Tips On Flying With Christmas Presents

So it's that time of year when many of us are flying away to spend Christmas with relatives in far away places. But this travel experience can be a hectic one as not only do we have all our usual luggage, we also have the added stress of trying to fit everyones gifts in our suitcases and hand luggage without going over the airlines strict luggage allowance! I mean want would your Nana do without her annual bottle of Sherry!

The thing is we all get so pre-occupied with making sure our bags aren't too heavy, that we forget the simple things, such as remembering about liquid limits in our hand luggage, as well as appropriate and inappropriate things which can and can't be carried onto the plane. So that perfume you bought for your mum will be best put in your suitcase, as if you try to get it passed security in your hand luggage, your mum will be going present-less this year, as they'll just confiscate it if the bottle is larger than a 100ml.

So remember, any liquid, aerosol or gel items are subject to the carry on limits, and these include all popular holiday foods, as well as treats and gift sets which contain beauty products or food, perfumes, beer, wine & spirits.

Furthermore, we would suggest gift wrapping your presents after your flight, because if one of your gifts sets off the security alarm, then the security guard is well within their rights to unwrap your present to take a closer look, and I assure you they won't re-wrap it for you!

However, if you do decide to wrap your gifts before traveling, then you would be well to keep a list of what you have wrapped, as so many people have had presents confiscated at security, as people have not thought their gifts and packing through properly.

One example of this is when a gentleman got stopped at airport security a couple of years ago and was told he had a foot-long knife in his hand luggage! The guy was so embarrassed that he coloured up red, as it turned out he had packed a sushi-making set for brother that indeed included a foot-long sushi knife! Which the gentleman had packed in his hand luggage without thinking.

The passenger explained it had been a couple weeks since he had wrapped the gift, and had forgotten about the knife within the kit. Still due to the strict security laws the blade was confiscated and the passengers brother received the sushi set gift minus the knife.

Have you ever had any airport security mishaps? If so we'd love to know what the are?