LGW cancelled flight, duty free?
 

Unfortunately, I don't think you have any options aside from drinking it - I don't believe the duty free would refund your purchase (which is technically impossible anyway, since you cannot take it back through security).

A hotel once gave me a bottle of nice champagne on my birthday (last day of the trip) which I didn't get around to drinking. Since I was on a HBO fare, I took it to the airport and gave it to the girl at the check-in desk - she was very pleased, though not quite pleased enough to upgrade me to business!

Correct, I believe that is the main point of the tamper evident bags, because duty free sales were being hugely impacted by the liquids restrictions on connecting passengers.

Take it to security, present it for screening. If they query it, explain.

LGW main security will be used to seeing duty free presented for re-screening because some of the connections routes go landside, because there isn't an airside route provided.

Of course, the fact that it's one of their bags may produce a raised eyebrow.

It's not the express intent of the rules at https://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes...policy/lags_en but it's within the spirit ( :) ) of the rules to let you bring the gin in with your STEB bag. I suggest explaining to security what has happened and ask them to screen it again (as if it came from another EU airport).

Technically it should be done within 24 hours of purchase (even more technically the same day, but that seems to be the practical applied criteria). Just over the 24 hour you might have a straw to clutch at. Two days later and it’s getting difficult to argue.

Of course, there’s always a chance the bag will just get put through routinely given it’s sealed and no-one will bother to look at the receipt date ...

If the STEB bag is still sealed, and the receipt is visible then you should be able to put it through as cabin baggage, just put it in a separate tray and explain to the agent at the front you are rebooked from a cancelled flight. I see the Jersey Airport website does mention this, and I was going to say "they probably don't see it often" when it occurs to me it's probably the total opposite - they have low tax items in their airport shops and have bad weather more than most airports. Your other option is to ask BA to accept an HBO bag given the background, perhaps buying a cheap bag if necessary and which could have other uses. Just wrap plenty of newspaper around the bottle. If you aren't taking your HBO allowance on board, and you have no checked luggage then even in normal circumstances BA agents are allowed to send the baggage into the hold, it is just at some out-stations they aren't aware of the protocols here.

For clothing, I'm not sure there is much you can do, EC261 doesn't really cover this, and HBO means you can't claim on the delayed luggage protections. I guess you could try to claim anyway, keeping it modest and see what happens. BA won't pay for laundry, we know that.

Ask to check your bag. My guess is that it will be a full flight for obvious reasons and they will allow you to do it for free..

Thanks all for the great advice.

So, after reading this, I came up with a nice positive plan to walk over to Three Bridges, take a day return to Brighton and make the most of it. There I would have a mooch around, by a cheap change of clothes (that I wouldn't be bothered claiming for), buy a reasonably cheap bag (that would be handy to have anyway) and just phone BA to let me check a bag for free (hopefully).

Well, that's where the plan's fallen down and I'm now in a stinker of a mood. BA have flatly refused to let me check a bag for free. I know this is normally chargeable but given (a) that this is an offer they make frequently (today's flight is full so you can check a bag for free, etc), (b) the flight IS full, I checked, (c) I'm been stranded in the UK and asked to pay my own hotel, taxi and food costs for 2 nights with no guarantee of getting it back. You would think this would be a simple straight forward thing to grant me.

I've now gone from feeling relatively ok about the situation (just one of those things, etc) to full on furious with how BA have handled it :-/

PS. I don't think the sealed bag I have the gin in, is an officially STEB bag, it clear plastic with no markings and whilst it's sealed, the receipt is not in it, this was handed to me separately. Like I say, this is new to me to and the person at the till said it was a new policy for them also. I think it's more to prevent spillage than any kind of official customs bag, the likes I've seen elsewhere in the world. What I have here, I don't think I could get through security.

The frustrating thing is, if I try and fail in the morning, I've missed the opportunity to drink some of it whilst camped in my hotel room :-)

Now then, maybe if I could decanter it into lots of small shampoo bottles from the bathroom ....

Because the walk up rate is £40 if they say no and it's a £12 bottle of Gordons :-)

I don't mind executing a plan like I outlined above, it's quite amusing and will help pass the time today, but if I have to end up paying to take my newly purchased bag and cheap gin on board than it's just pointless. I might as well drink it and throw the rest away.

Ok new plan! I'll buy a small case sturdy enough to be checked in but small enough to be used as carry on.

That way, if the check in desk say no to the checkin bag for free, I'll ditch the gin (or what's left of it), shove my backpack inside this new case and go on my way.

I also suspect this is incorrect advice from the contact centre, or perhaps the misunderstood the premise of the question. It's not the sort of thing the contact centre would be knowledgeable about. I am also almost certain the ground staff will let you check the bag in, in fact I think the self serve machines will do it too.