Tips for flying with wine in checked luggage?

Cannot imagine placing bottles of wine or any other liquer checked bags. Why not simply buy it when you arrive?

Cannot imagine placing bottles of wine or any other liquer checked bags. Why not simply buy it when you arrive?

Some people schedule their arrivals such that they don't have time to stop at a liquor store. Some are afraid they won't be able to find "their brand". Some are afraid of buying in a foreign country… the list goes on.

I was very tempted to buy a bottle wine and put it in my carry-on and check the bag this time. I was wandering in the Mercato Centrale in Florence where I found a little wine shop. I was just browsing the offerings and I came across one of my old favorites - Insoglio al Cinghale - a nice Toscana. I used to buy it all the time, but then my State Store stopped stocking it :eek: I really wanted it again, but decided it wasn't worth the risk in my little carryon… I opted to buy a half bottle of Brunello to drink my last night in my hotel room and then search the Duty Free offerings at the airport for some wine to bring back.

Go to a local wine shop that ships wine. Buy a shipper with styrofoam inserts. Pack the wine in it. Tape it up well. Check it. This is how wine gets shipped around the world via Fed Ex and UPS. It works. The bottles won't break.

I've never had to check wine for a cruise, but I did check wine to bring home after visiting Napa last year. I used Wine Skins (which are like bubble wrap but contain the leak if the bottle does happen to break) and all 4 bottles made it home intact (and it wasn't a direct flight)! If you absolutely can't wait to purchase your wine in Miami, I'd recommend the Wine Skins. Good luck! :D

You went to Napa and only bought four bottles of wine? Wow. I think the least I've ever left there with was four cases. About eight years ago I bought enough that I had it palletized and shipped via common carrier. :eek:

Next trip is in June. I have four cases out there waiting to be picked up already, and expect to buy another 2-3. Expecting a case from Fed Ex this afternoon as well. ;)

Go to a local wine shop that ships wine. Buy a shipper with styrofoam inserts. Pack the wine in it. Tape it up well. Check it. This is how wine gets shipped around the world via Fed Ex and UPS. It works. The bottles won't break.

An OK option if someone is willing to pay for the "extra" luggage. But, if someone is asking about putting the bottle(s) in their luggage, they are most likely not wanting to pay $25-100 for that box of bottles (airline dependent). To avoid that charge, they had better be flying WN or first/business class…

OR, ask if your hotel (you ARE flying in a day before, right?) if they will accept shipped wine on your behalf. But, then, you're paying the extra money as FedEx/UPS fees…

What to do, what to do? ;)

An OK option if someone is willing to pay for the "extra" luggage. But, if someone is asking about putting the bottle(s) in their luggage, they are most likely not wanting to pay $25-100 for that box of bottles (airline dependent). To avoid that charge, they had better be flying WN or first/business class…

 

OR, ask if your hotel (you ARE flying in a day before, right?) if they will accept shipped wine on your behalf. But, then, you're paying the extra money as FedEx/UPS fees…

 

What to do, what to do? ;)

FYI--can't ship wine as a consumer. USPS won't accept it, FedEx and UPS require an alcohol shippers permit. Way to get around that is to order it from a wine shop and have them ship it to your hotel for you. FedEx Ground for two bottles of wine from a high volume shop will run $12 or so. Or if you have a good relationship with a shop that ships, ask them to ship the bottles for you. Even if you bought them elsewhere, if you are a good customer the shop will usually do it for you as a goodwill gesture.

FYI--can't ship wine as a consumer. USPS won't accept it, FedEx and UPS require an alcohol shippers permit. Way to get around that is to order it from a wine shop and have them ship it to your hotel for you. FedEx Ground for two bottles of wine from a high volume shop will run $12 or so. Or if you have a good relationship with a shop that ships, ask them to ship the bottles for you. Even if you bought them elsewhere, if you are a good customer the shop will usually do it for you as a goodwill gesture.

I live in one of those backward states that don't permit shipping or receiving shipments of alcohol under any circumstances. So, I've never looked into the intricacies of shipping alcohol. I'll defer to your obvious expertise ;-)

I live in one of those backward states that don't permit shipping or receiving shipments of alcohol under any circumstances. So, I've never looked into the intricacies of shipping alcohol. I'll defer to your obvious expertise ;-)

You can also mail order your wine from a store who ships in another state and have it sent to your hotel. Wine Library and Napa Valley Wine and Cigar will ship to all but three or four states.

You can also mail order your wine from a store who ships in another state and have it sent to your hotel. Wine Library and Napa Valley Wine and Cigar will ship to all but three or four states.

I live in one of those states :eek: Pre 9/11, I was always surprised that the DABC didn't stake out the flights arriving from SFO/OAK to pick out those carrying those wine boxes of the flights (did that a few times!) and have us pay the duty tax to the state on the bottles (or even confiscate them) - just about everyone getting off those planes had boxes!

