Bringing wine back into US

Its been a couple of years since I've brought alcohol through Hartsfield, but I've never had a problem. In Atlanta (and elsewhere) you will only have to clear U.S. customs. As long as you comply with U.S. law you will be fine. There is no additional state screening at the ATL airport. The GA regs would come into play only if you're planning to ship alcohol from Italy to Georgia. I know that GA now allows direct shipment of wine, but I do not know all of the details. I don't think (personal opinion) that spliting the bottles will be a problem from a confiscation standpoint. If your kids are under 18, technically all of the bags are yours. Some just have more of their stuff in them. Also, since you're a family, you'll be declaring everything on one customs form. Keep in mind that you will be rechecking your bags after customs, so you will still have a chance for breakage after you land. Good luck.

Well, I'm not from GA but flew back to Philadelphia where were from and we only had one checked bag and two carry on's and brought back 3 bottles of wine and two empty bottles b/c I loved the bottles...we put them in these big fuzzy socks I brought for sleep and wrapped other ones in scarves and had no issues at all with breakage or being confiscated...

I don't think anyone is very concerned. My under age son on a school trip returned from Germany with eight bottles of beer in his checked luggage. He listed it on his declaration form. The big issue is protecting the bottles from breakage. We have always carried wine back with no problem but on the last trip we lost a bottle. That is always the risk.

Ron,
I bubble-wrapped my wines and then slid it into a poster tube. No problems whatsoever. I had underage kids who brought back wine...no problems.

If you are bringing in that much wine, why not just get a wine shipping box and check it as an extra bag? We did that a few weeks ago and the extra bag fee was just $50.

Thanks for the info everyone. Was reading in the customs site about how some states may have stricter regs on alcohol allowed in and that the fed guidelines give way to state if stricter so that's where that came from. Rob,not sure what you mean in your last line. Why would I re-check bags after customs?

It the Atlanta airport you will go through passport control followed by customs at the international terminal (Terminal E). To exit the ATL airport you will have to first re-enter the secure part of the facility (i.e. the terminals). Therefore, you are required to re-check your bags and go through a security screening (metal detectors for you and X-rays for your carry-ons) after you finish customs. You will then be able to go to one of the other terminals for a connecting flight or on to baggage claim outside the secure part of the airport. On some trips I have checked my carry-on sized bag for the flight home and simply yanked the bag tag off in ATL and carried it through so I could avoid waiting at baggage claim. If you do this make sure you don't have any liquids, knives, etc. Good luck.

OK, got ya. Thanks for the info Rob.

Rob - I've never gone through Atlanta but I can't quite make sense of your procession. To go through customs you must have all your checked bags. If you have to go back through security just to exit the airport then anyone with liquids would loose them - a huge deal to anyone bringing back wine or such. I can see going through security to catch a connecting flight but then you'd re-check bags for that. Hoping you could clarify for us.

The ATL airport is large and international flights offload at the "E gates" at the far end of the airport. To either leave the airport or connect to another flight from the E gates you must travel through the secure part of the airport. All of the gate areas are connected within the same area (i.e. you do not have to leave the secured area to travel between any gates). Here is the process: Once you land you will head to passport control. Once you clear passport control you will then claim your bags from the international baggage claim area prior to customs. You then proceed through customs with your bags. Once you clear customs you will re-check your bags. There will be airport employees to help. Basically you load them onto a conveyor and into the ATL airport luggage system which will take them to one of the two the main baggage claim areas. You then go through a security checkpoint to ensure that you are not bringing items from your checked bags that are not allowed in the gate areas. Any wines, etc. will simply need to remain in your checked bags. You will then claim them in one of the two main baggage claim areas. I am not sure how Duty Free items are handled, but I would put them in a checked bag just to be safe. I hope this helps.

Sounds like it'll make a long day even longer but gotta do what ya gotta do. At least I'm expecting it now!
Thanks again.

Thanks Rob - that makes more sense now. Well - their system doesn't make any sense, but at least your explaination does. Now can you explain how an airport that seems so convoluted can be one of the busiest in the world?

Ron, Whenever I've brought wine home, I always placed the bottles in a plastic bag, and then sealed it with Duct Tape (the indispensable travel accessory). That way if there was accidental breakage, I wouldn't end up with burgundy-coloured clothes! I also made sure the bottles were in the centre of the luggage, and WELL padded with clothing. Good luck with the Customs issues. Unfortunately I don't have any information on the the rules in Atlanta. Are you coming home permanently, or just for a visit? After living in Italy for awhile, you'll probably find that you "look" at your home area somewhat differently. Cheers!

Rick, Below is excerpt from US Customs: Alcoholic Beverages: One liter (33.8 fl. oz.) of alcoholic beverages may be included in your exemption if: 1) You are 21 years old. 2) It is for your own use or as a gift. 3) It does not violate the laws of the state in which you arrive. Federal regulations allow you to bring back more than one liter of alcoholic beverage for personal use, but, as with extra tobacco, you will have to pay duty and Internal Revenue Service tax. I seriously doubt that the U.S. Customs officials will really spend time attempting to enforce state alcohol rules, since they do vary by state. That being said most restrictions relating to wine have to do with "shipping" across state lines, not traveling with. It doesn't appear that Georgia is that strict with wine/alcohol rules compared to other states. It's not a control state allows residents to receive wine shipments. "Ga is now a direct shipping state as of May 13, 2008 signed by Gov Sonny Perdue. The ruling appears to allow people in Georgia to get up to 12 cases a year. The bill was HB 1061. It's now GA code section 3-6-31. "
from: http://www.wineintro.com/basics/shipping/GA/. I think you can take what you want, but you should to US customs. They may or may not bother to "collect" duty. My husband I brought 5L back from Potugal in our carryon (pre-100ml liquid rules), which we delared on the declaration form, but they just waved us through.

Ken, We're just going for a visit. Have one more year in Italy. I know what you mean.....things are probably going to seem a little weird after being here for 15 months. It'll be nice to know that when I'm out and about I can find a bathroom with a bowl and seat though!!!

On our last trip, the only people we saw having trouble with alcohol purchases were those who bought it at duty free, got through customs in the US and forgot to move the alcohol to their checked luggage before re-checking their bags and still had the duty free in their carry on luggage.