Best way to bring beer home when flying?

[amcclai7]

I will be flying to San Diego from Tn very soon and am determined to bring back as much beer as possible. I have heard of three ways to do this:

1. Find a beer store that ships, make your selections and have them ship it to you.

2. Go to any beer store buy what you want. pack it yourself and ship it via Fedex/UPS/USPS Print at home labels are preferable so you don't have to tell the attendant that you are shipping olive oil..."uh huh."

3. The airline I am flying with charges $25 per checked bag with a 50lb max. Find a cheap ass bag at a goodwill and then pack it full with beer and hope the bottles don't explode via pressurization. I've heard this is actually pretty rare.

What do you think? I don't want to spend a fortune getting the beer back but I also want it to arrive safely.

 

[MaxStout]

I will be flying to San Diego from Tn very soon and am determined to bring back as much beer as possible. I have heard of three ways to do this:

1. Find a beer store that ships, make your selections and have them ship it to you.

2. Go to any beer store buy what you want. pack it yourself and ship it via Fedex/UPS/USPS Print at home labels are preferable so you don't have to tell the attendant that you are shipping olive oil..."uh huh."

3. The airline I am flying with charges $25 per checked bag with a 50lb max. Find a cheap ass bag at a goodwill and then pack it full with beer and hope the bottles don't explode via pressurization. I've heard this is actually pretty rare.

What do you think? I don't want to spend a fortune getting the beer back but I also want it to arrive safely.

I have taken home bottles in my checked bag a few times. Never had one blow up. If you buy a cheap bag, get one that is hard-sided. Wrap each bottle well with bubble wrap and make sure you don't have any glass touching glass. You could also pack your dirty laundry in it for extra protection.

 

[ManiacalJ]

Did this coming back from Quebec, where microbreweries were plentiful and beer was cheap. I bubble wrapped each bottle individually, and put them in plastic garbage bags in case of breakage. I interspersed them throughout our clothing for a bit of additional padding. I took about 30 individual bottles of various sized mixed throughout 2 bags of clothing, with multiple layovers and plane changes (read: pressure changes and baggage handlers), and had no issues.

 

[morbster]

How much beer are you bringing back? I've transported several bottles of my homebrew internationally without any issues at all.

If you're pushing weight restrictions or exceeding ABV limits or something, then you may have an issue. Otherwise, fly on.


Sent from my spaceship in low orbit.

 

[alexnova]

I brought back several bottles from England in checked baggage. Don't worry about pressurization: the baggage holds are pressurized. Breakage from rough handling is what you're trying to avoid. If you don't have (or can't get) a hardside bag, a sturdy cardboard box inside the bag works pretty well. Dirty laundry makes for great padding.

 

[masskrug]

I did this last summer with a checked bag. I put a layer of clothes, then each bomber was wrapped in a t-shirt, then another layer of clothes. Make sure you weigh it before you get to the airport to avoid excess weight fees. No explosion or leakage issues. I used the Cooper's plastic bottles-saves on weight and no breakage concerns.

I'm not sure what would happen if TSA randomly opened your bag. Has anyone had that happen?

 

[Teromous]

I always check a bag with bottles. I've only had one bottle break on a short international flight where the bottles were only wrapped in clothing in a soft-sided bag. If you can find a solid suitcase or container I would recommend that over standard luggage.

 

[jgm038]

My girlfriend is from Germany, while visiting her dad in the fatherland, I brought him some canadian beers...For some reason he really wanted to try some

Put them in a zipoloc bag, just incase...Rapped in a towel, and then placed in the middle of my suitcase between clothes..no problems!

 

[rayvinton]

I did this when I came back from Germany. I bought a pack of diapers and wrapped each bottle in two diapers. Then I bought gallon zip lock bags and put 3 or 4 in each bag. I had no issues and the diapers were there for cushion and for absorption just in case they popped. Hope this helps.

Ray

 

[Einberger1]

I've done it numerous times in checked luggage flying for work. I use the laundry trick and have never broken a bottle in my soft sided suitcase. I put the cardboard the bottles originally came in around the outside as extra protection.

I tell the TSA agents every time that the suitcase is full of beer bottles. They usually laugh and ask if I left any behind for the locals to drink. I like to be completely honest up front and have never had an issue.


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