west point
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Do not forget the Ag inspection stations in and out of Florida. The USDA inspections at San Juan PR airport were nothing to sneeze at either. Too many passengers from there trying to bring PR food to USA relatives.
Transport Security, CBP Inspection, and State Alcohol Laws
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I once changed planes at San Juan after a stay in Grenada. They had a pretty strict ag inspection at customs and Immigration (we had to trash some uneaten fruit from Grenada), but I don't recall any ag inspection for the San Juan to Baltimore segment, which was pretty much like a domestic US flight. Maybe they do it when they do the TSA inspections.
Metra Electric Rider
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I remember the Ag inspection in San Juan too. What they asked about was whether we had been on a farm, around livestock, especially pigs. Which we hadn't been. The inspector was more shocked when he found out how cold Chicago gets! And I was with Puerto Rican friends from here who chuckled with me.
I remember my dad getting mouthy/lippy and frothing at the mouth for not being able to bring Sunkist oranges off a ship into the US in the 70's - 'BUT THEY ARE AMERICAN AND AMERICAN GROWN,' - no dice. His pissed off the inspector by eating them right there on the spot (and I guess no snacks on the train back to the Midwest - see, I made it about Amtrak there).
When I flew from ORD to Oslo via Schiphol, I don't remember clearing customs or immigration (it was almost 30 years ago though) - just remember the airport being empty when I arrived and minimalist black and white with an anti-septic smell. All custom etc. handled at Fornebu in the very dated and undersized terminal. Same on the way back iirc, all immigration at O'Hare.
I remember my dad getting mouthy/lippy and frothing at the mouth for not being able to bring Sunkist oranges off a ship into the US in the 70's - 'BUT THEY ARE AMERICAN AND AMERICAN GROWN,' - no dice. His pissed off the inspector by eating them right there on the spot (and I guess no snacks on the train back to the Midwest - see, I made it about Amtrak there).
When I flew from ORD to Oslo via Schiphol, I don't remember clearing customs or immigration (it was almost 30 years ago though) - just remember the airport being empty when I arrived and minimalist black and white with an anti-septic smell. All custom etc. handled at Fornebu in the very dated and undersized terminal. Same on the way back iirc, all immigration at O'Hare.
BCL
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BCL
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Could have been worse. There was the guy who had duty free alcohol purchased on board a plane and then told that he couldn't take it through security when he went out during an extended connection. So he drank a full liter of vodka on the spot. I think he left the hospital after a week.
BCL
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It really happened. This was after the maximum container size for liquids was reduced to 100 ml. I do remember when they were kind of working that in around 2006, although the one trip I took I could still get two free check-in bags and I literally loaded a box with various beverages that I bought and didn't consume of the trip. Once I had most of a case of bottled water in Maui and I just gave it to a skycap at the airport [dropped off the rest of my party] before returning a rental car; he gladly took it and placed it in their storage area. However, this guy decided to do something about it rather than pay to check it in.
The man was switching planes on his way home from a holiday in Egypt to Dresden when security officials told him that he was not allowed to bring the liquor bottle on board. New airport rules prohibit passengers from carrying liquid containers with a volume of over 100 milliliters on to planes.
The holidaymaker was told he would have to pay to have his bag checked into the luggage hold, or else dump the offending booze. However, the man decided upon a third option -- and chugged back the liter of alcohol.
"The vodka quickly had an effect," a police spokesperson told the DPA news agency. The passenger was unable to stand or function and a doctor was called to the scene.
The man, who hails from the eastern German city of Görlitz, was deemed to have life-threatening alcohol poisoning and was sent to a Nuremberg hospital for treatment. He is still recovering there but is expected to be able to make his way home in time for Christmas.
Devil's Advocate
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Passengers have always been able to bring alcohol on board by checking it, including moving it to checked luggage for connections. These days they even let you bring duty free as a carryon in a sealed tamper resistant bag. Rather than a legitimate complaint this was a case of a disturbed passenger.
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jis
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I thought one of the good things of getting access to your checked baggage at the port of entry was to facilitate people transferring their duty free booze from their hand baggage to their checked baggage 
neroden
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These are to keep fruit flies out of California. There are no fruit flies in California and it saves their agriculture industry astounding amounts of money. They don't care about anything which wouldn't be eaten by fruit flies. Fruit, however, they are deadly serious about.
