Mikes easy way to transport wine in six steps

1. Go to Home Depot
2. Go to the plumbing aisle
3. Buy a length of the 4 inch drainage plastic pipe. They will have two types of 4 inch pipe, you want the one that is black inside, white outside, it's got a thinner wall then the other one
4. It does not matter if it's the perforated one or not
5. If you have a hand saw at home skip this step. If you don't have a saw at home, take your pipe over to the miter boxes in the molding section, and cut it to length. A standard champagne bottle will be somewhere between 11 and 12 inches tall, depending on the bottle they use, if your suitcase is only an inch or so wider, make it as wide as your suitcase
6. Take a utility knife if necessary and cut off any of the sharp edges from the saw

It will cost probably $8 to $10, and you get enough for eight bottles (usually they are 8 foot lengths). It's cheap, light, and you won't get anything stronger. It's how I bring all my wine back from California I don't have shipped,

Bring an empty bottle with you to make sure it fits, it's hard to picture it fitting in the 4 inch pipe, but even the champagne bottles easily fit.

I pack the tubes with clothing on the way out, and on the way back use the clothing to plug the ends to keep the bottles safe.

Three or four trips a year, ten or 12 bottles a trip , been doing it for a couple years and never had a problem.

Unless it's in a Styrofoam shipper mentioned above, don't tell the airline you have wine, as they will require it to be in a Styrofoam shipper. If they don't know they won't care, but you mention "I'm bringing wine over with me" they could insist it be packed in Styrofoam.