Question for the Americans :)

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dumitru

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 7, 2013
Messages
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Location
Dortmund, Germany
Hi all,
Just a quick question for the American members here: is it legal to transport wine across state lines? For example I'm coming from Portland to Austin, Texas by car or plane - am I allowed to just grab 2-3 bottles of wine from Portland and take them with me? Is there any major law that prevents that, or something that should be considered?
Thanks!
 
Of course
As long as it is not uncorked, if it has been, then it has to be recorked all the way back in the bottle and then kept secured in the trunk of the vehicle. You can buy a case of wine and travel with it, we have guests do that here all the time, and some guests bring wine with them as gifts for us as well from out of state.
 
So basically the rule is "no open containers inside the car"? But if it is something in the trunk - no worries?.
Right. Pack your trunk with all the wine you want :) Now if you cross the border into Canada that may be a different story.
 
As long as they aren't open, you're fine. My state owns the liquor stores and I can assure you that surrounding states have many people who fill their trunks to take our less expensive wine and liquor home.
 
By the way, broken link on the Portland, OR re-direct from your website.
 
So basically the rule is "no open containers inside the car"? But if it is something in the trunk - no worries?.
dumitru said:
So basically the rule is "no open containers inside the car"? But if it is something in the trunk - no worries?
This is correct. However, if you're traveling around why take a chance? Put even the unopened bottles in the trunk where you cannot be accused of drinking them while driving. But especially put anything open in a paper sack and staple it shut and then put it in the trunk.
If it's going to be hot where you are, get a cooler to store the wine in. No sense having it go bad because it's 100 degrees on the road.
Don't go to Canada. I don't know about Mexico, but Canada has strict rules about bringing wine into the country. (Because it's waaaay cheaper over here.)
 
By car as stated. You will not get it on a plane..
How so? If you check-in your luggage and you have some bottles inside - why would that be a problem? You don't take them into the cabin.
Or is that a real problem in the US? I have an American friend that came back some months ago and it wasn't an issue.
 
So basically the rule is "no open containers inside the car"? But if it is something in the trunk - no worries?.
dumitru said:
So basically the rule is "no open containers inside the car"? But if it is something in the trunk - no worries?
This is correct. However, if you're traveling around why take a chance? Put even the unopened bottles in the trunk where you cannot be accused of drinking them while driving. But especially put anything open in a paper sack and staple it shut and then put it in the trunk.
If it's going to be hot where you are, get a cooler to store the wine in. No sense having it go bad because it's 100 degrees on the road.
Don't go to Canada. I don't know about Mexico, but Canada has strict rules about bringing wine into the country. (Because it's waaaay cheaper over here.)
.
2 x 750ml bottles per adult over 18/19 depending on the province you enter, or 1 x 1.14l hard alcohol or 24 x 355 ml cans of beer.
The allowance into the US is actually WORSE.... 1 litre of alcohol if you are over 21 no matter the proof. So that's 1 litre of wine, hard alcohol or beer. But if you exceed in the US the tax is much lower than to Canada where the tax rate is quite substantial.
 
By car as stated. You will not get it on a plane..
How so? If you check-in your luggage and you have some bottles inside - why would that be a problem? You don't take them into the cabin.
Or is that a real problem in the US? I have an American friend that came back some months ago and it wasn't an issue.
.
You can pack in your suitcase if you want to take a chance of a stupid baggage handler breaking or taking them ;-(
 
So basically the rule is "no open containers inside the car"? But if it is something in the trunk - no worries?.
dumitru said:
So basically the rule is "no open containers inside the car"? But if it is something in the trunk - no worries?
This is correct. However, if you're traveling around why take a chance? Put even the unopened bottles in the trunk where you cannot be accused of drinking them while driving. But especially put anything open in a paper sack and staple it shut and then put it in the trunk.
If it's going to be hot where you are, get a cooler to store the wine in. No sense having it go bad because it's 100 degrees on the road.
Don't go to Canada. I don't know about Mexico, but Canada has strict rules about bringing wine into the country. (Because it's waaaay cheaper over here.)
.
2 x 750ml bottles per adult over 18/19 depending on the province you enter, or 1 x 1.14l hard alcohol or 24 x 355 ml cans of beer.
The allowance into the US is actually WORSE.... 1 litre of alcohol if you are over 21 no matter the proof. So that's 1 litre of wine, hard alcohol or beer. But if you exceed in the US the tax is much lower than to Canada where the tax rate is quite substantial.
.
Generic said:
2 x 750ml bottles per adult over 18/19 depending on the province you enter, or 1 x 1.14l hard alcohol or 24 x 355 ml cans of beer.
The allowance into the US is actually WORSE.... 1 litre of alcohol if you are over 21 no matter the proof. So that's 1 litre of wine, hard alcohol or beer. But if you exceed in the US the tax is much lower than to Canada where the tax rate is quite substantial.
I don't understand this. One litre of wine, what? Can be brought into Canada?
To the OP, you can transport alcohol in your car between states with no issues. You just can't drink it while you are driving.
 
