How much wine can I bring on a plane?
 

We are visiting CA Wine Country next week and would like to bring some wine home with us. If we check our luggage and carry the wine onboard, unopened, how many bottles will they allow each of us? Will bottles of wine fit under the seat if they are in a cardboard carrier? Short flight - LAX to PHX. Southwest Airlines. (I've checked their webpage which indicates there is NO limit on wine, only on liquor, but that doesn't sound right. . .)

Wine's pretty heavy. I'm guessing the carry-on weight limit be the decider if there are no specific rules?

Instead of having to lug all that heavy wine around I would go to a mailbox etc place and ship it home.

There are weight restrictions that are enforced on checked baggage of 50 pounds and it doesn't take much to exceed that.

Maybe it depends on who you fly with, but I've never had my carry on bag(s) weighed. I had a friend who packed a carry on with over a case of wine recently so if you can handle it, go for it.

egads! You'd break your back trying to get it into the overhead.

I'd say as much as you can comfortably carry.

You could mail it like a previous poster said, but some states have restrictions for shipping liquor, so you should probably check before going that route.

To GoTravel - I'm not sure if the laws are the same all over but in many states you cannot legally ship wine without a liquor license and some carriers won't accept a package if it contains liquor either. Of course, people probably do go down to the local Mailbox, etc. store and ship alcholoic beverages all the time without declaring what is in the package but that doesn't make it legal.

If it isn't legal to ship than wouldn't it be illegal to bring it back on a plane?

I know North Carolina has very strict bootlegging laws.

You are allowed two pieces of checked luggage -- If you only check 2 suitcases, you can also check 2 cases of wine. You can get the reinforced styrofoam cartons for doing this at a wine shop.

I have one of those roller pieces of luggage, similar to the ones the flight attendants carry, and I can get 14 bubble-wrapped bottles in there. It fits nicely in the overhead compartment.

There, that's 38 bottles. If you want to carry more, you can also carry one of those 2 or 3 packs that also fit in the overhead, or under the seat.

Safeway has a great selection of wines that are $4-5 less than buying directly from the wineries. If you buy a case, you get an additional 10% off. I am also told that if you have a safeway card, you get an additional 10% off.

Enjoy your trip, and happy wine sipping!! ((b))

No I don't think so! The laws vary from state to state but usually there are provisions for hand carrying a "reasonable amount" of alcholic beverages (unopened) for personal consumption from the retail outlet to your home but like I said in most states you cannot ship wines and liquor without a license, especially if it involves interstate destinations. By the way, people bring wines and spirits back on airplanes from overseas and the Caribbean everyday - usually you'll see them carrying boxes that look to hold anywhere between 2 and 5 bottles. Perhaps the original poster could ask the winery to ship the bottles home for hm or her.

It took me about 10 seconds on Google to find out that in Arizona, you can ship two cases to your house directly from a winery.

Here's the link if you want to explore the issue further.

http://www.wineinstitute.org/shipwin...is.htm#arizona

Hey Ryan, is that from every winery you visit or two cases total? :-D

Budman's "Traveling With Wine" advice
should be a published pamphlet!!

If you don't want to carry it, buy the
supplies,properly package it and step up to the counter at your neighbohood
USPS. You can even write or tag it
"Glass Bottles" and "Do NOT Freeze"
and send that "olive oil" on it's way!
:S-
I would also advise shipping it "priority"-not that much more cost
and it will get there in 2-3days.
(Or you can stop by my house,I have a grand supply of "olive oil" shipping materials)
:)
R5

The link says 2 cases annually.

I've never seen any ABC or customs agents checking how much wine you brought back with you at airports. ((b))

And Budman, rumor is that your "olive oil" is fantastic! :)>-

I appreciate all the responses. I knew that I could ship it, but who the hell wants to pay for that????? The cost of shipping would be about $1.50-$2.00 per bottle, which for a case of wine is what the freeking plane ticket cost me! That is poor money management, in my book. I just wanna take half a dozen or so home with me, thinking of one of those cardboard carrying things like you get at grocery stores.

BTW, are the prices at California Safeway REALLY cheaper than the winery? If so, what is the incentive to purchase at the winery when one goes to a tasting? Just to be nice?

