2 months till our 3 week trip to Europe!! I'm reading comments from a number of people about buying bread, cheese (& other local foods), along with wine to enjoy as picnics which sounds like a wonderful idea! Espcially since I truly love my wine.
So a question just occured, I don't want to buy wine and not be able to open it! Can I carry a small corkscrew in my carryon or will that be prohibited? I'm traveling from SFO to Heathrow.
Yes, Kathy, rules were changed less than a year ago, allowing corkscrews. Last September we took ours in our carryon...and the TSA guy found a small blade in it we didn't know it had! He tossed it, so we had to buy another in Europe. So, just ensure yours doesn't have a blade.
I'll throw a wrinkle in the discussion. Yes, the TSA allows corkscrews now, though I have noticed a few agents looking askew at mine, even asking others if it is OK. However, European airlines still have (or recently did) prohibitions against corkscrews. This is only an issue if you cahange planes in Europe and have to go through security again. Long story short, check the carriers you will be flying on to be sure, and to be safe, toss a cheap one in. Good news is one can be had for a few Euros there if you lose it along the way. We always have a bottle of wine for the room, and have found these:[ http://www.letravelstore.com/733508_083.html ]to be wonderful as an alternative to a paper cup or drinking straight from the bottle.
Depends on where you go!
TSA allows it. You can board in Nice and it's okay. Brussels, fine. Heathrow, no way.
So you can probably take it from SFO to Heathrow, but you won't be bringing it back through Heathrow.
But I have found that even within the US, TSA rules are applied differently in many different airports . . .
Kathy...
A couple of suggestions:
Look for wine packaged in "drinking box" style format. It isn't always just cheap wines packaged this way. I've had many excellent wines that were packaged this way, esp in Portugal!
Look for wine with a screw top cap.
Borrow a corkscrew from the Dining room or Room Service at your hotel
Buy a cheapie corkscrew and leave it behind.
I don't know where you're staying but some hotels give complimentary corkscrews in the mini bar. I got a neat little one at the Hilton Belfast that is plastic and has no blade. I've been toting it in my carry-on for months now with no problem. But then again, I go through screening for Air Crew and to be honest, they aren't very thorough.
Thank you all, great replies! We're doing just carry ons this trip, so I'll throw a in cheap one, with no blade. If it gets tossed, I'm sure I can be creative in finding something there!
I used to fly with a swiss army knife. After 9/11, that's out. Now I buy a one (under $20) at my first destination and throw it in my daypack pocket. I use it for everything from cutting breads, meats, cheeses, fruit or chocolate to spreading mustard. Having a file, scissors, screwdriver and a corkscrew in one really comes in handy. Before I fly home, I give it as a gift.
Brad, that's the best idea yet. I can have friends in UK locate one for for me so that I'm "picnic-ready" upon arrival!
I also like the idea about the travel wine glass and will get one for US travel, but I don't want to take up space in my carry on.
Take a cheep small one - as it seems aloud. Perhaps the ones with the small foil-cutter-knife are not alowed - but if they are not - just buy one at the first store youre at! Same with pocket knife - buy a regular swiss-army one and donate/ship/check it if you have to on the way home.
I can tell you for a fact that the small foil-cutting knife on standard corkscrews is considered a blade and you will definitely NOT get that item past Heathrow's checkpoints. I would also suggest that it is unwise to leave any questionable item in your carry-on luggage. The best outcome is you will sail through. The next best outcome is they will hold up your bag, find the item, tell you it's OK, and off you go. The next best outcome, which I will call the worst outcome, is that they set your bag aside for awhile. You will nervously look on at your bag sitting there for quite some time anxiously staring a hole in your watch because your connecting flight is quite a distance away. After some time, a security agent starts going through your bag item by item. Eventually they find the corkscrew and confiscate it. Then you and your family sprint with all your belongings to the farthest BA gate at Heathrow (the horizontal escalators are rubbish again, what?) Much stress. Not good.
