Traveling with BPAL

[ariosa]

Awesome, thank you everyone! I have my imps packed in two film cannisters, but I'll just dump them out into the Ziploc baggie when I get to the airport.

 

Though... they're going to O_o at how many I'm bringing with me, hahaha! I'm gone for a month though! Can't be without my smellies!!

[angelfish323]

Glad to hear putting the imps in the ziplock bag when going through security has worked for others. Will be away from the precious stash for almost a month beginning next week, so I plan to do some serious decanting before then.

[phantasmmysteria]

I haven't been on a flight overseas, but on a flight from Nashville to Miami my purse wasn't even checked. I had all my cosmetics, lotion, and some perfume in my purse, but I didn't even bother to put it in a ziplock baggie. My carryon was put through the scanner, but not searched.

[readiness]

I'm glad I found this thread! I'm moving to NYC in three weeks and I need to move all my Bpal. I'm terrified of the mail because I just KNOW something will go wrong right?! So in the luggage it goes.

Edited July 5, 2007 by readiness

[curly girl fla]

On my recent flights from Orlando to Philly and back, I just put a few bottles and imps in the ziplock baggie as many others have, and they didn't even glance at it. However, they did search some handbags, and made a constant point of telling everyone to use a baggie for anything liquid, so, personally, I won't leave anything in my purse just to make life easier...just in case...the rest of the bottles I brought, I packed in my bpal pouch in my luggage-no special care, really, and they survived just fine

[kraken]

I kept two bottles in my purse and didn't even baggie them when I went to Hong Kong recently. My purse went through the scanner and they didn't even blink at it. I'd baggied up some lotion and toothpaste, but forgot to take it out of my carry-on to put it through the scanner separately and they still didn't blink at it. I put two more bottles, wrapped in bubble wrap, in my luggage and they came through just fine.

[gravedigger]

On my recent trips, I packed all my imps and things into an altoids tin with a bit of padding and put the tin in my baggie. As with everyone else, no trouble at all.

[Khest]

I am thinking of putting my BPAL in a toiletry travel bag inside my checked baggage. Going from Japan to the US and after a month in the US travel elswhere in the US, anyone think this a good idea?

Edited July 24, 2007 by Khest

[hadaverde]

OK, here's an interesting dilemma...

 

It is nearly guaranteed that I will be moving overseas sometime toward the end of this year, and I need to figure out a way to transport my monstrously large collection of BPAL from the US to central Europe. When I moved from Seattle to Pennsylvania, and again when I moved from Pennsylvania to Florida, I made the journey in a car, so I just packed everything really well in bubble wrap inside a box and kept it flat on the floor in the rear of the vehicle, but since we'll obviously be traveling by air for this move, that isn't an option.

 

I'm looking at cases like this one (thanks to a link I found earlier in this thread!) as a possibility, but I would need 6 of them, and at $50 a pop, that's a lot of money. I definitely don't want to entrust them to the shipping company that will be transporting our household goods, I would much rather have them traveling with me. Obviously, they're not going to be able to go in a carry-on bag, and I don't really know how well they'd be treated if I were to them with the airline along with my suitcases. Unfortunately, I also don't really know anyone in this area well enough to feel comfortable asking them to ship them to me after I get there.

 

Any suggestions? Has anyone used cases like the one I linked to, above, and if so, how was it -- did it work out well?

[heysunshine]

Has anyone brought bottles with them recently, specifically international flights? I have a rather small bottle collection ~20 that I would so prefer to carry on with me, but I would be devastated if they made me pour out my Corazon, Strawberry Moon, etc. I'm definitely going to call the airline to double check but as long as all of them don't exceed the amount listed (70 oz which is +2000 mL) it'll be alright, right? Right?

 

Bonus for packing imps -- my dad has two ammo cases for his starting blanks that were made for live ammo, so they are an empty box with thick styrofoam tray with slots for all the imps. *Yay* So I can pack the empty lidded boxes and use the padded ones for extra protection.

[birdiefu]

I'm moving from Germany to the States (I *hate* moving a whole household!) and they are coming to pack up my house next week. My BPAL plans are to ship independantly to myself (well, DH's grandma till we get our own address) insured. I am still in the process of packing my BPAL, I've made it through the bottles and about 1/3 of the imps. If anyone wants to know how I do it, here it is.

 

Bottles- make sure each lid is secure, tape lids with electrical or plumbing tape. Wrap each bottle in an individual piece of bubble wrap. Then take a bigger piece of bubble wrap and wrap four 5 mls (or two 5 mls, one 10 ml) at 2 bottles deep. Tape up little bubble package, repeat for all bottles.

 

Imps- sort through for any potentially leaky imps, seperate previously leaked (but fixed) imps from pristine imps. Tape up possibly leaky imps. Take a strip of bubble wrap, place 6 imps with lables in one direction then 3 with labels in other direction in a line. put one flap of bubble wrap over this, stack another 9 imps on top in the same fashion, wrap the other side of bubble wrap from other direction, tape up. Repeat with all imps, keeping yucky label/possible leaks seperate from perfect imps.

