Originally Posted by
rubesl
I have flown many times with a bottle(s) of wine in my checked bag. I always put a zip tie on the zipper & my bag has never been opened. Now, I always get pre-check (because I have GE), but I don't think that makes a difference with checked bags (I don't think the checked bag x-ray operator even knows).
Interesting. Mine are rarely opened on the outbound, but when I return, often with bottles of wine, whisky, and beer, the bag has almost always been inspected. Worst is when they remove the bottles from their protective sleeves and have a problem repacking them properly--no breakage yet, fortunately, but I have absorbent padded bags for a reason, and removing the bottles (and a few times the padding!) from those bags defeats the purpose...
I have been lucky with traveling with hundreds of dollars of booze at a time so far. I think if I bought something really worth a ton, I'd have it shipped back--something recognizable, too (e.g. a Pappy Van Winkle would NOT be put where TSA sticky fingers could touch it, but a $200 Suntory Hibiki is OK in the checked bag as the average TSA bag checker doesn't know what it is).