Even cheaper would be a stop by
Beverages & More in Santa Rosa and
or a Trader Joes. Never, ever is the winery the cheapest place to purchase
UNLESS it is a bottle sold only there.
In addition to Safeway you will find good selections at Albertson's as well.
You do need to get one of their discount cards-done easily at checkout.
Purchasing at the winery would be
a)romantic?
b)impulse ?
c)love the wine and don't want to risk
not finding it?
Anyone else?
R5

I think Trader Joe's usually beats Safeway prices in the >$25/bottle category.

The specialty vineyards you visit are most likely not all represented (certainly not every vintage and grape varietal) in regular mainstream retail stores (why you would purchase from a winery).

Thought of another good resource-
The Wine Exchange in Sonoma on
First St.Dan Noreen has well-priced selections and definetly some of those smaller producers that suze mentioned.
R5

razzledazzle has made some really good points. So has suze. Cin,cin

Are you guys familiar with the liquidation store "Bargain Bank"? California, France, Italy, Germany - all wines really cheap.

Faina, "Bargain Bank"? I am not. Where are they. In SF? Please do tell.

I once carried two cases of '82 Bordeaux back from Dulles to DFW (I bought them as first tranche futures from Addy Bassin @ Macarthur in DC).
Never again.
The rest came back in a 9 passenger station wagon.
M

We live in NY where you can't ship EtOH in. On our trip to California last May, we bought wine. We got it home as follows:

Self and wife each took a 6-bottle cardboard carrier as carry-on luggage. They are small enough and light enough to place in the overhead bins. That's a case, plus a few half-bottles that fit in upside down into the space between the full sizec bottles. Packed safely by putting the small bottles inside socks. Dirty laundry kept the big bottles from rattling.

One case total inside 2 bags of checked luggage, protected by dirty laundry so nothing could clink, with weight limits respected by knowing that a bottle of wine weighs a bit more than 3 pounds.

One case shipped UPS in a big cardboard box with a styrofoam 12-bottle liner packed and shipped by the winery. UPS seems to run by "don't ask, don't tell" so it got to my office fine.

That's three cases plus.

For non-winery sales in Napa, we found that JV Wines and Spirits near the Copia Center was much better than Safeway, which had few real bargains and a much smaller selection. They sell the 12-bottle untits and 6-bottle carriers, but won't ship to NY, because they're honest.

Mr. Peabody, thanks for the sound, and direct, advice. Good suggestions about the socks.

But I'm still a little lost -- I live in Phoenix, not outer Mongolia. We have Safeway, Albertson's AND Trader Joes. We have Cost Plus, Sunflower, Whole Foods and Sprouts. Besides some very limited releases that are at the wineries -- are your grocery store selections of wine different than ours? More varied? Cheaper??

Here in Boston(and all Ma.)alas, we can't have wine shipped here.
Have a wonderful time. You can also both, fit two bottles each in your back pack.

LoveItaly, "bargain bank" stores are liquidation stores, so what they sell is determined by which store goes out of business. It's fun to shop there - you never know what you may find!

I don't remember them being out of wine, ever! The 2 stores I know are on Clement @ 7th Ave and Polk street somewhere at California or Pine. It's easy to Google to find the exact addresses -they may have more stores in the Bay Area.

Not sure if they still have it, a russian "matryoshka" - large nesting doll, but only one, as you open it and instead of smaller ones there is a bottle of russian vodka "moroz"="frost" inside. For $2.99 it was a great souvenir!

Hello, fellow oenophiles. My husband and I travel to wine regions extensively. The rules change weekly, it seems. We live in Ky, which has the most gosh-awful rules to protect the Baptists and whisky distilleries, LOL! Anyway, we found that the "no shipping" laws changed.If we buy wine IN the winery and have them ship it, it's fine. We joined a few wine clubs, where we receive a discount on any products. Most wineries will discount 10% or more for a case. We usually bring back a 6-bottle carrier each on the plane of extra special wines.There are so many wines that are not available outside the winery..for instance Meeker, some of my fav reds from Geyserville.I'm not buying anything I can get at Trader Joes just to save a few bucks..what's the point? We bring back wines that aren't available here and thrill our neighbors when we uncork it! We are returning in 2 weeks and are trying to figure out where to put a few more cases...guess we need to open a few bottles...