Fly to London with alcohol in checked baggage?

[suni]

Not sure about customs and regulations. Would love to pack a few bottle of liquor and wine and check it through. Is that allowed?

[SellaVee]

We've brought alcohol back to the UK from abroad in our checked luggage many times. I've copied the following from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs website:

 

Alcohol allowances

You can bring in either, but not both, of the following:

1 litre of spirits or strong liqueurs over 22 per cent volume

2 litres of fortified wine (such as port or sherry), sparkling wine or any other alcoholic drink that's less than 22 per cent volume

Or you can combine these allowances. For example, if you bring in one litre of fortified wine (half your full allowance) you can also bring in half a litre of spirits (half your full allowance). This would make up your full allowance. You can't go over your total alcohol allowance.

In addition you may also bring back both of the following:

16 litres of beer

4 litres of still wine

 

These rules apply to people arriving from non EU countries. You can check it out at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk. If you are flying in you may need to be aware of weight limitations. I know that in some Countries duty free shops will sell branded spirits in plastic bottles to help with the weight problem and avoid breakages but I don't think it's that common. We usually just pack carefully.

 

Hope this helps.

[suni]

We've brought alcohol back to the UK from abroad in our checked luggage many times. I've copied the following from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs website:

 

Alcohol allowances

You can bring in either, but not both, of the following:

1 litre of spirits or strong liqueurs over 22 per cent volume

2 litres of fortified wine (such as port or sherry), sparkling wine or any other alcoholic drink that's less than 22 per cent volume

Or you can combine these allowances. For example, if you bring in one litre of fortified wine (half your full allowance) you can also bring in half a litre of spirits (half your full allowance). This would make up your full allowance. You can't go over your total alcohol allowance.

In addition you may also bring back both of the following:

16 litres of beer

4 litres of still wine

 

These rules apply to people arriving from non EU countries. You can check it out at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk. If you are flying in you may need to be aware of weight limitations. I know that in some Countries duty free shops will sell branded spirits in plastic bottles to help with the weight problem and avoid breakages but I don't think it's that common. We usually just pack carefully.

 

Hope this helps.

 

We will be flying from the United States.

[SellaVee]

I assumed that from your location in Arizona! We've flown to the UK from the United States with spirits in our checked baggage. The information I gave you referred to arrivals from non EU countries, which includes the USA, but I recommend you check for yourself using the website details I provided. As far as I am aware one's citizenship has no bearing, but I could be wrong.

[suni]

Thank you. I also checked British Airways site and it looks like they have no issue either.

[LHT28]

Why not just buy some when you arrive in the UK then you will have no worries about breakage or overlimit bags

 

Hopefully you are arriving a day or more before the cruise

[pacheco18]

Why not just buy some when you arrive in the UK then you will have no worries about breakage or overlimit bags

 

 

 

Hopefully you are arriving a day or more before the cruise

 

 

Good idea

Or buy at your port stops. Great way to try local wine and o lets u bring on whatever you want.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[sitraveler]

You could purchase DF liquor on board the plane.

[JimandStan]

You could purchase DF liquor on board the plane.

 

DO NOT BUY DUTY FREE ANYTHING ON THE TRANSATLANTIC PORTION OF YOUR FLIGHT(S) IF YOU ARE STOPPING IN BRITAIN ENROUTE TO OTHER EU COUNTRIES!!!!

 

Doing so will cause havoc with the Customs people because according to the EU Rules, the Passenger should not have access to the Duty Free merchandise until they arrive at their final (i.e. END) destination.

Naturally, if you buy the merchandise on the Transatlantic flight, they give it to you when you deplane, and IT WILL BE CONFISCATED.

 

If you want to buy Duty Free, do so in London, before taking your second flight. :D

Edited June 15, 2014 by JimandStan

[marylovestotravel]

In 2012 we bought our duty free at the airport in Vancouver after being reassured by the salesperson that I will be able to take it on board our connecting flight in Frankfurt to Rome. The bag had to be sealed and the receipt had to be placed in a special "window" inside the bag. I don't know if this is a service available only Canada, but check with the salespeople (I would be careful of the answers from places like Mexico though!).

