Customs and my Lunch Box
08-23-2012, 07:31 AM
#1
Gets Weekends Off
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Sep 2006
Position: Lovin' life at .4 (ish) mach
Posts: 1,317
Customs and my Lunch Box
I for one cant afford to eat out all the time, plus as much as I like Taco Bell, it gets old having to chose between Taco, McDonalds and Sbarro in the airports; so I bring meals with me.
Going through Customs, they always take my meals: fruit, sandwiches, snacks, and stuff for breakfast because a lot of the hotels either don't have a breakfast or they charge $10. If I'm honest and tell them that I have it, they take it, but if I dont say anything, or leave it in the airplane, I'll get fined. They tried to charge me $500 for a banana that I had in my flight case.
Does anyone have advice so that I can be legal but not have my meals taken away from me. Most of the turns are so short that it's almost impossible to get anything in between flights.
Going through Customs, they always take my meals: fruit, sandwiches, snacks, and stuff for breakfast because a lot of the hotels either don't have a breakfast or they charge $10. If I'm honest and tell them that I have it, they take it, but if I dont say anything, or leave it in the airplane, I'll get fined. They tried to charge me $500 for a banana that I had in my flight case.
Does anyone have advice so that I can be legal but not have my meals taken away from me. Most of the turns are so short that it's almost impossible to get anything in between flights.
08-23-2012, 07:37 AM
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2008
Position: FAA 'Flight Check'
Posts: 13,839
Eat things that aren't on the Custom's watch list? canned fruit or goods for one I think are OK. It is fresh items that are controlled. The Custom's website should answer all your questions. Where are you flying and going through Custom's all the time?
USMCFLYR
USMCFLYR
08-23-2012, 08:48 AM
#4
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2008
Position: FAA 'Flight Check'
Posts: 13,839
I don't visit the Custom's website often so I won't try to give advice on which items would be acceptable, but I am surprised that CANNED items are excluded. From what I remember about most of the custom's form it mentions fresh fruits and vegtables and live animals or the products of such (like eggs), and I thought flowers were mentioned in there too but I recently saw people taking bouquets of flowers ONTO a cruise ship leaving the country (don't know if they tried to bring them back).
Good luck in your search though.
USMCFLYR
08-25-2012, 09:56 PM
#8
Chief Jeppesen Updater
Joined APC: Oct 2005
Position: Executive Transport Driver
Posts: 3,080
They will confiscate anything biological/agricultural that could contain live seeds, disease, or insects.
Canned foods do not need to be declared provided they have been pasteurized or otherwise preserved.
If you work for an airline, how about leaving some of the stuff in the crew room and only taking what you will eat before you return?
Canned foods do not need to be declared provided they have been pasteurized or otherwise preserved.
If you work for an airline, how about leaving some of the stuff in the crew room and only taking what you will eat before you return?
08-26-2012, 07:30 AM
#9
Prime Minister/Moderator
Joined APC: Jan 2006
Position: Engines Turn Or People Swim
Posts: 40,044
This works for hub turns, but not if you get bounced to different hubs.
There's no real way around customs on this, just know their rules and plan around it. Or bid-avoid.
08-26-2012, 07:53 AM
#10
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2005
Position: Trying not to crash
Posts: 1,260
They were dumbfounded because your comment was stupid. The fruit rules have nothing to do with drugs, it's about not allowing foreign invasive seeds and insects into the country.
