Since the new air regulations prohibit carrying liquids in the cabin of a plane, wine consumers - like myself - had a choice between three strategies:
- pack the bottles among clothes in the checked suitcase and hope for the best,
- forget about bringing bottles back
- have the wines shipped to their address if possible (and if living in the country of the purchase.
A recent
consumers' study showed how deeply the new regulations affected air travelers: "Conducted by BottleWise last month at the Washington DC International Food & Wine Expo, the poll asked attendees what impact, if any, TSA restrictions have had on their wine buying habits when flying home from wine country or other destinations. Nearly one-fourth, 24.4%, said they no longer buy bottles of wine when traveling by air; 41.2% wrap bottles in clothing or bubble wrap and place it in their checked luggage; and 18.1% ask the winery to ship the wine directly to them. Only 10.4% reported no impact because they never travel with wine."
I love to be on the safe side and belong to the almost 25% who decided against carrying bottles when air traveling. It is very frustrating as I enjoy bringing great European wines to my American friends and coming back with my favorite American wines to share with my European friends. It seems I now have a new possibility with a new device called
BottleWise. It is a bag, able to carry two bottles, in two removable padded liquid-tight pouches and totally safe. This little bag could help the wine industry getting back some consumers.
4 comments:
Unless you are travelling back through Terminal 5 and they lose your bags along with your bottles!
:)
Ooops! It's a problem I didn't foresee! All the technology won't help it!
You could try adding one of those fancy RFID chips being used by Bordeaux chateaux - might help track the bottles around the world
Great idea, Robert. But I'm afraid air regulation authorities would be very unhappy about more electronic devices on a plane...
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