By car as stated. You will not get it on a plane..
How so? If you check-in your luggage and you have some bottles inside - why would that be a problem? You don't take them into the cabin.
Or is that a real problem in the US? I have an American friend that came back some months ago and it wasn't an issue.
.
They took my bottle of water that I bought at the concession by the gate. As for checked luggage - I bought a lock for my suitcase in Germany and put it on my checked bag. When said bag was delivered to me, there was no lock. Everything was there (I think) but I did not have anything of big value - most expensive item was a 29.95 quid teapot that equaled $45+ in USD. Wine? Where is the evidence you even HAD wine? Glug, glug.
 
By car as stated. You will not get it on a plane..
How so? If you check-in your luggage and you have some bottles inside - why would that be a problem? You don't take them into the cabin.
Or is that a real problem in the US? I have an American friend that came back some months ago and it wasn't an issue.
.
dumitru said:
How so? If you check-in your luggage and you have some bottles inside - why would that be a problem? You don't take them into the cabin.
Or is that a real problem in the US? I have an American friend that came back some months ago and it wasn't an issue.
Wine does not do well in baggage in the cargo hold of the plane. Broken, stolen, loss of flavor. All of those can be issues.
 
By car as stated. You will not get it on a plane..
How so? If you check-in your luggage and you have some bottles inside - why would that be a problem? You don't take them into the cabin.
Or is that a real problem in the US? I have an American friend that came back some months ago and it wasn't an issue.
.
They took my bottle of water that I bought at the concession by the gate. As for checked luggage - I bought a lock for my suitcase in Germany and put it on my checked bag. When said bag was delivered to me, there was no lock. Everything was there (I think) but I did not have anything of big value - most expensive item was a 29.95 quid teapot that equaled $45+ in USD. Wine? Where is the evidence you even HAD wine? Glug, glug.
.
gillumhouse said:
They took my bottle of water that I bought at the concession by the gate. As for checked luggage - I bought a lock for my suitcase in Germany and put it on my checked bag. When said bag was delivered to me, there was no lock. Everything was there (I think) but I did not have anything of big value - most expensive item was a 29.95 quid teapot that equaled $45+ in USD. Wine? Where is the evidence you even HAD wine? Glug, glug.
they took water you bought inside security?
 
By the way, broken link on the Portland, OR re-direct from your website..
Which broken link? I haven't posted any links in this thread.
.
Not in the forum
on your site Hermes themes. I checked out some of the businesses using them. Portland's must be out of business
.
You mean on the Showcase page?
With 200+ listed websites it is often that somebody's websites goes down from time to time... But thanks for the heads up :)
 
By car as stated. You will not get it on a plane..
How so? If you check-in your luggage and you have some bottles inside - why would that be a problem? You don't take them into the cabin.
Or is that a real problem in the US? I have an American friend that came back some months ago and it wasn't an issue.
.
They took my bottle of water that I bought at the concession by the gate. As for checked luggage - I bought a lock for my suitcase in Germany and put it on my checked bag. When said bag was delivered to me, there was no lock. Everything was there (I think) but I did not have anything of big value - most expensive item was a 29.95 quid teapot that equaled $45+ in USD. Wine? Where is the evidence you even HAD wine? Glug, glug.
.
gillumhouse said:
I bought a lock for my suitcase in Germany and put it on my checked bag. When said bag was delivered to me, there was no lock.
Homeland Security announced years ago that if you put a lock on a suitcase, they will cut it off. They MUST be able to open and search all luggage.
It is possible to buy locks approved by Homeland Security that they can open with their key, but if you just buy a generic lock they will cut it off every time.
 
By car as stated. You will not get it on a plane..
How so? If you check-in your luggage and you have some bottles inside - why would that be a problem? You don't take them into the cabin.
Or is that a real problem in the US? I have an American friend that came back some months ago and it wasn't an issue.
.
They took my bottle of water that I bought at the concession by the gate. As for checked luggage - I bought a lock for my suitcase in Germany and put it on my checked bag. When said bag was delivered to me, there was no lock. Everything was there (I think) but I did not have anything of big value - most expensive item was a 29.95 quid teapot that equaled $45+ in USD. Wine? Where is the evidence you even HAD wine? Glug, glug.
.
gillumhouse said:
I bought a lock for my suitcase in Germany and put it on my checked bag. When said bag was delivered to me, there was no lock.
Homeland Security announced years ago that if you put a lock on a suitcase, they will cut it off. They MUST be able to open and search all luggage.
It is possible to buy locks approved by Homeland Security that they can open with their key, but if you just buy a generic lock they will cut it off every time.
.
Arks said:
gillumhouse said:
I bought a lock for my suitcase in Germany and put it on my checked bag. When said bag was delivered to me, there was no lock.
Homeland Security announced years ago that if you put a lock on a suitcase, they will cut it off. They MUST be able to open and search all luggage.
It is possible to buy locks approved by Homeland Security that they can open with their key, but if you just buy a generic lock they will cut it off every time.
I don't even bother with locks on my suitcase any longer. We have a hard-sided suitcase that has a numeric lock built in. We actually put the combo printed out right on the suitcase. (Then we change it if we want to lock something in the suitcase at the hotel.)
 
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