Europe imports virtually no wine from the US or Down Under by air: 99% of it comes by sea. So when you're choosing an over-oaked Chardonnay from Sainsbury or the Wine Society, all this stuff about how planes are operated is quite irrelevant.

American probably don't realise that foreigners without a green card are virtually never stopped at US Customs, unless the officer's "nose" for serious smuggling is activated or the little doggie sniffs our bags.

As long as they don't think we're smuggling drugs, they don't care about us: it's US residents' Parmesan or blouse purchases they're paid to snoop on. So French or Italian school parties get waved through, just like the rest of us. Sometimes they stop us, just to wish us a pleasant holiday. But that's about it.