 

Last year we arrived in Canada at Calgary and after Customs, I was prepared to pack my duty free in my luggage to continue to Vancouver, but was told that Calgary security had a new machine that would sample the air in the bag and make sure it was alright to take on board. I don't know if this is a service available at other airports but it was handy not to have to pack liquor inside a suitcase and worry about breakage.

 

Mia

[marylovestotravel]

I've knashed my teeth over this issue for years! They might call it duty-free,but the prices at Heathrow airport is the same or higher than they are at home. And being Canadian I'm used to paying higher prices for liquor than people from the States! The only way I've gotten around this on the way home is to buy my duty free on the plane, though selection is limited.

 

Mia

[DavidTheWonderer]

Once at the end of a cruise on the Paul Gauguin in French Polynesia we had an un-opened bottle of Johnny Walker Black as part of our cabin bar setup. So I threw it in a suitcase and we flew back to North America. When we arrived in Los Angeles, I opened the suitcase to discover that some baggage handlers somewhere had had a nice party. But they weren't greedy: they only drank about half of it.

 

As others have said, do check the customs regulations for wherever you're going, but if possible also the drink preferences of the baggage handlers.

[sitraveler]

hi S&J, Didn't OP say he's flying to London, not en route?

 

Hope all is well, would have loved to meet you on Marina last month.

[KirkNC]

No way would I do that, I would be afraid they would break.

[LaCroisiereS'amuse]

DO NOT BUY DUTY FREE ANYTHING ON THE TRANSATLANTIC PORTION OF YOUR FLIGHT(S) IF YOU ARE STOPPING IN BRITAIN ENROUTE TO OTHER EU COUNTRIES!!!!

 

Doing so will cause havoc with the Customs people because according to the EU Rules, the Passenger should not have access to the Duty Free merchandise until they arrive at their final (i.e. END) destination.

Naturally, if you buy the merchandise on the Transatlantic flight, they give it to you when you deplane, and IT WILL BE CONFISCATED.

 

If you want to buy Duty Free, do so in London, before taking your second flight. :D

 

You CAN buy duty free alcohol/other liquids in containers over 100ml on a flight to the UK and transit onto another EU flight. You need to ensure that the crew member selling you that litre of whisky places it into a clear,, security sealed carrier bag with the sales receipt visible to the security agent when transiting the UK (you will NOT pass a customs check in the UK, that happens at the final destination). Crew on British Airways, at least, will normally ask if you are transiting LHR/LGW when purchasing liquids over 100ml, so that the item will be correctly bagged, but the onus to comply with security regulations is still on the purchaser.

 

:)

Edited June 15, 2014 by LaCroisiereS'amuse

[LaCroisiereS'amuse]

Once at the end of a cruise on the Paul Gauguin in French Polynesia we had an un-opened bottle of Johnny Walker Black as part of our cabin bar setup. So I threw it in a suitcase and we flew back to North America. When we arrived in Los Angeles, I opened the suitcase to discover that some baggage handlers somewhere had had a nice party. But they weren't greedy: they only drank about half of it.

 

As others have said, do check the customs regulations for wherever you're going, but if possible also the drink preferences of the baggage handlers.

 

Not sure what you call expensive, but I was more than happy with the two litres of Tanqueray Gin that we bought for £26 at LHR T5 last week.......£20 for a single litre is a good deal in a UK retail store.

[SmokeOnTheWater71]

Not sure about customs and regulations. Would love to pack a few bottle of liquor and wine and check it through. Is that allowed?

 

in the us you are only allowed 70 oz of liquor on checked bags that's total any thing over its gone former tsa.

[thunderbird56]

Not sure what you call expensive' date=' but I was more than happy with the two litres of Tanqueray Gin that we bought for £26 at LHR T5 last week.......£20 for a single litre is a good deal in a UK retail store.[/quote']

 

The difference is significant. Here in Arizona I can get a 1.75 liter bottle of Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire for less than 17 pounds ($29) but I still wouldn't take the chance packing it either for fear of breakage or the extra weight.

[Mura]

I have only brought back a bottle or two packed in my luggage at the end of a trip. And that entailed only one or two bottles that were left over from the trip.

 

I did bring on a fair amount of liquor on our NYC-Dover cruise but that was because the ship was leaving from where I live. I wouldn't have done so otherwise.

 

Mura