I bought two bottles of liquor from a duty-free shop at EWR. On my trip back, I would like to return them to the duty-free shop (inside the terminal), but

- I don't think I can carry-on liquor, so I have to check the box
- If I check the box, I can only reach the box after I get out of security to reach the baggage claim
- But this means I can't get back through the security and reach the shop where I can return the liquor?

Any suggestions?

I am not sure of the policies from airport to airport, but at BNA, if there was someone that wanted to go beyond security to return an item at a shop, the supervisor or representative from the shop was called and they were responsible escorting the individual to their shop and back out once the transaction was completed (obviously after the individual is screened).

Call the store, ask to speak to a manager. Ask to either do the business outside of "secure" area, or for an escort into the "secure" area.

Resell the bottles to arriving passengers?

"Get your duty-free liquor at prices only slighly higher than duty free!"

Huh ? You bought liquor, carried it around on your trip and then brought it back ? Or are these empty bottles ?

Maybe I'm a bit slow today (it happens).

You use the word "return" like many Americans, who have come to assume that any business from which we purchase something is obligated to purchase it back from us later upon our demand. What it seems that you really want is to return the item for refund -- if you simply wanted to return it, you could go toss it over the gate towards the store.

If you bought something in the secure area of an airport (or anywhere, for that matter), you really shouldn't count on being able to go sell it back to them. It's yours now.

Yes, that is the coloquial meaning of the word "return" in the context of retail.

And I'm sure the TSA would be cool with this . . .

Well, that depends on the "return" policy of the merchant. If the merchant has a return policy that provides that a given "business from which we purchase something is obligated to purchase it back from us later upon our demand" within a certain period of time and under certain conditions, that has the force of a contract. To say "It's yours now" without any inquiry into the actual return policy of a given merchant gives no creedence to the fact that the merchant and purchaser entered into a contract with certain terms. Exactly what those terms are is between the merchant and the purchaser.

While your viewpoint may have merit, it is just that-- a view point-- and it has no bearing on the reality of our consumerist culture. If Macy*s implimented a "no return" policy, how much do you want to bet that their sales go down-- their net sales.

If the TSA gets in the way vis-a-vis airport merchants, I would go so far as to say that it might constitute tortious interference.

The receipt claims a 30-day return policy. Unfortunately I don't plan on flying out of the same terminal any time soon (and none of the terminals at EWR are connected). We'll see what happens

Out of curiosity, what booze do you have?

Ebay comes to mind..

Alcohol on ebay? Isn't that against some state's law? (UT comes to mind, although I'm not sure)

Just sell the beautiful glass container. Purchaser is responsible for safe disposal of any contents.

At EWR, the A1 pier and the C concourse are connected via an airside bus.

Huzzah! Thanks for making my otherwise very droll day!!