Wine bottles are hard to break. Liquor bottles easy to break. Note that most stories are of liquor bottles breaking and not wine bottles.

I've carried wine in checked luggage many times and never had it break. Yes, it COULD happen, but I use the "wrap in bubble wrap and put in plastic bag in middle of suitcase surrounded by clothes" method and that generally works pretty well. Wine bottles ARE harder to break than most liquor bottles.

Cannot imagine placing bottles of wine or any other liquer checked bags. Why not simply buy it when you arrive?

For us, it's usually because it's special wine that can't be purchased at any old supermarket/Costco. ;)

Wine bottles themselves might not break, but if the luggage is subject to extreme temperature differences the corks can work their way out enough to cause significant seepage. Additionally heat is lethal to wine, and baggage left sitting in a Tarmac in the sun can get very hot and very cooked. When I take wine with me when I travel, I pack frozen gel packs into the shipper box for a little extra assurance.

What "special" wines are you talking about that couldn't also be purchased at a larger wine retailer--there are few airports that don't have one nearby. Unless you are talking about grower producers in the Old World or micro producers in the New World, or bottles with age from your cellar, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

What "special" wines are you talking about that couldn't also be purchased at a larger wine retailer--there are few airports that don't have one nearby. Unless you are talking about grower producers in the Old World or micro producers in the New World, or bottles with age from your cellar, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Yep. ;)

We have a good friend who owns a couple of wineries. We often get wine form him that is limited production, available through the wine club only or by direct sale only, no longer available for sale, etc.

Cannot imagine placing bottles of wine or any other liquer checked bags. Why not simply buy it when you arrive?

What about those of us who buy it on our travels and want to get it home?

In my case it was a special bottle commemorating the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

I wouldn't subject "very special wines" to travel in the luggage compartment of an airline.

But then, that's just me. FWIW, just flew with a bottle of scotch in the middle of my checked bag. Wrapped in a t-shirt, snuggled in a pile of polos, it came through fine. Though it is now developing a VERY fast evaporation (though there might be some other reason for the lowering level of the contents).

Wrapping....padding...keeping away from hard items that will generate force to the bottle (especially the neck). Thats the key.

We live in New Hampshire, which is famous/infamous for low wine & liquor prices. Even so, I would wait until Florida before packing wine.

I wouldn't subject "very special wines" to travel in the luggage compartment of an airline.

 

But then, that's just me.

Regarding "special" wines that we check- We don't always check wine, but when we do it has always survived the trip both in terms of not breaking and in terms of not being ruined by extreme temperatures. Could it happen? Sure, but thus far it hasn't so we'll likely continue. And when I say "special" I mean you can't just walk into any old Total Wine and find them, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if we arrived and something had happened to it. To each his own. :)

Diapers take care of leaks.

Wine diapers are amazing! Used many times and the one time a bottle leaked - it absorbed it all!

Wine diapers are amazing! Used many times and the one time a bottle leaked - it absorbed it all!

My Amazon 3 pack was reasonably priced and the bags can be reused. It is like bubble wrap inside a bottle shaped plastic bag with a zip lock top (so light weight but pretty secure as said above if they leak, liquid is contained). Our bottles for a South Pacific cruise survived a cross country trip plus the flight from LAX south. On the way back, I put some really good jam in glass jars and some other glass items in the bags and all survived the three change of plane flights home. I give wine diapers as gifts now since they are multi-purpose. You do have to check the bag they are in. In the Amazon reviews, one or two people have had one break and/or be open because of inspections of checked bags but most of us have not had this experience.

I am editing this to add that I got the recommendation for wine diapers and such here on cruise critic and am still very grateful.

On behalf of your fellow travelers, please do not put your breakable bottles in your checked bag if wrapped in your clothes, even if in bubble wrap. Many posters here will tell you they do this all the time and they should be grateful that they have not had a bad experience. But it only takes one bad flight to have wide negative repercussions for many people.

I had my cruise ruined by someone who put wine in his checked bags. Clearly their "rarely" breakable bottles, defied convention and decided to break or their corks popped, or whatever, but my suitcases came into the baggage carousel soaked in wine and alcohol. There were also many other bags that were soaked in alcohol.

The airlines found the offending traveler and opened their suitcase in the baggage claim area and lo and behold, there was the broken wine bottle which had pierced the protective wraps.

Fortunately I had flown in several days prior to the cruise, but instead of relaxing, I and my DH ran around town trying to get all new clothes. Nothing was salvageable. I then had to deal with the airlines and my insurance company about who was going to pay me. I really wanted payment to come from the inconsiderate louse who just had to take his own particular wine with him rather than go several days without his wino fix.:mad:

The above post is why wine should only be checked in packaging specially made for shipping wine. Wine diapers do not meet that requirement. A Vingarde or Winecheck is specifically made for shipping wine and meet FAA, UPS, and FEdEx requirements for suitable packaging.