Jay71

I'm flying HKG to SEA to YVR. Can I buy duty free alcohol in HKG and carry it on all the way to YVR? We saw a sign at the in town check in, and followed up with the agent, that says there were additional liquid check points for flights to the US which meant we should not be buying duty free alcohol in HKG. Does this sounds familiar to anyone? Worst case, were going to try to buy some duty free in SEA.
TIA

Steve M

Yes. There will be a gate security check for US-bound flights before boarding in HKG. They will confiscate any liquids over 100ml. They even confiscated my cough syrup medicine that I purchased in the airport and for which I had a receipt, because the medication exception is honored only if you have a doctor's prescription. You still have the option of buying it on-board your US-bound flight.

rkkwan

And you will need to go through US customs and then security again before departing to Canada. Shouldn't buy in HKG, shouldn't buy on the plane to SEA either.

Steve M

Oh, good point. US Customs would not be a problem, as long as you're not over the US duty-free limit. But if you bought on the airplane to SEA, you'd have to put it in your checked bags for the onward connection to Canada. This would be perfectly okay, as long as you can pack it such that it won't break. But in order to carry it on the SEA-YVR flight, it would have to be purchased after security in SEA at the duty free store.

number_6

HKG duty free prices have risen a lot in the past few years (thanks to the boom in China), so most items are cheaper now in US. There is quite a bit of variation in US duty free alcohol prices from city to city (BOS is one of the cheapest, fwiw) and not sure how SEA fits in, but for alcohol <$200 per bottle it should be ok (I suspect SEA prices are high vs. other US cities). So having to buy in SEA is not a bad outcome. As mentioned above, it will be confiscated at SEA if not stored in your checked bag for SEA-YVR.

tentseller

With your routing the only possible Duty Free purchase is airside in SEA.

• All HK flights to US are subjected to additional security at gate where all 100ml+ liquids are confiscated.
• Buying on the HKG SEA flight will not work due to US TSA screening of onward flights from SEA after US CBP.
• With the implementation of ITI for intl to intl transit bags at SEA you will not see your checked bags until YVR.

Jay71

Thanks for all the feedback. As we wait for our connection in Seatac, here's what we encountered...
Second screening for liquid on the airway to the plane in HKG which is kind of a weird place. Lots of people dumping lunches and stuff.
No duty free seemingly sold on our Delta flight.
Connecting in Seatac, we had to re-screen and dump our water bottles given to us on the flight so I'm assuming we would have had to dump and duty free alcohol.
Ended up purchasing at the duty free store near the gate at Seatac. Prices were OK. They did have some "Buy 2 bottles for a special price" deals which were pretty good but we didn't want to get two of the same item.

Jay71

One small point I forgot to mention, even though we were checked thru to YVR, we still had to pick up our luggage with everyone else, hand over our customs forms, and then drop off our luggage at the connection luggage belt. Funny thing was that only scanned our tags and we didn't see them go onto the belt, only piled up with a bunch of other luggage. Not sure if they had to be manually screened again too. Fingers crossed that we see our luggage at YVR. lol

tentseller

Surprise about the claiming and rechecking of bags at SEA. Since you mention HKG SEA I assumed you were flying DL.

I forgot to mention that DL does not sell Duty Free on-board anymore.

All my HKG to YYZ via DL US transit are ITI: I don't have to claim my bags at US port of entry. They are check all the way to YYZ and tagged as ITI (huge purple tag). All the flights are on DL metal.

Who is your SEA YVR flight operator?

Jay71

Both legs on DL metal.
There was an airport representative repeatedly indicating over over the speakers that all pax on our flight had to pick up our luggage at the carousel regardless where their final destination was.

Jay71

One potential problem with this scenario, if I was able to purchase in flight, was that the airport representative that I mentioned in the above post who was saying all pax had to claim their luggage also mentioned that we were not allowed to open our checked luggage unless requested to do so by customs officials who where standing by the carousel. This probably wasn't an idle threat either because they also announced that people were not allowed to use their cell phones in carousel area and the customs guy ended up scolding a number of people who whipped out their phones.

Not sure if all these regulations and our luggage not being checked through had anything to do with the S terminal we were at vs the main terminal.

aznichiro115

This shouldn't be possible, the moment you step foot on US soil you have to clear customs which means claiming your bags.

moondog

That's what I thought too, and I was shocked by his suggestion that Seattle -- of all places -- would be the test bed for disrupting this age old policy.

aznichiro115

You could also leave the secure area, put the alcohol in your checked bags, and enter the secure area through the ground side, since you have to clear security again anyways.

All international arrives, except ones with pre-clearance arrive at concourse S, it is US policy that even if you are transferring that you clear customs and immigration upon first arrival into the US, so it would be impossible have your bags checked all the way through, you would have to reclaim at the first US port.

tentseller

Things changed? It started this year.
Link to photo of the tag attached to my checked bags.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater