Checking beer on a plane flight/baggage

Should've added that I use hard-shell luggage.

 

Agree that things will be open but let's not give the false impression that NYC is a great place to buy beers for a gathering or party. (as far as big cities go, it downright sucks!!!!) The bottle shops are few and far between in Manhattan, selection in most of them is very limited, and the OP may have a tough time finding the Autumn Maple he wants so I would definitely pack it. If you happen to get lucky at a local Whole Foods, great, but as a former boy scout, I would always come prepared. And sealed in a ziplock baggie wrapped in a sweatshirt is my preferred method of beer transportation.

 

I have traveled with alcohol in my checked luggage. My most recent travel was to Texas where I brought two bottles of homebrew wrapped in bubble wrap and in a ziplock bag. I have traveled with alcohol in my checked luggage many times and every time the TSA has goon through my luggage. Maybe the bottles ‘look’ like potential bombs?

Anyhow, I read where several folks just use clothing as padding for their beers. I personally would not recommend this packing technique since it has been my personal experience that the TSA does not carefully repack your bag after rummaging through them.

Cheers!

 

I do this as well. It is main reason I choose Southwest; free shipping. I typically say the contents are wine or olive oil. Never been refused. Only once ,the box was opened as they didnt believe me the box had styro foam sleeves. I agree with the concern regarding TSA when they close the box after inspection. I would say 9 out of every 10 boxes I ship are opened between the curb and the plane. If the box requires strategic placments to fit back together you are asking for problems.

The best way to avoid issue is not to modify the styro foam shipper and only place one bottle per hole. I find that crumpled newpaper is the best thing to keep 22oz, 375ml, and 12 oz bottles from shifting. After packing, lightly shake and you should hear no movement at all. Knock on wood, no broken ones yet.

Alan

 

Sorry, Airline almost never open at the curb at check in. TSA opens almost always after check in. I reread and my post was worded weird.

 

I've flown with beer checked multiple times. Just wrapped it in the paper bags it was sold in and then wrapped it in clothes. Never had an issue, but every single time have opened up the suitcase on arrival and seen the TSA "Your bag has been examined" card.

 

Anyone ever use the clothes technique for moving? If they have, they would know the fail in the "sock" argument. You care about getting your beer home safely? Stop being a cheapskate and pay the $3 for a pack of bubble wrap.

 

Anyone use a box within a box (aka the inception technique)? I think I could fit a few boxes in my checked bag, and dont need many clothes for my trip. Was considering doing this to try and decrease breakage risk.

Thoughts?

 

I know that there's a lot of posts about checking beer inside luggage at the airport. It's been known that it's pretty much fine as long as you wrap/package things appropriately. However, I came across this just now and was wondering if anyone has checked in one of these at the airport and had any problems with it?


http://www.thewinecheck.com/

As someone that frequently travels, I think this may be worth it, but not sure if I want to get it unless I know someone else has used it without any problems.

 

I bought one around Christmas time and have used it twice. Both times I have had no problems, bringing back 750s, 22 oz, and 12 oz bottles. In both instances TSA opened my shipper but repackaged the box. Packed with 12 750s and a little extra bubble wrap the bag weighs in at about 44 lbs. I really like it for both plane travel but also use it on road trips to conveniently bring gifts and return with some goodies.

 

Anyone know about international flights and if putting liqour or beer in luggage is allowed. I have done it domestically if you pack it carefully. Was wondering as I am going to Scotland and Northern Ireland in a few months.

 

TSA always opens mine and never puts it back the way they found it.

 

We flew from Missouri to Punta Cana in the Dominican with 5 bombers between two checked bags. They were wrapped in sweatshirts and tightly squeezed into the rest of the clothing in the bag. We did this in a hurry because one bag was over the 50lbs. I would suggest using bubble wrap and ziplocks just to prevent any leaks. You won't have any problems unless TSA opens your bag behind the scenes and doesn't put it back together.

 

Adding to what dbrauneis said, it's perfectly legal, but anything over a liter is potentially subject to duty and excise taxes. You also might get some grief if you're trying to bring in any quantity larger than a case, because Customs might suspect you are bringing it in for commercial, rather than personal, use.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/de...g-homemade-wine)-to-the-u.s.-for-personal-use

PS - As a "found out the hard way" note (related to overseas traveling and bottle transit), I would encourage you to think about how you plan on packing the bottles you bring back ahead of time. My wife and I went to Napa a couple years ago and it was super easy to purchase a box and packing materials specifically suited for transporting wine bottles. We bought a box, packed it ourselves and then just took the box as a checked bag. The ease of this process led us to not give a lot of thought to how we would bring bottles back when we went to Spain last year. We figured we could just find the equivalent of a UPS or DHL, buy a packing box and be good to go. However, in the region we visited, most of the towns were small and finding something like a UPS store was very difficult. We ended up creating a makeshift packing box using an empty case from a winery and stuffed it with dirty laundry for protection. Not very wise in hindsight, but it was either that or leave it behind. The end result was a busted bottle (amazingly, only 1 out of 10) and a bunch of ruined clothing.

