Latest in air travel hints?

If you buy in airports they let you bring...if you buy not at airports....you might consider checking as luggage.

When I travel I either brink a wine safe or the styro shippers.

When I depart I check luggage before returning car so I don't have to carry around after returning car.

I came back from Europe last Wednesday and bought three bottles of wine back with me. I put them in my hold baggage and declared them on the customs from and had no problems. They were high end wines.

what is "hold" luggage?

I believe your limitations are the 50 lb. maximum weight to your checked piece of luggage and the $750 ceiling to what you may bring in without having to pay customs. I brought back three nice bottles without a hitch.

Checked bags

Best lesson I learned in the last few years; the 'limits' that you look at on the customs form are simply the customs limits - the REAL limits are determined by your state. go to your states .gov site and find out how much you are allowed to bring in. Then bring as much as you can carry - and declare it all. The customs agent can choose to charge you duty (which is minimal) but will likely simply pass you through.

I live in California, and this summer (June) brought back 18 bottles from France. Declared them all - and the customs agent waved me through.

The bigger issue you face now is the prohibitionon carrying liquids in your carry on. This lasst trip, mentioned above, I packed 6 bottles, and my wife and I each carried 6. We would not now be able to do that. I recommend that you try to find some of those flat 6-pack boxes - popular in France, maybe elsewhere. You can pack 6 bottles side by side ina long flat box - surprisingly strong. These git well into a suitcase which, when surrounded with clothing, makes a good packaging. if you have two suitcases - that is one case. No excess baggage fees - and no carry on!

"sibeer" wrote in news:CMqdncZj-psem9TYnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

wrap carefully, they will get bounced around but if everything is tightly packed all should go well. No movement is the only part you can control, being the loosing entry in the bag toss contest is out of it.

If you are buying more than a case, get some winery to include in an order going to their importer.

Jim,

Second-hand info, so I apologize for not having all details. Friend purchased

5 cases from various wineries throughout IT and had it shipped to him in AZ/ US. One bottle was broken, on arrival, but was quickly replaced. As for customs, AZ State law (which is still in "dark-ages," and such are not known to me. However, the cases all cases are in my cellar, as he's building a home and cellar, so I know that the wine arrived per his contracting with the several wineries.

Others have given you comments on luggage. Do not know about Rome, but LHR has instituted a Duty-Free delivery of carry-on wine/etc. at the boarding area, which is a relaxation of their earlier LHR-US policy.

Hunt

snipped-for-privacy@hunt.com (Hunt) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news2.newsguy.com:

the problem with the relaxed rule is that one must be flying directly to a final destination since all arriving international pax must pass through customs and security at their first US stop. Pax are advised to put the duty free in their bags at that point. Since duty free is ridiculously priced compared to the deals that one can get elsewhere in wine growing areas one might as well just put the wine in the bags in the first place.

Yes, if the point of entry is not one's final destination, even if they have gotten the hand-off from DF at LHR, they now have liquid (more than 3oz) in their carry-on luggage. If they have to clear security after Customs, they are in trouble. Their DF wine, etc. will most likely end up on the TSA's table for later consumption at a grand party - or find its way to some landfill. As they are in possession of their luggage, at the carousel near Customs, they could place the liquid into their checked luggage, declare whatever is required by Customs and hope that the baggage handlers do not break it, or someone, TSA, baggage handlers, remove it.

Hunt

Just received this from Air France:

à main prendront effet pour tous les passagers des compagnies aériennes dans toute l'Union Européenne (UE). Les passagers ne pourront transporter que de petites quantités (100 ml max. par flacon) de liquide, gel et aérosols dans leurs bagages à main. Les emballages de ces produits devront également répondre à des exigences spécifiques. Ceci s'appliquera à tous les passagers en partance ou en correspondance dans les aéroports de l'Union Européenne.

The 6 november new rules concerning carry on baggage contents take effect for all passengers of all airlines within the EU. Passengers can only transport small quantities (100 ml maximum per container) of liquid, gel or aerosols in carry on baggage. The packaging of the products must also conform to certain specifications. This applies to all passengers leaving or changing flights within the airports of the EU.

So, definitely checked wine only.

-E