BCL
Engineer
That case in Germany was in 2007, so it was probably before a lot of the newer procedures. Even now, I'm not sure how that would work - if that would be allowed for a domestic transfer. It might also depend on how the transfer is made since I think booked together there's free check-in and transfers on domestic connections, but not if they're booked separately. Back in 2006 I remember 2 free pieces on American Airlines, but in Germany in 2007 I guess it would depend on the airline and their policy at the time.
The thing that really sucks is for anyone traveling to Utah. They make it nearly impossible to bring alcohol legally into the state. They want it purchased in the state. I haven't even found any way to buy alcohol out of state and pay a tax in-state like they allow in Texas. But one big exception is duty free alcohol purchased in another country. But only if it's from a direct flight from outside the United States. Connecting flights don't count if the alcohol has to go through customs outside of Utah and then via a connecting flight. I'm not sure who is responsible for enforcing that though. TSA checking check-in bags with an origin in some other state isn't likely to care.
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My parents talked about how in the "old days" (50's and 60's I assume) one needed a "license" to buy liquor in Utah. And in restaurants drinks must be poured out of eyeshot of minors. However, you can now buy in the grocery store. And even in Indiana, it sounds like liquor sales on Sundays will soon be a new thing.
I just learned, in the same vein, that package stores in Massachusetts can only have like 3 locations, hence Trader Joe's only has three locations with liquor/wine.
Devil's Advocate
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To the best of my knowledge the transfer into checked luggage option has always existed. Even if you bought separate tickets on airlines with no interline (and had to exit the re-check area to drop your bag at the departure desk) the option still existed, albeit in a clumsy and ambiguous manner.
I've heard people can get pulled over for making a large purchase on a short trip but I rarely carry more than a bottle or two and that never seems to raise any eyebrows. I guess things start to change for the worse at the 3+ mark.
In Texas you can only buy spirits for home consumption until 8:59PM but you can buy hard drinks (and probably drive home drunk) until 2AM. You can be arrested for public intoxication while sitting in a licensed bar having created no disturbance to anyone present. I could go on but they're all pretty stupid.
BCL
Engineer
It's not needed at an airport, but that's kind of an exception made given that alcohol sales are a huge moneymaker at airport concessions. One doesn't need a license to buy at a state liquor store. But the way it was arranged was that they had "private clubs" that served hard liquor, wine, and "heavy beer". And one would need to get a membership although it could be really cheap and the "member" can invite a few friends. I was having pizza in Moab over 15 years ago, and there was a separate area (behind glass) that included the private club area. Not sure how that works now, other than it was never necessarily at an airport.
https://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/features/ci_12721457
I'm still not sure how interested federal officers are in enforcing state alcohol laws.
BCL
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They would run stings on the border, by my understanding was that it was primarily geared towards vehicles with Utah license plates. People passing through generally had no problems.
Amtrak has also had some interesting issues dealing with passing through certain states or even dry counties.
In the old days(up to the 70s) you could only buy Beer in Bars and Clubs, No Liquor or Wine, but one could " Brown Bag it" by buying a Bottle @ the Liquor Store and the Joint would sell you "Setups", ie Ice and Mixer to add your choice of booze, and also had "Corkage for a Fee for your Wine if you brought it with you.
Private Clubs, as mentioned above,were also around in "Wet" Counties!( you had a Membership and if a local kept your booze in a Locker, if a Visitor you paid a nominal Membership Fee.) The same thing existed in Oklahoma up until the 80s!
And in New York, you can only buy beer in grocery stores. But in Maryland, you can't buy either, you have to go to special liquor stores. Except in a couple of counties where you can. In our part of Maryland, no liquor, beer, or wines sales on Sundays, except for a few liquor stores that have some sort of special license that allows them to do so. On the other hand, in California, you can buy beer, liquor, wine, whatever in grocery stores 7 days a week. Apparently you can also do that in Maine, too. The weirdest I've seen is in Ohio, where they sell beer, wine and 20 proof "vodka" in drugstores and grocery stores, but real liquor is only sold in select grocery stores where they have some sort of tamper proof anti-shoplifting tag on them that has to be removed by a special store clerk (not all can do it) after you show them your ID. And you have to show your ID even if you're a gray-haired geezer like me.
BCL
Engineer
Not 24/7 though. Last call is at 2 AM until 6 AM. And no on-premises alcohol consumption during those hours. Of course this applies to airports, although I've never seen airport concessions open during those hours in California. And I've rarely been in an airport that late.
