Tealady

I guess I am fortunate, then, because I've never experienced that type of problem at all. In fact, the Duty Free Stores in Canada use bubble wrap all the time so that passengers can put liquor into their luggage before going through U. S. Customs pre-clearance.

So, how do you transport wine in your baggage?

MisterNice

Basically I rarely bring bottles back any more. Most of the duty free stores in Europe do not use bubble wrap so I was taking a roll of it and a roll of masking tape to rewrap the booze bottles at the first arrival city in the US (usually EWR or DTW) and put them into in my checked luggage. Too often upon my final arrival in Philly or Maui I found the TSA had done their inspection and did NOT rewrap the bottles but stupidly wadded the bubble wrap separately and left no protection on the booze bottles. I also place a cheap purchased brightly colored nylon belt on the outside of my luggage as an indicator. The TSA places it in an outside zipped pocket or inside my luggage thus no indication or protection fr the bag. The TSA luggage gorillas are EVIL.

MisterNice

Fornebufox

I had this experience with a checked bag that was lost for a MONTH. Since the TSA didn't replace the bright blue belt around the red suitcase my description of the lost property wasn't even accurate. Isn't the TSA required to repack the luggage the way they found it?

Dovster

No quite.


After this experience I will never put any liquids in my checked luggage again -- at least not in the States.

N830MH

DId they get damaged your wine during your checking bags when you go through x-ray machine? I thought that means if TSA didn't get hand searches for looking the wine. I'm curious just want make sure it is everything is fine. When you get there in cities when you open the bags see if the wine is doing fine. I'm sure you will udnerstandable if your wine is not damaged when they took your bags onto the plane.

CLELOSER

Sounds like a problem with the TSO not being able to see/ETD the wine properly without tearing things apart.

I would avoid using lots of tape, or putting things into multiple bags. If you are going to use bubble wrap, use a minimal amount of tape so its easy to unwrap/rewrap.

Bags that are stuffed the the gills are not going to be repacked just the way you had them. Our number 1 job is to find the the item that item that alarmed the EDS machine. Our number 2 job is to make sure everything gets back into the bag. If its easy to remember where everything was placed originally, sure we are going to TRY to get things back where they were originally. That is usually easier said than done with overstuffed bags.

tc fly girl

Always bring a couple bottles of wine back from Europe when I know I'm checking bags. No problems. Haven't been checking bags lately however, too much hassle. Drinking more domestic wine now.

apx068

I once needed a very strong container to ship some bottles that I really did want to arrive intact...

A quick trip to Walmart & I came away with a US Post Office approved plastic mail box. Those things are strong! I fill the base with a little bubble wrap and then you can slide 1 large or two small lightly bubble wrappred bottles into it.

Put the whole thing in your luggage and when the TSA take the case to peices, it's obvious how to put it back. I've never had a problem...

Jason

greggwiggins

If you're very serious about traveling with wine, you can get one of these Travel Wine Safes offered by Wine Enthusiast. The ad says they're "FAA approved for airline travel".

They're only $399 each, plus $40 shipping. (That's the price in U.S. dollars for shipment to U.S. addresses)

If you're flying within the U.S. you can stop by a Southwest Airlines counter. According to their website, "Liquor and wine packaging is available for sale at Southwest Airlines ticket counters for $5.00 per unit." I haven't checked into what that packaging consists of but it may be an option as well.

Tealady

Thanks for the tip, Jason! That sounds like a great idea and I will try it out when I travel to CA next week.