Travel Mistake Stories is a collection of posts where I recount travel-related mistakes I have made or experienced across the years. We are all human and make mistakes. Sometimes we know we have made a mistake, but other times we have no idea until it’s too late. Even those of us who have flown on countless flights to many states and foreign countries make errors. Sometimes you just wish you could redo your travel choices. This is a story of how I made a mistake trying to bring back duty-free purchases to the United States. This mistake resulted in the confiscation of my duty-free purchases.
As always, I hope this provides some amusement, as well as instruction to make sure you don’t make the same mistake.
Post Contents
Back Story
My wife and I traveled to South Africa in February 2020. The first two stops of the trip were Cape Town and the large wine-producing region just outside of Cape Town, Stellenbosch. While in the area, we spent a couple of days exploring the local vineyards, wine varieties, and tasting experiences. By the end of the experience, we had decided that we wanted to bring some wine back to the United States with us. The only question that remained was how to do it.
In thinking through how to do this, we came up with a few options:
Option #1: Buy Wine at the Local Vineyards We Visited
This option would give us the best selection because we could get it straight from the vineyard. We would have just tried the wine, so we would also have better success getting something we really liked. This option would also cut out any middlemen and those costs.
The downside to this option was we would have to keep up with it while traversing South Africa. Also, given that we were flying a low-cost carrier across the country to Johannesburg, this could cost us extra to transport based on our luggage and weight.
Option #2: Ship the Wine Home
Almost all vineyards around the world will offer to ship wine home to you. The positives are obvious. You don’t have to keep up with the wine, pay for extra baggage, or worry about it breaking in your travels. It will await you at your doorstep when you get home.
However, there are three main downsides. The first is that some state laws prevent the delivery of alcohol (such states include Utah, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Delaware). Second, shipping wine can be expensive. The charge is often $50 a bottle up to $300 for 12 bottles. Third, many wineries only ship several bottles, or it is only economical when purchasing a lot. If you only want a couple of bottles, the price isn’t worth it.
Option #3: Rely on the Airport Duty-Free Options
The last option is to check out what is available at the airport’s duty-free store prior to returning to the United States. Going this route means that you don’t have to carry the wine with you for the rest of your trip. Airport duty-free can also sometimes be a cheaper purchase due to no taxes being paid.
The obvious downside is that you are limited to the selection that is carried in the airport duty-free store. Sometimes you can check ahead of time what is available, but this is always subject to change. In addition, purchasing from a duty-free shop in the airport versus purchasing from the local winery makes the bottle lose a little of the nostalgia.
Decision Time
In the end, we went with option three once verifying that the duty-free shop at the Johannesburg airport had a selection of wines we would be happy with. In addition, several of the wines were cheaper than what we could get at the individual wineries so we were feeling pretty good about the choice.
The Mistake
Before We Knew
Everything went according to plan in the Johannesburg airport. We found a wine we were happy with at what we considered to be a good price. We bought a total of three bottles. The duty-free store packaged them in tamperproof bags with the receipt enclosed. With the wine bottles in tow, we boarded the first of the flights back to the US. There were no issues getting on the flight and placing the bottles safely in the overhead bin. At this point, we were very happy with our decision. We had been able to get to the airport, find a wine we liked (for cheaper than the winery was selling it for), and avoided carry the wine across South Africa. So far, mistakes had been avoided.
The first flight took us from Johannesburg to Abu Dhabi, where we would get our next flight back to Washington, D.C. in the United States. This is the point where the mistake became apparent.
After disembarking our first flight, we were able to spend some time in the arrival lounge in Abu Dhabi before our US-bound flight departure about five hours later. With about 90 minutes to go before departure, we started heading towards our gate. Abu Dhabi has a US Preclearance facility. A US Preclearance Facility means that travelers go through US Customs and Border Control in the departure country. This means you get to land at a regular domestic gate upon arrival in the US. This can be nice since it means no time spent after landing going through customs and immigration.
However, there is a downside of US Preclearance that I did not know. After going through preclearance, you are screened by a normal United States TSA screening procedure. This means all TSA rules apply including the limit on liquids.
The Realization
This rule is what got us. Any liquids in excess of 3.1 fluid ounces will not be allowed through the screening, including sealed duty-free purchases. This seems counterintuitive since you purchased the wine in an airport, but the TSA rules don’t have exclusions for that.
Unfortunately, this meant we had to leave our South African wine in a garbage bin in the Abu Dhabi airport. So much for our deliberations in South Africa on the best way to get the wine back home.
Avoid This Mistake
While this mistake was unfortunate for us, part of the reason for sharing this story is to make sure you don’t repeat our mistakes.
First, try to get a direct flight. If we had a direct flight back to the US and didn’t go through a preclearance facility, we would have been able to carry the duty-free wine onboard easily. Once through security at the departing airport, duty-free packages can be carried onto almost any flight. A direct flight back would mean landing in the United States with the duty-free wine and no issues.
Second, if you have to have a layover, understand what the security requirements are. Many places don’t have the limitations on liquid carry-ons that the TSA does. This means that if you are connecting in Europe or many other non-US locations you will be able to carry your duty-free items from the prior flight. In these situations, your wine will make it back with you.
Lastly, if you have to transit through a US airport or a US Preclearance facility, plan accordingly. The best option is to plan ahead and purchase your wine before getting to the initial airport. Buy the wine in-country and pack it in your checked bag. I highly recommend going this route to avoid the possible issues with checking bottles mid-travel. If your bags are already full, an option is to check an additional bag (previous carry-on) to transport the wine. While you can always do this for a bag fee, this option is much better if you have free baggage allowance remaining.
Bottom Line
Different air transportation security rules between countries can make transporting duty-free items difficult. This is particularly true when US airport layovers or preclearance facilities are a part of your travel plans. Think ahead to make sure you aren’t leaving your prized South African wine in the Abu Dhabi TSA trash bin like we did.