B & P Code 25631. Retail Hours of Sale
Any on-sale or off sale licensee, or agent or employee of that licensee, who sells, gives, or delivers to any persons any alcoholic beverage or any person who knowingly purchases any alcoholic beverage between the hours of 2 o’clock a.m. and 6 o’clock a.m. of the same day, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
For the purposes of this section, on the day that a time change occurs from Pacific standard time to Pacific daylight saving time, or back again to Pacific standard time, “2 o’clock a.m.” means two hours after midnight of the day preceding the day such change occurs.
B & P Code 25632. Consumption
Any retail licensee, or agent or employee of such licensee, who permits any alcoholic beverage to be consumed by any person on the licensee’s licensed premises during any hours in which it is unlawful to sell, give, or deliver any alcoholic beverage for consumption on the premises is guilty of a misdemeanor.
The other deal is no self-checkout of alcohol.
Yes Maine is pretty open. Each store has to be an "agency liquor store" and I believe the state still regulates prices. But basically every grocery store and gas station sells booze. Only drawback is it has put most real liquor stores out of business and it can be hard to find good wines or specialty liquors as most places just carry the big sellers like Barefoot (ugh).
The weirdest place was PA when we lived there in the 70s and 80s and you had to go to the "State Store" where there was a counter and you had to look up the liquor in a list and give the clerk a number and he would go back and look for it. If they were out you tried another number and so on. Sort of like if Amtrak management ran the system.
You could only buy beer by the case at a distributor. I think things have loosened up since then.
Maryland is the strictest of the states I've lived in to date. Montgomery County allows sales on Sundays, but the county controls distribution. It drives restaurants nuts, as they're unable to order from small wineries on their own. José Andrés lives in Bethesda but only has one restaurant in the county, and that one is at the insistence of his daughters. Total Wine is based here but doesn't have any stores in the county.
When I lived in California, you could still be alcohol at the drive-up Alta Dena Dairy stores (it's been a few decades).
In Virginia, I could buy beer and wine in grocery stores but had to go to a Liquor Control Board ABS store for hard liquor.
In New Mexico, you could buy anything anywhere except on Christmas Day and Election Day when humans were on the ballot (no jokes - it was okay for bond questions and amendments, etc.).
Decades after I grew up and left, I still miss Michigan's "party stores." The combination of alcohol sales, deli and convenience items was great.
BCL
Engineer
The only things that are restricted in California beside the usual of age is no sales or consumption from 2 AM to 6 AM, and no alcohol purchases at self-checkouts. And it's been like that for a while. I've been in a supermarket just before 2 AM when I heard the last call for alcohol sales.
If I can take it back to post security issues at airports, there is one way to bring alcohol on board a plane in carry on. As long as it's all under the 100 ml individual size limit and in a quart bag (or whatever limit there is outside the US) one can take mini bottles. It's up to the airlines to determine whether or not they can be consumed by the passenger. The only US federal regulation is that only an airline can serve alcohol on a plane, so if the flight attendant is willing to open it and place it in a cup, that would be legal. Some airlines don't allow it though. Not sure what the rules would be on drinking BYO alcohol in an terminal though.
I took a backpacking trip to California in 1987. My carpool decided to stop in a small town in the Central Valley to buy a few last-minute things before we hit the mountains, and we ended up at a Safeway a little after 7 PM on a Sunday evening. Not only was I astounded that the store was still open (at the time Maryland still had Blue Laws and if you didn't get to the supermarket by 7 PM on Sunday, you were stuck with 7-11), but they had a full scale liquor department from which I was able to buy a bottle of bourbon to fill my flask for happy hours on the trail.
Does Montgomery County still have their own county-run liquor stores? I also think Wicomico County also had a similar deal, and you could buy beer and wine in grocery stores.
And, of course, may favorite was the old time Pennsylvania State Stores. Now they're just like any other liquor store, but back in the day, they were basically warehouses where you ordered out of a book, and the clerk went into the back to get your stuff. The clerks were forbidden to make any recommendations or do anything that smacked of salesmanship or customer service. I believe this was a legacy of Gifford Pinchot, an ardent Prohibitionist, who was governor of Pennsylvania when Prohibition was repealed. His motto was allegedly, "Let them drink as long as they don't enjoy it."
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They do, but we can't buy beer and wine in most grocery stores due to Maryland state law. Three grocery stores in the county are able to do this because they were grandfathered in as sellers before the state law was enacted. Bodega-style stores are able to, as well as stand-alone wine stores.
Bringing this back around to the topic, I've never tried carrying alcohol in BWI to see if there are issues. Another plus for Amtrak: no TSA. Let's hope people behave well enough so that it can stay that way.
BCL
Engineer
Also the father of the US Forest Service, where the rules on alcohol consumption can be extremely lax. Probably not due to him.
