AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums Talk Belize Travel Coming back to US with purchases...?

My husband and I are coming to Belize in May, and I just need to know if anyone has experience with coming back to the States with alcohol. I need to know before I go to Belize how much I can bring back without having to pay for it. Plus, I need to know how it works as far as bringing souveniers back. As this will be my first time EVER out of the US, I am not sure how all this "duty" works. I've looked it up online, but it's really confusing. Can anyone please help? THANK YOU!

You can pack 2 bottles in your suitcase. You cannot do carry on back into the US. You shouldn't have to worry about claiming souveniors.
However,When leaving US and going to Belize, you can go to duty free shop in US airport at your point of exit from US and buy booze there and carry it onto plane to Belize.

(Insert angelic Ahhhhhhh...) Thank You so much!! It never occured to me to bring some with me...

Seems like the duty free allowances have changed. Currently the goods allowance is $800 and the alcohol allowance is only 1 liter, seems like it used to be 2 liters. Usually never a problem as the chance of search returning to the states is almost nil. By the way, the duty free shops in Belize for your return to the USA, are some of the least expensive anywhere for liquor.

If you do the duty free in belize, you have to repack when you land in US before rechecking your luggage or they will confiscate it.

Do you mean pack your duty free from Belize into your carry on before catching your connection? When we fly via the US to Canada our luggage is checked all the way through.

They won't let you fly with the duty free liquor that you bought in Belize in the cabin in the US. You can't pack it in your carry-on only into your checked luggage.

Sometimes when I fly via the US I am still required to collect my luggage, clear customs and then there is a drop point nearby to give the luggage back to the airline.

I think when I last went to the UK that the luggage did go straight through which means I would not have been able to continue my trip with my duty free bought in Belize.

What you might want to do is buy your duty free while you are passing through the US. Then they will let you fly with it.

Hey I didn't make the rules, I just try to follow them.

I suppose the deal is that you can purchase and fly with your duty free in the cabin when you purchase the duty free at the port you leave immediately before arriving home. You cannot pass through US TSA check points with liquid. So if you buy the duty free at the US airport within the secure areas you are allowed to carry it onto the plane.

I forgot that coming in to the US from Belize and going on to another country you have to go through security again at the American airport even though you are just intransit. Too bad...

I always bring back 4 liters of Rum & about 6 bottles of Marie Sharps, I bubble wrap the Rum then put it in a 2# zip lock in the suit case, the M.S. goes in the cooler bubbled wrapped.
Have'nt lost any yet.
I used to bring it all in a backpack(carry on) before the no liquid in carry on started.
2 liters per person I believe.
I remember bringing back 6 rum & 12 Marie Sharps one time on a trip by myself, only claiming 2 of course.

Thank you all so much for your help! We are going to pack any alcohol we bring home in our checked luggage so that it is not confiscated coming back into the US. We live in Atlanta, so we'll have a connection from Miami to home, and I'm not going to take my chances.