I'm planning to take some bottles of wine in my checked luggage on a Hong Kong to Helsinki flight. Will it freeze on such a long flight?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: No.

Never had a bottle of wine freeze. I've taken flights from SYD-LAX/DFW with bottles of red and white at various alcohol levels in my checked bag - never frozen.

freeze no, but break... you never know. Wrap it up good.

I did have a bottle of vodka break on me once - much less of a clean up than if it was red wine

Given the simple availability o0f styrofoam shippers it seems beyond silly to pack wine in a suitcase. I fly USA-Japan a lot with wine and it is always in styrofoam. Available at any shipping good store or wine merchant. In HK just get it from Vinfolio.

It won't freeze because of it's alcohol content. But, depending on the wine, it may be "damaged" as in undrinkable due to exposure to the extreme cold.

Do luggage holds on big long haul airliners really get extremely cold? I thought that was a long-disproven myth. I've never seen any evidence of it.

It depends on which hold your bags go into.

Some get more heat (the one they put the pets into for example) than others do.

For something in a suitcase to get to the freezing point of wine (generally about 25 degrees but will vary significantly based on the alcohol content) the hold has to be below freezing long enough to chill your bag and whatever the wine is packed in to that temperature and the liquid in the bottle, and hold it for a while. If for example you put a bottle of wine out on your deck in the winter when it's fifteen degrees out, it won't instantly freeze, but will take a while.

I've had things like olive oil congeal (which can happen starting at 40 degrees) on flights, but have never had a bottle of wine freeze.

I brought 20 bottles of wine in my suitcase SYD-LAX without issue. Wrap in plastics bags and lots of clothes for padding, you'll be fine.

Wine will freeze (if you put it in the freezer). Colder freeze point than water.

I've carried wine and spirits at different times in my checked-in luggage. It has never frozen. (Things don't generally freeze in checked-in luggage: people put shampoo, scents and various other liquids in the hold without any problems.)

A bigger risk is that the bottle will break, so wrap it up well in copious amoutns of clothing, even bubble-wrap and copious clothes.

No. The more critical question is will the bottle break? I have yet to experience a mishap, but it would not be pretty. I generally pack the bottle securely as far from the edges as possible surrounded by clothes.

However carefully consider what would happen if everything in your suitcase gets soaked. And generally better if that happens on your return flight home. Red wine would probably be the worst.

Honestly I don't get people who pack duty free liquor just to save a few $ (I realize in some countries the savings is more substantial than here in the USA). Though if it is something that you can't find at home, that makes more sense.

This thread (which is several threads merged which is why it doesn't read that well) offers several suggestions on packing wine should anybody be looking in the future

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...uitecases.html

if the hold goes below 0 C, the airline will have a huge mess. lots of things will freeze. the hold has the air oming out of the cabin. i have never heard of it freezing(below zero c))

I've brought back wine from both Europe and Australia. For Europe, it's been single bottles wrapped in my luggage. From Australia it's been cases in nothing more than the cardboard cases. (Yes - it was a risk but all 24 bottles made it. Probably wouldn't do it again). Never had any problems.

Of course, I've now jinxed myself and my next bottle of wine will burst upon connection with a baggage handler.