 

Once all these are packaged up, I will place the bubble wrap packages in tupperware, then within a shipping box with extra bubble wrap here and there as desired.

 

I have a few choice imps set aside for use between mailing the package and getting it again. I'm not sure if I will put it in carry-on luggage or just make it safe with bubble wrap and tupperware in luggage.

[V294]

Glad I found this! I'm moving to France in mid December and was wondering how to transport; though my collection shouldn't be that unwieldy since I just sent my first order off last week. So far it doesn't seem like there were bad experiences with any method right?

[hologhost]

In the US you might have problems with BPAL, especially imps, particularly imps with homemade labels in carry on. US airport security is fussy about liquids. They should be okay in checked luggage, but I personally wouldn't take anything in carry on you can't stand to have taken away. The rule are unevenly enforced from airport to airport and you would not be guarenteed for it to go through in carry on. There have also been periods of time in response to increased security where ALL liquids in carry on were thrown out. I missed this situation by days last year and would have lost my case with all my favorite imps.

[swilde]

I carry imps in my bra when I fly.

[Jenesis]

Nice one swilde!

 

When I went UK (Birmingham) to Budapest a couple of months ago I put the Imps in the ziploc baggie you're meant to fit all your liquids in*, and there were no problems.

 

*I take everything in hand luggage unless I'm going for more than eight days or so - My Dad, a seasoned international traveller, has lost too many bags and had too much stolen out of hold baggage to trust the handlers any more. Strangely, he says Heathrow is the worst for getting stuff pinched.

I've become very good at fitting a week's worth of stuff in a rucksack.

[Reaver]

I flew from UK to Boston about 3 months ago and had an imp in my carry-on (my only BPAL at the time...) and it was in the baggie. Not a blinked eye.

 

Bottles and lots of imps came back with me, and I just had them in my checked bag in the postal box they came in, with lots of bubble wrap.

If you keep the postage boxes, and put the shipping label in with the perfumes, it adds certain authenticity in case your luggage DOES get searched. Just because I'm a bit paranoid and tbh, they COULD look quite dodgy...

 

M.

[V294]

Oh yeah. They will probably all go into checked luggage except for an imp I might carry like Swilde for the long plane ride. Gonna be a pain though since I have 2 suitcases to fit a years worth of crap into. Meh I hate packing. Love traveling though !

[Puddin]

After reading most of this thread I come to the conclusion that the TSA does not really know what they are looking for.

They stop some people for something and let others go for the same thing.

I am really bitter about the whole airport rape we all go though.

We seem to have our bags checked every time we travel.

Now how many terrorists would fly using a pink polka dotted luggage?

 

Umm....rant over...

Thread? what thread?

I would suggest only taking a few bottles or ship them if you can.

[alicia_stardust]

I hate airport searches. Sometimes I practically have to turn around and bend over to let them search me, and other times (this just happened recently) they don't even ask for my ID when I pick up my tickets. That's right, peeps. I didn't get ID'ed.

 

When I went to C13 I was so paranoid about getting my BPAL home that I went and mailed it to myself with insurance and DC. Since then, I have just traveled with a few bottles and imps in my carry-on, in a ziploc. I have never even been questioned about it but even so, I always travel with replaceable BPAL and not something rare like Pumkin King.

 

When I moved from OR to CA, I wrapped each bottle in bubble wrap, then put more bubble wrap around everything and stuffed each box full of padding. My ~250 bottles made it here just fine, even with the moving company.

Edited December 8, 2007 by alicia_stardust

[xlxcx]

I'm going to London in March ( ). Will I be able to bring my 5mL bottles on the plane, in my suitcase?

[hackess]

Yep. They can either go in your carry on luggage inside of your one quart-size Ziploc bag, or packed safely inside checked luggage. Check the TSA (http://www.tsa.gov) for more information, but when I went to Italy in May, they didn't even blink at the 5mL and several imps I had in my liquids bag.

[LupaWulf]

I know it's a little late for some of the individuals who said they had large moves, but I'll just throw my two cents in here.

 

When I moved from NH to Alaska, I had to mail pretty much EVERYTHING. For the BPAL imps, I tucked them all into .38/.357 hard plastic ammo cases, before putting them in the large shipping box with padding. That worked very well.

 

For the bottles I ended up getting some styrofoam, and using an empty to push holes in it so I could nest the bottles in a layer of styrofoam.

http://www.paintballcity.org/paintball/Lis.../BPAL%20001.jpg

http://www.paintballcity.org/paintball/Lis.../BPAL%20002.jpg (pay no attention to the foot in the picture)

 

After putting all that in boxes, I added more padding. I ended up cutting up an older foam mattriss pad thing which I had used for some camping before so it was extra secure.

