I'm making a trip out to Oregon in a week, flying in and out of Eugene. The return trip is on Alaska Airlines. Doing a bit of research, I see they offer a free "bag" if you fly out of select airports and use a properly packaged box for wine. https://www.alaskaair.com/content/travel-info/baggage/baggage-fee-waivers-exceptions.aspx Has anyone used this method for beer and know how strict they are on the actual beverages inside? I'm sure my traveling party will be picking up some wine while I'm interested in snagging a few hops and yeast bombers myself and would like to combine some packaging for the trip home.
I've done it a bunch of times, and they've never said a word. I don't know where to find shippers in Eugene, but if you're going to be in Portland there's a couple places mentioned in the Visiting Portland thread that sell them.
Thanks for the info! I'm not too concerned about finding shippers. Last time I was out there I know of at least one or two wineries that offered up boxes that they were going to toss out and we should be hitting up those same ones. Worst case, I saw a U-Haul location in Eugene has a few in stock. I'm more worried about finding some other beers out in Yachats after I think I'm set on everything. By the looks of things, I'm guessing I won't find much of any packaging materials out there.
I do it on Southwest all the time but bring extra padding!!! I personally indivdually wrap each bottle in a plastic bag and bubble wrap, then i put the wine shipper in a cardboard box with padding around the wine shipper. I also ask for fragile stickers at the airport but that doesnt stop them from throwing it around. Good luck
These thread are your friends: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/visiting-portland-summer-2017-update.517158/ https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/from-portland-to-bandon-dunes.522345/ Enjoy your visit.
Already saw both of those. Sadly, not going anywhere near Portland this time. Also not my first rodeo in the area. Ninkasi and Bier Stein are a given for me, unfortunately Agrarian Brewing won't work out schedule wise for me while Block 15 will be a stretch goal. I'll be staying maybe a mile away from Yachats Brewing when I'm out on the coast. Trying not to get too carried away on this trip, I'm buying a house about two weeks after I return and would like to have a couch to sit on and enjoy my beers. On a related note, does anyone know of the current selection of what's available inside security at PDX? I've got a couple of couple of relatives traveling through there to get out to us and back. I'm assuming some overpriced Cascade bombers that I fell for last time but anything else worth noting?
FWIW, PDX has a rule that anything for sale inside the airport has to be priced at local "street prices". You likely wouldn't have gotten those bottles cheaper. Anywhoo, enjoy your visit, and congrats on the new digs!
Bummer for your couch, Yachats makes great beer, especially their saisons and fruited sour beers. They have released some bottles, and have a crowler machine.
Was just there a week ago, and the Cascade stuff was the only stuff I saw that really stood out. I saw some Commons stuff as well, plus the usual suspects from Deschutes, Rogue, Ninkasi, etc. I only glanced over what was available, as I had no intention of buying anything, so I easily could have missed something interesting. However, the Made in Oregon stores really don't seem to focus on selling anything particularly unusual or limited.
Agreed, although it was pleasant to see Pelican's barrel-aged offerings the last time I was there (Mother of All Storms and Father of All Tsunamis).
LOL! That's right. I forgot about those. I remember thinking that Pelican must really be making a lot of MOAS these days, if you can find it now at the PDX Made in Oregon store.
Just a follow up post-trip from me to serve as a record for anyone else who may stumble on this down the line. Returned last weekend successfully with 10 beer bombers (mostly Yachats, Pelican, and Firestone Walker if anyone's curious) and 2 wine bottles . I was able to buy a wine shipper box and packaging at Sweet Cheeks Winery for $7. It wasn't the styrofoam packaging but rather the molded cardboard holders that stack and alternate back and forth. Packed up and checked in with Alaskan Air with no questions, no charges, and no problems about the contents. Only other requirement was having my name and phone number on the outside of the box. TSA opened it somewhere along the line to inspect and then retaped it, otherwise nothing else was done to it by Alasakan or me. They even had it sitting in the oversized luggage section on my arrival in Minneapolis instead of coming down the shoot of the luggage carousel. I will not hesitate to go this route again if I get to fly Alaskan out of one of their select airports that allow this.
