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I had a flight from Toronto, Canada (YYZ) to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB) to Ahmedabad, India (AMD).

In YYZ, I checked in two bags (which I’d get in AMD), and had one carry on.

After passing security, I bought some a 1-liter bottle of alcohol in the duty-free and put in my carry on.

When I arrived at DXB, there was a hotel booked for me since it was a lengthy layover. I left for the hotel.

When I checked back in (with the alcohol in my carry on), DXB refused it cause it was over the 100-ml limit, even though it was bought at a duty-free and they could see this because of the label.

They wouldn’t let it pass. They said it had to be in checked luggage, which obviously was already en route to AMD.

Who was wrong in this scenario? If it was me, what could I have done to fix this? I bought the duty-free alcohol after check-in, and thus my checked bags were already gone, and I could only carry it.

Ari Brodsky
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K Split X
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2 Answers2

49

Once you left the airport, you are generally no longer able to carry your duty free alcohol back through security.

There are situations where you may be allowed transport such liquids through security, but these require the alcohol to be contained in a specific type of bag (known as "Security Tamper‑Evident Bags"), and these rules generally only apply when going through security at a transit point - not when you have left and are re-entering the airport.

In the situation you've mentioned, the only viable option would have been to check an additional bag at Dubai. This would have required you properly secure the alcohol into some form of bag that would have been suitable for checking, and would have potentially cost you an additional baggage fee.

Doc
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You were in the wrong. There are two main issues here.

  1. Buying alcohol (or other liquids like perfume) on a multi-leg trip is dicey, as even if you stay airside, security at transfer will (probably) refuse it. I know that's the case in most (if not all) airports in Asia. The rule of thumb is to buy during the last layover, in your case Dubai. Within Asia, DF store employees are trained to ask: where you're headed to (which they can see anyway since they ask for your boarding pass), whether you have a connection, and where, etc. Knowing the operators there a little, I believe that, had you bought your booze in Dubai, the staff would have asked you these questions too.

  2. Once you leave the secure area, and enter the country, this is not duty-free anymore. This is just a bottle of alcohol. Provenance unknown. If you had brought in a bottle of whiskey from home to YYZ, what would have been the reaction of the security staff? Exactly! Same thing. The fact that it's in a duty-free bag doesn't mean anything. Liquids above 100 ml are forbidden. Period.

So you could have checked in that bottle: find a box, fill it with styrofoam chips or bubble wrap, seal it, and check it in: the airline would have worked with that. I did it once. It was my only check-in luggage, and the post office at the airport had everything needed.

But expecting security to let a liter-bottle pass trough? Nope. Also, let's keep in mind that Dubai is a Muslim city - quite benevolent, but still their attitude towards booze is no picnic. So on top of the more than 100 ml liquid issue, the fact that it was booze is not going to buy you any brownie points.

For what is worth, I work in the DF business, selling alcohol in Asia.