Phone broken before your flight home

It depends on what is broken. The airport and aviation rules are about the battery, not the glass:

• Cracked screen or back: not a battery hazard on its own. Cover sharp cracks with clear tape so they don't cut you.
• Swollen, hot or smoking phone: don't fly with it. Aena, which runs Spain's airports including Tenerife South and Tenerife North, says travelling with lithium batteries or devices that are damaged, defective or recalled is strictly forbidden. The UK CAA says batteries that show signs of damage, overheating or swelling should never be carried on an aircraft, and EASA says swelling, heat or smoke are clear signs something is wrong.
• Crushed or punctured phone: treat it as damaged. EASA notes that in-flight battery fires have sometimes come from damaged phone batteries.

Look for a screen or back that is lifting away from the frame, a phone that no longer lies flat, or a gap along one edge. Other warning signs are a phone that gets hot while doing nothing, or a chemical smell. Don't press the screen back down and don't charge it.

A swollen battery can usually be replaced, which makes the phone safe to fly with again. A1 Computers replaces batteries at the counter; see phone battery replacement in Tenerife.

1. Save your boarding pass somewhere else. Email it to yourself, add it to a travel companion's phone, or print it at the hotel reception.
2. Back up while the phone still works. Apple says a backup gives you a copy of your information if the device is ever replaced, lost or damaged; Android backs up to your Google Account, with 15 GB free.
3. Write down the numbers you'll need: your airline, your accommodation, and the people collecting you.
4. Message us your model and flight time on WhatsApp 641 780 077 so we can check whether the part is in stock.

Often, for the common faults. At A1 Computers many screen repairs are done the same visit when the part for your model is in stock. Send the model and your flight time first, so you don't make the trip for a part that isn't in.

Water damage and board repairs take longer, because the board has to be cleaned and tested properly. If your flight is close, the priority may be saving your photos rather than the phone; see getting photos off a broken phone. You get the price before any work starts, so you can decide whether to repair here or at home.

• Keep your phone with you in the cabin. The UK CAA says phones, tablets and laptops should normally travel in the cabin unless they are completely turned off and protected from damage.
• Power banks and spare batteries go in the cabin only, never in checked bags, Aena says, and Aena does not allow external batteries to charge devices during the flight. The CAA limits passengers to two power banks.
• If a phone gets hot in flight, the CAA says to switch it off, stop charging and alert the cabin crew immediately; IATA gives the same advice for hot, smoking or damaged devices.

Airlines can set stricter limits of their own, so check yours.

At A1 Computers, Local 4, Centro Comercial San Eugenio, Av. de los Pueblos 20, 38660 Costa Adeje. Walk in Monday–Saturday 10:45–21:30 or Sunday 10:45–14:00, or message 641 780 077 or call 922 71 35 82 first. You get the price before any work starts. Diagnosis costs €15.

For theft, police reports and other holiday emergencies, see phone broken, wet or stolen in Tenerife.