 

Everything arrived safely. One bottle leaked, but that was more due to the fact that it has a chip in the lip already, and I didn't want to use up rolls of teflon tape for that many bottles. It took long enough to fill up the styrofoam. That was borderline an embarissingly large amount of BPAL. I know this meathod will work even on planes, since I mailed it Priority which puts it in the air a few times before reaching Fairbanks.

 

I figure if it can survive the USPS, travling across the continent for the most part, the boyfriend picking the boxes up in the pickup truck, and getting used as a bedside table for the first week, it's pretty good for international and moving companies too. I'd still insure the living heck out of it at any rate. I know the post office clerk looked at me funny when I insisted on insuring the box for quite a bit.

 

And just so I don't seem like I'm a BPAL abuser or anything, they are all set up in a much more pretty manner on shelves and are getting used now.

[hadaverde]

My international move is finally complete! The moving company delivered our household goods three days ago, and I am pleased to say that my entire BPAL collection came through the ordeal in perfect condition -- not a break or a leak anywhere in the bunch.

 

I was originally very reluctant to hand my BPAL over to the movers, but I had too many bottles to pack them in the luggage I brought with me on my flight (I knew I would be without the rest of my wardrobe for a good month, so I opted to squeeze as much clothing as possible into my two small suitcases). I figured airline baggage handling and the postal system would be just as risky a proposition as the moving company, not to mention that sending the collection via post would have been far more expensive, so in the end I pulled out my three single-note bottles and a handful of my and my husband's everyday favorites to pack in my checked luggage, and packed the rest for the movers as follows:

 

I bought as many of these cases as Abundant Health had (their stock was very limited and apparently their supplier no longer had them available - I ran them out, eep!), and several of these smaller cases, as well. Between the two types of cases, I ended up with enough to house my embarrassingly large number of bottles. (Incidentally, the folks at Abundant Health are absolutely brilliant to deal with, I highly recommend them.)

 

Next, I tightened down and plumber's-taped the tops of all the bottles and tucked them into the cases. (This took a lot of time, and I had a nasty blister on my thumb and probably the beginnings of carpal tunnel syndrome by the time I was finished, but it was well worth the effort!) Once the cases were filled up and zipped shut, I set up "small" (1.5 cubic-foot) U-Haul packing boxes to pack the cases into. I put folded blankets or sweaters at the bottom of each box, and packed three layers of cases centered in each box, filling in the empty space around all four sides of the cases with additional blankets/sweaters, as well as putting padding in between each level of cases. Then I taped the boxes firmly shut, labeled them "Fragile" with a big black Sharpie, drew additional "this side up" arrows on all sides of the boxes, and they were ready to go. My imps normally live in plastic ammo cases, so I packed the ammo cases into another packing box of the same size, with layers of clothing in between, in the same manner I packed the cased bottles.

 

The movers who came to pick up my stuff asked what was in the boxes so they could note it on the manifest (they did this with all the boxes, not just the ones labeled "fragile") -- so I told them the boxes contained collectible glass bottles. (Hey, it's true, it's just not quite the *entire* truth...)

 

On the topic of airline travel with imps and bottles:

 

I packed the 10-12 bottles I had kept out, into my checked luggage, with their tops plumber's-taped shut...I wrapped each bottle in a small amount of bubble wrap (like they arrive from the Lab), then put them all into a ziploc bag and made sure they were packed between plenty of soft clothing. I also carried a handful of imps in my carry-on, they were in one of the metal Trading Post imp cases, which was in turn placed into the ziploc bag with my toothbrush, toothpaste, and a little bottle of hand lotion (I hate dry airplane air, ugh). I had to pass through two different security checkpoints on my trip due to the two legs of my trip being booked on different airlines, and no one at either checkpoint gave my imps a second glance. (For the record, the two airports where I had to go through security were Orlando [MCO] and New York's JFK.) I don't have any information or advice about bringing imps or bottles through customs, as I had nothing to declare when I arrived in Vienna, so no one from customs even talked to me, let alone looked through any of my bags.

 

Edited to add: I also traveled between Orlando and Seattle twice during the latter half of last year, and on both trips I packed several bottles in my checked luggage, and imps in either a Trading Post imp case or an Altoids tin in my carry-on, with no difficulties at all.

 

I hope this is helpful to those of you who still have moves to make, or upcoming travel plans!

Edited April 17, 2008 by hadaverde

[angelicdemise]

The last time I flew with BPAL was coming home from C13, and I just put them in the plastic bag. Though I had other liquids stuff in my purse that I had forgotten was in there (it was an early morning flight, and I went to the airport still drunk without sleeping) that security didn't notice.

 

For just daily carrying, I keep imps in a lipstick case in my purse. I haven't had any problems with that.

[Casey08]

Hello,

 

Well I just got back from vacation and I took my oils with me. I put them in plastic Zip lock bags and made sure lids where on tight so they would not spill and put them deep in my luggage. And they where fine no one ever asked me about them. I was surprise. Hope that helps u.