Duty Free and changing planes

[MikeK]

OK, I've read a lot of the old posts and found enough to make me worry.

I have a friend who will be traveling from Boston to Hong Kong (and back) and changing planes in Detroit.

If he buys Bourbon in Hong Kong duty free on the way back, they deliver the bottles to him on the plane. Then he gets off the plane in Detroit to change for the second leg of the trip back home (Boston).

Does this now leave him standing in the Detroit Airport, unable to bring the duty free bottles onto the next plane because they are big bottles of liquid?

How do you do this correctly?

(Other than buying in Hong Kong at a street store and packing it all in your checked luggage)

Thanks for the help,

[ThomasH]

Your friend will be getting his bags in Detroit before clearing customs. Once he clears customs, his bags will be put onto another sorting belt and loaded onto his connecting flight. Any duty free bottles he has need to be put in his checked luggage before it goes to his connecting flight. He will be unable to clear the TSA checkpoint after customs and board his connecting flight with the bottles in his carry on luggage!

Thomas

[MikeK]

That makes sense. Thanks!

[RedVette]

It doesn't always work this way, especially flying to Europe, so you need to be careful. In the US, you clear customs at your first stop, in Europe you clear at your final destination. I have been caught holding the bag, literally, in Heathrow and Frankfurt, when changing terminals means going out and then back in through security. I have had to take my duty free products and stick them in my carry on, and then check my carry on in as checked baggage for the remainder of the flight(s).