Why no wine in checked bags?
 

We hear so much about 3-1-1 that nearly everyone knows. What I did not know is that I could not have 2 bottles of wine in my checked baggage--in the US, that is. I had it with me from Sydney to L.A. but when I wanted to connect I was asked if there was wine in my checked bags. Is this a new thing? Was I being singled out?

i have not had any problems checking wine in transferring from syd-hnl-lax-sfo-ord. all on qantas/AA flights. i didnt ahve any problems on United flights on the ord sector. In fact, my bag was never singled out for etd swap. you may encounter that tsa may wish to wipe the bottles and if they not keen to do it due to extra work, they may tell you its not allowed as checked baggage. the only problem is breakages.

On Alaska Airlines, you are welcome to check wine as baggage. I highly recommend proper packaging...

I suspect it was a customs question in the interests of collecting duty, not a security question.

I don't think so. Customs agents in the states never care about a few bottles of wine. While you can bring 1 liter duty free, the paperwork to collect 20¢ or 30¢ duty for a half dozen bottles isn't worth their effort. I see reports of people who brought a dozen or two bottles from Italy or France in their checked bags, declared it, and customs just waived (perhaps I should say "waved") them through.

I think it would help to know who was asking the OP about the wine and what rules they quoted (or maybe invented) to justify its confiscation. My guess: someone had planned a dinner party later that evening and forgot to stop at their local ABC Wine and Beer shop to pick up the correct vintage.

It was at the United counter, not a TSA rep.

I kept the bottles and rented a car since I was only a 2-hour drive from home.

This is what I sometimes do when I come back from Germany.

I usually bring 2 pieces of luggage with me , my regular one and my roll aboard. Returning home I stuff the roll aboard with about 10 bottles of wine. I declare it all. Never had a problem with anyone. Customs asks me to open up the roll aboard, but thats about it.

I flew with 3 bottles of wine securely wrapped in checked luggage on WN last month. I could tell TSA had gone through the bag, but they made it through.

Some airlines don't want the wine in checked luggage because they are afraid it will break and damage other peoples luggage, and they'll be liable..

See this FT thread where UA forced the OP to toss a $90 cabernet in the garbage. Write a letter of complaint to UA. Tell them that if they don't want your business, no problem, there are plenty of other airlines which will be glad to provide transport.

If this is a UA policy, its applied in a very inconsistent manner. I've checked through wine with UA before. That being said, improperly packed liquids are a nightmare for your fellow passengers - nothing like getting to a city for a business meeting early the next morning, only to find your clothes covered in booze - someone else's booze.

This is certainly not at TSA rule. I work in the beverage business and frequently travel with liquids in my checked luggage. Only a problem at times when you depart from Mexican airports...

The airlines' biggest concerns is breakage. I started packing wine in molded Styrofoam boxes since the current liquid mess began. They are very durable and lightweight.

The biggest issue is that they are bulky and take up a lot of space in your luggage.

I carry bubble wrap in the outside pocket of my luggage at all times. It is lightweight and and works great for wrapping up a couple of bottles of wine (or any other liquid) before putting them inside my suitcase.

Give it a try! ^

I have done this but dont anymore. It works fine if the TSA officers properly rewrap the bottle with the bubble wrap after they inspect the wine. Unfortunately they rarely do and often I have often found the bubble wrap in a wad in one side of my luggage and the bottles in the other side. I now put any wine in separate luggage. I have alled and emailed the TSA but it is useless as they dont appear to care.

MisterNice

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?

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

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?

No quite.


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

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.

The problem most of you have encountered.
 

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.

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. :)

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

This May Be The Ultimate Option
 

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.

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