AKronin

My +1 is a go. ^

aidy

I think ill have to plan to attend next years visit, i always wanted to see Alaska... this will be a good excuse to get over there!

GRALISTAIR

Yes I have followed all the AK FlyerTalk DOs but never attended one -as they seem huge fun but demand a fair bit of time and I just do not get the vacation days spare as I use them to travel back to the UK and Ireland for family. So this years BBQ only on a Saturday seemed a great idea. It is costing me a crazy amount of money you would not believe but I just had to attend one. I am really looking forward. I will get the "You spent HOW MUCH just for a BBQ!!!???"

But if you see some of my itineraries you would already know I am crazy.

BOB W

I flew from ANC to NYC twice this year just to attend wine dinners, so I know what you are going through. Glad you are coming. What are you bringing to the dinner?

BOB W

What are your hours Grillmaster?

GRALISTAIR

Well if you don't mind I was just thinking of bringing a nice bourbon. Far easier with the distance I am travelling and since I will not have checked luggage etc.

BOB W

Sounds good to me.

ctporter

I too am excited about my first "do", and since I get in Friday night I will have time on Sat to go to Fred Meyer and get something I can fix without having a kitchen. Are there any side dishes that work for the BBQ?

nomadic.relief

Seeing as I am checking luggage (requirement if I am to bring some lovely OkanAgan wine - emphasis on the 2nd "eh" as for some quirky reason you Amuricans want to spell it with an O?) - anyone know how sticky customs agents are about bringing in 2 or 3 bottles instead of the 1L limit? As I have NEXUS/Global Entry, I'm certainly going to declare, I just don't want to be paying a hefty excise on top. (Got dinged rather painfully last year on a too short trip to WA - land crossings seem to be way crankier about it.)

Anything edible I should bring? It will need to be a zero prep suggestion though - nevermind the lack of a kitchen, I have precious little time in ANC as it is, don't want to spend it slicing veggies!

Staying at the ANC Courtyard, if anyone wants to taxi-share on the way to BOB W's?

BOB W

I have a brand new kitchen with pretty much any appliance and pan you would need. Surprise us!!

BOB W

Crackers & cheese or some other sort of munchies would be great.

jackal

Zero problem at all.

I've brought back wine from overseas four or five times now. Every CBP agent has a different interpretation of the law, but ultimately, I have never paid a single cent of duty, even when bringing back multiple cases (I brought 36 bottles back from South Africa earlier this year).

The law is written ambiguously with regard to personal exemptions. On top of that, the import duty on wine is exceptionally low, so even if you are charged, it's less than $1 per bottle. I've been told by various CBP officers:

-Not subject to duty at all. Don't even bother us by declaring it next time.
-The limit is based on actual alcohol volume, so at 13%, you'd need 7.7 liters of wine (10.2 bottles) to get 1 liter of alcohol, so anything less than that is not dutiable as it falls under the personal exemption
-There is no limit or duty on imported wine, as long as it's for personal use and not commercial (though bringing several cases back may make it harder to convince them that it's personal!). But you should still declare it.
-Probably subject to some duty, but it's such a minimal amount that it's not worth the paperwork hassle, so go on through and have a nice day
-The Feds don't care at all, but CBP is also tasked to enforce state import restrictions, but you're lucky you entered in California where there are no problems bringing it in

As well, about five different CBP web pages all conflict with each other. At least CBSA has a nice webpage where you can put what you want to bring in and it will tell you if you're allowed to and what the duty will be...

I've given up trying to understand what is actually right. All I know is that to be safe, I should always declare anything, I probably won't have to pay anything, and if I do have to pay anything, it'll be a tiny amount.

The Global Entry machines will ask you if you're carrying it, and you should say "yes." (I might personally feel safe answering "no" if I were bringing 1 single 750mL bottle of wine, but due to ambiguity over volume of alcohol vs. total volume of liquid, I wouldn't feel safe recommending answering "no" for anything more than that.) You will probably be sent to secondary inspection. You will possibly have to endure 5-10 minutes of questioning and an inspection. You will probably not have to pay anything.

That's my experience and my recommendation. I have absolutely no qualms about buying outside the US and bringing it back; it's pretty easy and cheap (or free) to do so, and the quality and cost of wine outside of North America usually makes it a MUCH better value than buying here and definitely worth any minor hassle.

Passing through through other countries on the way back to the US, though, can be problematic...the UAE only allows 5 (5!) bottles of wine at all if entering the country (no limit if not entering and only transiting), and some Canadian provinces have extremely high tariffs for importing wine, even in transit. If bringing home wine, always avoid stopovers on the way home and make sure the itinerary qualifies for checking your bags all the way through. But that's a different subject altogether.

nomadic.relief

BOB W - cheese and crackers, or along those lines, I can do!

Thanks for your answer jackal ... I don't even want to contemplate lugging around 36 bottles of wine.

That's about the same as I've always experienced in the past coming home to Canada, other than that one stupid 24 hour trip (I forgot it was a 48 hour absence rule for Canada) that resulted in a 100% tariff.

See everyone soon!

violist

I was thinking of doing a stir-fry just to be able to
experience the true glories of the new kitchen. Beats
trying to check a bag from UA Washington and
retrieving a wine-soaked mess.

Would this be a good idea?

P.S. It looks like my +2 has become a +1 only, that
one being lili.

BOB W

I cannot vouch for the quality of my woks but you will have several to choose from.

Glad to hear that lili is joining us!!^^