On the Spot: Cracking the code for flying with liquids

My wife and I bought a couple of bottles of wine at a Rome duty-free shop. The bottles and receipts were sealed in plastic bags, and we were advised to put them in our carry-on luggage. We had no problem passing through security at London’s Heathrow Airport, but we were stopped by the Transportation Security Administration at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport checkpoint. We were told that we couldn’t take the duty-free liquid in sealed bags on board and that we should check the bags, which we did with the help of an airline employee. Is it that airport’s policy, or are sealed duty-free plastic bags with liquid not allowed as carry-on at all U.S. airports?

Lev Altshuler

Santa Monica

Answer:

Answering this one makes my palms sweat because it’s a trick question: First, it is not DFW’s policy, but it is a policy. And second, liquids are not allowed in sealed duty-free plastic bags in carry-on unless they are. Let me try to clarify.

When I asked Nico Melendez, a TSA representative, about this, he replied, “It’s been five years of the liquid ban and you’re still asking me?” Yes, we’re still asking because it’s a question that takes all sorts of qualifiers to answer. Or, said another way, the rules can be a tad confusing if you don’t think them through using TSA’s unique logic.

Here are some scenarios that might help:

Let’s say you’re heading to LAX from London’s Heathrow on a nonstop flight and you want to buy a fifth of 25-year-old Laphroaig. If the duty-free shop is past security and you are flying nonstop to Los Angeles, you can buy the whiskey and carry it on (or have it delivered to) the plane. It is not unlike buying a bottle of water from Hudson News at LAX: It’s in a “sterile” area, although the similarities end there. The Laphroaig will taste far better and be much more fun than a bottle of Aquafina.

Let’s say the duty-free shop is before security at the European airport — what then? You can have your purchase placed in what the TSA calls a “tamper-evident” bag, and it will be allowed through security in your carry-on if it meets U.S. requirements and you are on the aforementioned nonstop to LAX.

Now let’s say you’re returning to LAX from Rome and you have a connecting flight in Dallas. Uh-oh — now you’re no longer OK. That’s because you have that liquid in your carry-on and you will more than likely go through security again, which bars liquids of more than 3 ounces. (On its website, TSA says the time to switch that bigger-than-3-ounce liquid out of your carry-on is when you meet up with your checked bag in customs.) As Altshuler found out, you’ll either have to put the booze in a checked bag, pitch it or throw one heck of a party before you go through security again.

Just to make things more confusing, let’s say you buy 2 ounces of Chanel No. 5 at the duty-free shop in Rome and have a stop in Dallas. Can you carry that on the plane in Dallas? Yes, if it fits in a 1-quart bag because it’s less than TSA’s magic 3 ounces.

Melendez swears the TSA is working on developing “algorithms and software” that will someday make it possible for us to carry liquids on a plane and even leave our shoes on. But that day isn’t quite here, so until then, maybe you should just bite the bullet and buy your booze when you get home. Cheers.

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