Hello,
I was wondering if anyone had experience shipping bottles of beer or wine while traveling through Europe? I'm going to Belgium and France this fall and would really like to send a case or two back, but just wonder how cost prohibitive it might be.
Thanks
I think there's a million opinions on this, but I'll throw in my 2cents having travelled several times to France and Belgium for work and considering all options:
For my money, the best thing to do is stuff as much as possible in your checked suitcase, or take an additional bag to fill up and check. When you ship it, you are going to have to spend a fortune (more than a checked bag) on packaging, shipping, etc. and you have no idea what will happen to it on the way (temperature, handling, customs agents, breakage) and you come home to either nothing or broken bottles.
On one trip I brought back 8 beers and 6 bottles of wine in 2 suitcases, and had no issue with breaking. Just take some ziplock bags to seal them in, and try to "entomb" them in the center of your bag with clothes all around them and nothing hard that it could hit against. Even if you have to pay an extra baggage fee, it will definitely be less than any shipping costs. Good luck!
~Shaun
Shaun-
Thanks for the info. I think your approach is probably best.
I agree, bring it with you, shipping is gonna be hundreds of dollars and you may run in to import/export issues and tariffs, customs declarations and whatnot. Here's what you can do. I just got back from Puerto Rico, I took a case of wine there and brought back some bottles from a microbrewery in San Juan, this is a very frequent occurrence for my wife and I. There are special wine shipping boxes you can get that are like foam coolers in a cardboard box, they work very well, regulate temp somewhat and they lock the bottles in tight, get one or two and use them as your checked bag, write your address on all sides and tape the hell out of it. When you go to check it they'll ask you what it is, tell them beer, they'll slap a fragile label on it and you're good to go. Check your upgrade options when you check in for your flight, sometimes you can upgrade to first class for not much more than what the checked bag fee is, plus you get a free checked bag going in first class. Between jamming bottles in-between your clothes and checking one box in you can bring a hell of a lot of beer back.
Also, you should be able to get to Europe empty-handed and purchase the necessary wine shipping boxes at a UPS store or other such shipping/mailing/packing facility so you don't have to take empty boxes from here to there.
Thanks Joe, appreciate the info.
I just got back from a trip to Paris and brought back close to a case. I packed it in my luggage, and had to pay a fee. It was $200. We also had some champagne shipped, which was just over $100. I would definitely look into shipping it. I also brough some of those giant sturdy ziploc bags with me. I bubble wrapped the shit out of it and split it in two ziplocs. Made it fine but it was a pain in the ass to lug around a 75 lb suitcase.