Wine in europe

[Rangers76]

We embark on our cruise in Barcelona and disembark in venice. We plan on purchasing wine to bring home with us. We may even purchase up to a case. Is it best to pack in our checked luggage, we have a suit case made to transport wine, and let them know. Or do we need to bring the case as a carry on?

[OVgirl]

I think they prefer that you carry all alcoholic beverages with you when you board. Then they can arrange with you regarding the corkage fees or the storage until you disembark. If you send it with the checked luggage, it will be kept until the end of the cruise after calling you to the 'naughty' room.:)

[DeeniEncinitas]

Better yet we did 24 day Barcelona to Venice and had our wines shipped home from the dealers! In Florence we purchased wine and they shipped it out for us for a fee. Had the shipping label tracking, our daughter got it a week later. You need to go to a reputable wine dealer. We could of just lucked out too. Nieuw Amsterdam was great also and stored our wine! This was in 2013 in July before the corkage fee.

[taxmantoo]

If you are bringing it home from Venice, you HAVE to put it into your checked luggage. You cannot have liquids in your carry-on.

[sail7seas]

Won't the weight of a case of wine be considerable for checked luggage?

Perhaps having the wine seller ship it could be more reasonable?

[kazu]

Won't the weight of a case of wine be considerable for checked luggage?

Perhaps having the wine seller ship it could be more reasonable?

 

not really It wouldn't be 50 pounds. Depending upon the class they are flying, it could be free and if they are business class, they could be allowed up to 70+ pounds :) (not that anyone wants to try to manage that)

[Hlitner]

not really It wouldn't be 50 pounds. Depending upon the class they are flying, it could be free and if they are business class, they could be allowed up to 70+ pounds :) (not that anyone wants to try to manage that)

 

Ahhh. So we could pay an extra $4000-$5000 for business class and not pay shipping for a case of wine. Sounds like a good idea :). And one does wonder how well some airlines would handle that case...but I guess one could always stick around the airport (after the flight) for a few hours to file a damage claim.

 

Hank

[sail7seas]

Ahhh. So we could pay an extra $4000-$5000 for business class and not pay shipping for a case of wine. Sounds like a good idea :). And one does wonder how well some airlines would handle that case...but I guess one could always stick around the airport (after the flight) for a few hours to file a damage claim.

 

Hank

 

I was smiling at that as well.

We always flew TA First class. If we wanted something heavy to go home, we had it shipped. :) Penny wise and pound foolish? It would have to be such an amazing, over the top, incredible, impossible to ever get anywhere wine before I'd lug it home on a plane. :D And I am not such a fine wine connoisseur that I would be purchasing such precious bottles.

[dfish]

Before all the luggage fees and reduced weight allowances, I used to bring home 4-5 bottles of some of the Alsatian wines. I could not find the ones I liked over here. I never had a problem with them breaking, but I did make sure they were well padded in my checked luggage.

[freestyling]

The wine carriers today are pretty nice. A friend has a "rolling" checkable , padded, 13 bottle suitcase he always uses. When full with 13- 750 mil bottles the total weight is less than 46 lbs.

[POA1]

The wine carriers today are pretty nice. A friend has a "rolling" checkable , padded, 13 bottle suitcase he always uses. When full with 13- 750 mil bottles the total weight is less than 46 lbs.

Is that 13th, bottle an emergency spare? :D

 

If you are planning to pick up a few rare bottles, buy some WineSkin bags. They're bottle shaped, heavy duty bubble wrap sealable wrappers. When you get home, allow your wine to settle for about a month before drinking.

[FATJACK]

Ahhh. So we could pay an extra $4000-$5000 for business class and not pay shipping for a case of wine. Sounds like a good idea :). And one does wonder how well some airlines would handle that case...but I guess one could always stick around the airport (after the flight) for a few hours to file a damage claim.

 

Hank

 

I have yet to pay $4000-$5000 for a Business Class Ticket on our last six trips to Europe since 1998. We have been able to fly free or upgrade using Frequent Flyer Mileage acquired using either American Express Platinum Business or Delta American Express. We send the wine, usually a case or more, in our checked baggage.

[kazu]

Ahhh. So we could pay an extra $4000-$5000 for business class and not pay shipping for a case of wine. Sounds like a good idea :). And one does wonder how well some airlines would handle that case...but I guess one could always stick around the airport (after the flight) for a few hours to file a damage claim.

 

Hank

 

I didn't say they SHOULD fly business class. We don't know how they are flying - it was an IF .

 

There are a number of people who bring wine on the plane with their special containers that they have talked about on these boards and they have reported all went well.

[sail7seas]

I didn't say they SHOULD fly business class. We don't know how they are flying - it was an IF .

 

There are a number of people who bring wine on the plane with their special containers that they have talked about on these boards and they have reported all went well.

 

I think you mean they checked it??

 

Have you checked a quantity of wine coming home from Europe? Did it go well?

[doublebzz]

We embark on our cruise in Barcelona and disembark in venice. We plan on purchasing wine to bring home with us. We may even purchase up to a case. Is it best to pack in our checked luggage, we have a suit case made to transport wine, and let them know. Or do we need to bring the case as a carry on?

 

What is your destination? With VAT tax and other assorted taxes, my guess is that the same or equivalent wine sells in the U.S. at the same or even lower price. As a part time resident of Spain, I can tell you, for sure, that Spanish wines are equally priced in Total Wines Florida as they are in Spain. Now maybe, if you're bringing back a case of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1982, then you may save some bucks. Of course, if you can afford Chateau Mouton Rothchild 1982, then you are probably not worrying about saving a few bucks.

[FATJACK]

In the many times I have brought wines back from Europe, I have never lost a bottle and all of them arrived home in much better shape than I. I usually buy quality Italian wines such as a brunello where you can save as much as 50% or more off even the COSTCO prices. Never have I paid a duty/custom fee because the duty on a bottle of wine is only thirty cents and cost for the custom officers to fill the required forms exceed the duty collected. I still declare everything to prevent being dinged.

[Hlitner]

I didn't say they SHOULD fly business class. We don't know how they are flying - it was an IF .

 

There are a number of people who bring wine on the plane with their special containers that they have talked about on these boards and they have reported all went well.

 

Note that we never used the word "should" but was just trying to point out that the overwhelming majority of flyers are in coach. And these days, one often has to pay for each piece of checked luggage. We ourselves have brought some wine back from Europe but limit it to a small number of bottles that we can put inside our regular checked luggage. And one should know what they are buying because we have actually seen quite a few wines priced higher in Europe then the same wine here in the USA. We like to bring back wines that we cannot find at home such as "Grk" from the island of Korcula.

 

And shipping wine back to the USA ( a different issue) can be very interesting depending on where you live. We happen to live in PA where it is illegal to import any wine...and we have found that most European wineries refuse to ship to our state.

 

Hank