Travel Tip: Can you bring your own alcohol on a plane?

This was one of my official Ah Ha! moments. Learning I can take my own alcohol on the plane with me.

As many of you know, I am a very nervous flyer. So I definitely like a bit of liquid courage on a flight. But I hate spending so much money on said courage!

So one day, while I was prepping for a trip, I wondered if I could bring alcohol in my carry-on…you know, just put it right in the ziplock baggie with my other liquids!

After lots of googling and a conversation with my TSA Agent cousin, lo and behold I found out YOU CAN TAKE YOUR OWN ALCOHOL ON A PLANE! How is this not what everyone does? Or am I the only one NOT doing it?

When I started letting people in on this little secret, they absolutely didn’t believe me. So I’m not the only one!

I immediately tested it.

Does it work to take your own alcohol on a plane?

For my first flight, I was really nervous so I ended up filling the trial size Listerine bottles with vodka (for a delicious bloody mary). The Listerine bottles are a bit bigger than the little airplane liquor bottles you can get, plus, I already had the vodka so it was much cheaper. I even brought my own mix - I wasn’t sure they’d give me just mixer on the flight.

There were absolutely no issues going through security, and they did indeed bring me just Bloody Mary mix on the flight, no questions asked. This was awesome!

The next time I flew, I tested it with the little liquor bottles, and once again…no issues!

So if you want to save a few bucks (every little bit helps, right?), BYOB on your next flight!

I will mention there is some debate over whether or not it is legal to drink your own liquor on a plane - some say yes, some say not at all, some say that you must give it to your flight attendant to pour for you. Whatever you choose, just keep it in moderation…you definitely don’t want to be “that guy/girl” who’s hammered and annoying in a confined space for hours on end!

Let us know what’s your drink of choice on flights in the comments below!