I’m visiting Seattle from San Francisco and a friend of mine asked me to bring him some liquor as it’s cheaper here however, with the small quantity I’m bringing, it doesn’t make sense to pay a checked bag fee. If I were able to purchase liquor after I passed TSA, I could just keep it in my carryon. Do any airports support this option with a liquor store airside?
I know some mixed international/domestic terminals allow you to buy non duty-free liquor at the duty free store but do any purely domestic terminals have liquor stores?
I wouldn’t think it would be that much cheaper in Washington than in California, but I maybe wrong. I don’t remember seeing a liquor store in SEA but one could have been added in the last few years. You could call the airport and ask them I suppose.
Portland has a micro-distillery retail location inside security. You won’t find cheaper booze there, but it’s good stuff if you want to take a specialty liquor home.
SeaTac has duty-free shops, but you can’t purchase liquor for a domestic flight.
I don’t think domestic airports have any “airside”, because there is no customs or immigration formalities when boarding domestic flights. So I’m not sure I understanding the meaning of the question.
However, liquor and tobacco are heavily taxed at the state level, and one can be prosecuted for transport of either across a state line, regardless of where purchased and how transported.
The only store within TSA security at SEATAC that sells liquor is the duty-free store. Domestic passengers cannot purchase liquor (or tobacco for that matter) from the duty-free store.
Airside at airports in the US these days (i.e., since 9/11) is past the security screening where they confiscate liquids in bottles over 3.5 fluid ounces in size.
Whoops, I overlooked the purpose of the question. The store at the Vegas airport is not within the secured perimeter and you wouldn’t be able to bring full sized bottles in your carryon.
As someone who splits time between SF and SEA, I do not believe that you can purchase liquor at the SF Duty Free shops.
Regarding prices, Washington has the highest liquor taxes in the US. The tax is calculated both on the price and on the volume. As an example, if both SEA and SF have a 10% sales tax and you purchase a 1.75 liter of Vodka for $20. In SF the cost is $20 + $2(10% sales tax) = $22. In Seattle, (let me check my handy WA State Liquor Tax APP - because of course there would be an app for this) the cost is $20 + $4.10 (20.5% sales tax) + $6.60 ($3.77/liter tax) = $30.70.
Previously, Washington sold hard liquor only through state stores, but large retailers (Costco, Wal-mart) lobbied to change the law to retail sales. So now we have punitive taxes on hard liquor. Just as we have high taxes on recreational marijuana.
Every time I travel from SF to SEA, I most certainly buy liquor in CA and transport it in checked luggage to WA (but I don’t pay for checked luggage). As does everyone who comes to visit - it is normal to request visitors to bring liquor. Heck, I know of some people who drive to CA just so they can bring back cases since the cost savings easily pays for gasoline costs – bootlegging even today in WA state. Since the OP would have to pay to check luggage it probably isn’t worth bringing it for your friend unless the taxes saved would exceed the luggage cost.
As far as taxes are concerned, since you can buy cheap Missouri booze and put it in checked luggage before flying out of St. Louis, why would MO care if you bought cheap booze after security and took it out of state?
I think the main issue is that you’re not going to down a fifth of booze in checked luggage while on the plane. That it all comes down to reducing the number of bombed passengers. (And if that means the airlines make a few more bucks selling tiny bottles on the plane, so much better for them, right?)