Obviously, Ireland/Scotland are not Spain, so who knows if you will have similar problems. I would simply encourage you to do a little advance research about packing/shipping options ahead of time. Or at least before you start buying bottles willy-nilly

 

I think I am just going to buy one nice bottle of limited Irish whiskey. so i will bring buibble wrap and a ziplock and should be fine. No duty or tax then it sounds like and should be a hassle with airlines it sounds like also. thanks

 

I have two Wine Checks and use them often with no issues at all. I fly Southwest on beer/wine trips so I take a carry-on and save my two free checked bags for the Wine Checks. Works like a charm.

 

AMEN! I know after hitting up 10 vineyards in 2 days, we had a few bottles in special
bags inside our jean pant legs in our checked bags. SF Int Airport HAS to know that is going to happen
with Wine Country being such a HUGE tourist destination. Bottles got home safe.
Good luck.

 

Sorry for the wall, will put a TL;DR
I looked at BA forums for this advice A LOT before my first beer-checking travel experience, so I'd like to share a lot of my experience.

A. X-rays:
In the interest of potentially new info: I accidentally put a 22oz metal water bottle (half full) through security in 2012 and the xray guy didn't notice. I saw what it looked like, just an outline of the bottle, couldn't really tell if anything was in it. This may be unique to metal, and then we'd have to talk about electromagnetic penetration depths and stuff. Also, the guy in front of me got a lighter through.

I'm not suggesting taking beer as carry-on, just trying to share that when your checked bag gets looked at, the bottle should look pretty boring. If you've seen a 3oz bottle of hand sanitizer or something on the xray machine, that's roughly what beer should look like in your check bags. Just don't wrap xmas lights and a clock around it.

B. Wrapping methods:
I've done many methods and have had 0 breaks (all except for one haul was in a Samsonite 28" normal luggage bag with wheels, not a duffel bag or hard-case luggage) including:

1. Wrapped in newspaper and then out in big shoe boxes (a few bottles per box),
2. wrapped in clothes and put in plastic boxes (a few bottles per box),
3. just wrapped tightly in clothes in the middle of my bag,
4. wrapped in bubble wrap and put in the middle of my bag (bubble wrap went around several times and I taped it up so good that a break would've just resulted in me pricking the cocoon and draining it into a glass),
5. wrapped in bubble wrap and then wrapped tightly in a tshirt (I ran a few pieces of scotch tape around the tshirt too)
6. Wrapped in newspaper in this nice cocoon type thing that I can open at top and then reuse for a same sized bottle. Then wrapped in a tshirt.

I'd recommended wrapping a sock (or multiple) around the neck of the bottle to make the bottle more column like, and then wrapping it. Also, the box within a bag/box method might look like drug smuggling; that's what my brother and beer mentor said to me (maybe because I went all out and saran wrapped the boxes til the plastic was opaque). I haven't used ziplocs too much because a fair amount of bottle don't fit easily/at all. I know there are bigger than gallon sized, but my methods so far have served me.


C. International travel:
I flew with 11 bottles of beer from London to Dublin, and then Dublin to LA (layover in NY). I didn't declare the beer as vegetation (or whatever plants and foods fall under) either time because I didn't know how good beer is treated (BMC is sterile, other beer can have yeast and whatever). I did declare it as collectible glass ware for personal use. This is probably a fine line, but it makes sense to me, the beer I had is (or was, I guess that might be a new debate) a collectible. I'm guessing if they cared and checked, my declaration and bag both showed bottles, and they can't really tell if liquid was in it or not. I don't know if they actually looked at the bottles, but they all made it through.

D. A Westy-side story:
One friend and I traveled from Brussels to Paris to London by train with 11 bottles of Westy 12 each, wrapped in random clothes items. They were in a backpack I borrowed from an outdoor enthusiast friend (my friend had a similar backpack), and we were staying in hostels, traveling with five other friends. We had no ziploc bags, tape, newspapers, or bubble wrap. See Part C to see how else the bottles traveled.
Despite all the travel, jostling, jogging, adding a few souvenirs, and three flights, not a single bottle broke for either of us. And he was stupid and kept wearing the clothes they were wrapped in, so he'd have to rewrap a few in every city. On top of this, I had one more flight to SF the day after I landed in LA, so four flights with me not rewrapping anything and the TSA potentially screwing with my bag, 0 breaks.
I don't know if it's legal or not, but my friend also might've brought Cuban cigars on the same journey and never declared them...

TL;DR:
Bottles should look very nonthreatening under xray. Wrapping in normal household items/clothes works! Take your time and more is better than less. If it fits in a ziploc start with that, then add clothes or bubble wrap. Be very liberal with tape. Declaring things internationally allows for some cleverness (collectible glassware vs. bottle with live yeast...). I think my tale in D backs all this up.