Liquor bottles in checked luggage

When we came for our PMV in November, I declared mine at customs and put it in my checked bag. Hope this helps!

Lisa

You must declare it, It can go in checked bag or carton, " lots of Bubble wrap":-o

I put mine in my checked bag, too... wrapped in clothes and beach towels. 🙂 No far, no breaks!

Two weeks ago we had our bottles in one of the cardboard containers from Kmart and the airlines checked them through to Seattle. We flew STX to Atlanta and then Atlanta to Seattle. We declared them at customs and then TSA taped them up and put them under the plane with checked luggage. At STX we were told "they have to be in the checked luggage".

When we picked them up in Seattle 12 hours after leaving STX there was a bottle missing. It was a bottle of Cruzan banana flavored rum. My husband was less than pleased and complained. They told him that any alcohol over 80 proof is not allowed and so that would be why there was a bottle missing (there were three other bottles of Cruzan still in the box). The whole explanation made no sense to me as the rum was less than 80 proof.
It also still had the TSA tape on it.

I put some rum in a checked bag several years ago. I wrapped them so they would not break. As I stood waiting for my luggage to come down the carousel I got that order of rum. Sure enough it was my bag dripping with rum onto the belts.

So wrap them well.

You can buy up to 6 bottles (none 151 proof) as long as one is from the VI. You will need to declare them at customs but you don't need to show them.

billd

lorisue, banana flavored rum is not over 80 proof. someone just stole it. all liquor must be checked, wether in your luggage or a liquor box. it does not matter which. if you use a box, tape it up good and wrap all of the bottles. if tsa has to untape it they will tape it back up for you. you are allowed 6 bottles ( with one being a st croix rum, i dont think they really check that ) you are allowed 5 cartons of cigs too. that is per adult person.

lorisue, banana flavored rum is not over 80 proof. someone just stole it. all liquor must be checked, wether in your luggage or a liquor box. it does not matter which. if you use a box, tape it up good and wrap all of the bottles. if tsa has to untape it they will tape it back up for you. you are allowed 6 bottles ( with one being a st croix rum, i dont think they really check that ) you are allowed 5 cartons of cigs too. that is per adult person.

LOL...I knew that the rum wasn't over 80 proof, and besides they left 3 other bottles of cruzan in the box. It was quite annoying to find that things that we put in checked luggage didn't arrive at the other end. It was only a 5 dollar bottle of rum so I didn't really care about losing it but it bugged me that somewhere along the line there is an employee of either the airlines, TSA, or somebody who has access to our CHECKED luggage that feels that it is okay to just take whatever they want out of our belongings.

When I come back in a couple of weeks I will make sure to ask the airline ticket counter lady when she askes for my 20 bucks for my checked bag, "Is this a 20 dollar fee for lightening the weight of my luggage?" It is bad enough that we have to pay to check a bag but to pay the fee and then have my things rifled through and stolen on top of it ticks me off. Can I put a mousetrap in the bag?

LoriSue:

I had a similar thing happen on a trip from Hawaii. Someone stole one pineapple from the box of 6. I complained to the baggage claim department and was offered a $50. certificate towards a future flight......I looked down at the box and asked the agent if the airline would like to buy the other 5......LOL.

When we return from STT we usually ship back around 18 bottles between the two of us. Two boxes of 6 each and then pack 6 bottles in a suitcase. We always bubble wrap (or newspaper wrap) the bottles and put a cushion material on the bottom of the boxes. You can bring back more than 6 bottles each as long as you claim them and pay a government tax for the "extra bottles".

Additionally, you can buy liquor at the airport (STT) after you go through security and carry them on the plane. This works if you have a non-stop, direct flight or a connection where you don't need to go through a security check again.

I know that up to last April (2009) American & Continental allowed a six pack liquor box, for free, per passenger.

TSA has always inspected our boxes and luggage....fortunately nothing was ever missing.

F.I.