No more carryon bottles

I'm sure some of us have heard the stories about expensive bottles of wine being tossed recently at TSA checkpoints. Wednesday's Seattle Times article by Paul Gregutt included a photo of a wastebasket full of Napa wines that pbuttengers had intended to carry on.

That got me to thinking about my trips to Mexico, and the bottles of high end tequila I bring back. Naturally, I carry them on, and unnaturally, I can't do that anymore. My plan last year was to bring back a case, but I settled for four bottles. Nobody at Customs said a word, since the Feds allow at least 60 liters for "personal use" if you travel by commercial airplane or steamship. (Yep, I researched that heavily, and got confirmation from a U.S. Customs agent.)

I called Alaska Airlines today to get their take on the new regs. For starters, they told me they have a limit of five liters of alcohol per pbuttenge , "because alcohol is flammable." Okay, I get that tequila is 40%, and that could be considered flammable. But have you ever tried to light a glbutt of cabernet or pinot grigio? And what if 300 pbuttengers all check in with five liters apiece? That's a lot of "flammable" in the hold.

If we have to put our liquor in checked baggage from now on, it's going to be problematic on a number of levels. First off, have you ever tried to find a styrofoam shipper in Mexico, or anywhere outside a wine specialty shop? Not an easy thing to do. How about a five liter shipper for bottles of irregular size?