Flyingto LGA on crj, bag valet vs bag check?
 

best I could do with the title.

I have a few bottles of alcohol that I want to bring home. I can check the bag for free but should I expect a huge delay in getting that bag at LGA baggage carousel? Or is it fairly quick, comparable to the bag valet check @ the gate that we will have to do anyway?

Im debating checking the bag vs just spending $15 and shipping the bottles back USPS priority mail. I think the bottles will be better protected in my luggage FWIW.

How do you plan to get two bottles of alcohol past security so that you can valet-check them?

I dont. I’m sorry I wasn’t clear. I can either check them OR mail them.

I’m just trying to figure out how much longer the checked bag retrieval process is at LGA compared with its VERY fast gate valet system.

TIA

USPS is not an option:
https://www.usps.com/ship/shipping-restrictions.htm

Just check it....Delta has a baggage delivery time guarantee or you get 2,500 skymiles. Despite how bad LGA is the bag delivery times aren’t really any different.

That's great. But, OP is flying AA!

Surprised about USPS...guess I won’t do that anymore... perhaps UPS ground.

Honestly, since these are bottles of beer, now I am wondering if the pressure changes in the checked luggage is a concern.

what kind of beer? me, I would just drink it to avoid the hassle;)

I checked a bag SDF-DCA-LGA last week (Kentucky bourbon, similar reason). On arrival, I quickly popped into the lounge for a snack and then went down to baggage claim. All the bags had already come in, and mine was waiting for me. Not that it always goes that fast, I'm sure, but at LGA I wouldn't expect to wait more than 15 minutes after getting to baggage claim.

My last trip to LGA, my checked bag appeared on the belt within three mins of me getting to the baggage claim...and that was with a firearm in the bag. It shouldn't be too long of a trip and might be easier than trying to ship it and hope somebody can sign for the bag if you're not around to claim it.

I do this all the time (checking beer). If there were significant pressure changes in the cabin, all of the dogs wouldn't make it. Unless they are improperly bottled/canned, you should have no problem. I brought a suitcase home full from Belgium last year...all fine. I wouldn't volunteer that it has beer in it though, and just like with UPS, there is the chance that some could go missing.

UPS is a crapshoot as they are technically not permitted to ship alcohol (same as USPS, but using USPS is a federal issue, which you want to avoid), so there are lots of stories of alcohol getting 'audited'.

For those that are uninformed about the state of craft beer, just because the beer isn't expensive, doesn't mean that it isn't rare or impossible to get outside of the brewery or the town it is made or that the trade value isn't exorbitant. Boston, as an example, has two of the best IPA producers in the world and their quality is unmatched in many parts of the country (if you thought Sam Adams or Harpoon for even a second, you are stuck in 2005). I would be surprised if many, many bags checked in BOS didn't have some Tree House or some Trillium tucked in the bag. If you go on eBay, there are single cans of TreeHouse for $50 or more. So, just like your Napa trip, it's often worth packing some local craft beer in your checked luggage.

So, if you order it on Ebay, how is it shipped? :)

Without guarantees, I'm guessing...

You must have never flown to DCA. 3 minutes, I'm jealous.