some investors.)

Did that do the trick?

All I know is this: Two days later — a week into my two-week vacation — my CPAP arrived in Portugal, packed securely in a box. It was a “goodwill gesture,” an airline representative later said.

Now back in Texas, I took a simple step to prevent future mix-ups — taking permanent metallic markers and doodling sparkly stars, squiggles and swirls on the case, as well as placing my prescription and contact information inside. In the future, no one will mistake my CPAP for theirs, I hope.

Tips for traveling with a medical device

Here are some ways to avoid damage or loss.

Take a photo of your device and its travel bag, says Christopher Elliott, a Seattle-based travel expert and consumer advocate. If it gets lost, you can show airline officials what it looks like.
Ask the airline several days before departure about any special requirements. Your device must be Federal Aviation Administration-approved, and if you need to use it in flight, most airlines will want you to let them know about it 48 hours in advance.
Don’t put the device in checked baggage, Elliott says. Airlines usually are able to track down lost checked baggage, but not necessarily by the time you need it. Also, checked baggage can get damaged.
Place your prescription inside the case, advises the Transportation Security Administration. You may need this to prove that it’s a qualifying medical device, not subject to carry-on limits.
Attach your contact information and personalize your travel case so it won’t be confused with someone else’s. And consider placing a tracking device in your bag that syncs with a phone app.

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Hannele Rubin has written for the New York Post and several corporate publications. An avid traveler, she taught journalism at Texas A&M University.