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From: -hh <recscuba_google@huntzinger.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy
Subject: Re: The trip to France, Germany and Switzerland
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2024 13:07:36 -0400
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On 9/12/24 10:34 AM, Alan wrote:
> On 2024-09-12 05:16, -hh wrote:
>> On 9/11/24 10:51 PM, Alan wrote:
>>> On 2024-09-11 19:39, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>> On 9/11/2024 5:17 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>>> On 2024-09-10 15:54, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Riquewihr is similar and was the either/or choice, as we also 
>>>>>>>> visited Srasbourg too.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> There's a lot of such small towns w/wineries in the Alsace 
>>>>>>>> region; I think we have a Karen Brown guidebook which has a 
>>>>>>>> couple of self- driving routes that's on the "to do" list .. my 
>>>>>>>> basic conclusion is that if one wants to get to such small 
>>>>>>>> villages, it is better done with a rental car than by mass 
>>>>>>>> transit as we had done.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Forgot to mention that I've looked into the "ship some home" too.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The problem I ran into are that State regulations on shipping of 
>>>>>>> alcohol vary, and NJ is a "nope!" state.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> For hand-carrying, the last time that I can recall packing some 
>>>>>>> 750ml wine bottles into checked baggage was from Budapest, and 
>>>>>>> their security folk (at least I hope it was them!) either didn't 
>>>>>>> have TSA keys, or didn't care:  they just cut all the locks off.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> -hh
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> Indiana is OK since about 5 years back. We carry wine home in 
>>>>>> checked bags from Europe every trip, never had an issue. The 
>>>>>> record is 7 bottles spread across 3 check bags. We do not lock our 
>>>>>> bags. You just reminded me why. Those are flimsy locks that do no 
>>>>>> real good.
>>>>>
>>>>> And you're paying the tax and duty on those bottles, I assume.
>>>>>
>>>>> :-)
>>>> Yes, that's why shipping is so expensive.
>>>
>>> But you just talked about carrying wine home in your checked bags.
>>>
>>> That's not what anyone I know calls "shipping".
>>
>> Its another illustration of the trade-offs.
>>
>> Carrying them home falls under the US customs $800/person exemption, 
>> if one is within the volume limits too.  Even so, the duty rates on 
>> overages isn't onerous .. something like 50 cents per wine bottle.
>>
>> Shipping has no exemption provision (you're not traveling "with" it).
>> Plus as I noted, it can be prohibited by State law...and it had been 
>> prohibited to be shipped via USPS (Federal Postal laws), so one has to 
>> look to the private services (FedEx/UPS/DHL) for transportation. 
>
> Is there not also a specific restriction about alcohol? There certainly 
> is in Canada.
> 
> :-)

Yes, which I allude to when I said "within volume limits too".  Looking 
it up, the US customs duty-free allowance is 1L/person (every N days).

FYI, it doesn't differentiate by alcoholic content (like some other 
countries have done), so 1L spirits = 1L beer = 1L wine.  Fortunately, 
the US duty rates for overages are quite low (like ~50 cents per liter), 
plus Customs tends to ignore minor overages rather than to go through 
the paperwork hassle to collect all of two bucks.  Think my biggest 
personal overage was my hand-carrying 5L of Beaujolais Nouveau on its 
day of release in Paris back to the US, which I hand-carried onwards the 
next day to Pirate's Point owner Gladys Howard as a surprise gift.


-hh