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Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
Aside from open containers of alcohol, what (if any) items are uniformed airline pilots generally forbidden from purchasing at airports by airline policies? I am thinking of items (that certain segments of society could find fault with) such as adult magazines, sealed bottles of alcohol, tobacco products, controversial books, or even lottery tickets.
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
I don’t see why a pilot could not buy alcohol or tobacco in an airport as long as it’s not for consumption on-board of course, or a lottery ticket... 
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- Redbellyguppy
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Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
Before they stopped selling them I bought lottery tickets at PDX all the time.
Playing the slots at las, that's a different story.
Playing the slots at las, that's a different story.
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
goldorak wrote:I don’t see why a pilot could not buy alcohol or tobacco in an airport as long as it’s not for consumption on-board of course, or a lottery ticket...
We can. We are just not allowed to store it on the flight deck. Cabin crew will happily help storing it somewhere else.
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
Buying a lottery ticket indicates confidence that the flight will land and everyone walk off safely
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
I saw Turkmenistan pilots buying bottles of alcohol (and many more items) in the AUH T2 Duty Free years ago.
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- ThrottleHold
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Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
BNAOWB wrote:I am thinking of items (that certain segments of society could find fault with) such as adult magazines, sealed bottles of alcohol, tobacco products, controversial books, or even lottery tickets.
With the infectious spread of the "eternally offended and outraged" snowflake mob these days, I probably couldn't buy a bottle of water without "offending" some social media whinger.
I buy alcohol all the time in duty free stores in terminals. I'm sure as hell not going to pay the inflated prices where I live.
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
BNAOWB wrote:I am thinking of items (that certain segments of society could find fault with) such as adult magazines, sealed bottles of alcohol, tobacco products, controversial books, or even lottery tickets.
What? Seriously?
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- PatrickZ80
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Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
As far as I know pilots are allowed to buy anything that is for sale the same way passengers are allowed to. Only it should fit in their hand luggage, that's the only limitation.
Getting them through customs upon arrival is another issue, they might have to declare them. But that goes for passengers as well, so really there is no difference between a pilot and a passenger.
Getting them through customs upon arrival is another issue, they might have to declare them. But that goes for passengers as well, so really there is no difference between a pilot and a passenger.
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- WIederling
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Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
BNAOWB wrote:Aside from open containers of alcohol, what (if any) items are uniformed airline pilots generally forbidden from purchasing at airports by airline policies? I am thinking of items (that certain segments of society could find fault with) such as adult magazines, sealed bottles of alcohol, tobacco products, controversial books, or even lottery tickets.
You have rather strange ideas.
ref: "that certain segments of society could find fault with"
Ah, the moral majority. Fake beards for sale, what about those?
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
PatrickZ80 wrote:As far as I know pilots are allowed to buy anything that is for sale the same way passengers are allowed to. Only it should fit in their hand luggage, that's the only limitation.
Getting them through customs upon arrival is another issue, they might have to declare them. But that goes for passengers as well, so really there is no difference between a pilot and a passenger.
Pilots are citizens too, the last time I checked. Consuming alcohol is forbidden by law anyway, but buying a beautiful bottle of wisky, don't see the problem.
However I do question the skills of a pilot if he buys a lottery ticket, he flunked math for sure
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
I go to duty free all the time and buy alcohol and there’s no restriction on bringing it into the cockpit at our airline. It’s sealed.
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
PatrickZ80 wrote:As far as I know pilots are allowed to buy anything that is for sale the same way passengers are allowed to. Only it should fit in their hand luggage, that's the only limitation.
Nope. I'm pretty sure that pilots are not subject to the same carry-on restrictions that passengers are. And if it's too large to fit they can always check it at the gate.
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
Dutchy wrote:PatrickZ80 wrote:As far as I know pilots are allowed to buy anything that is for sale the same way passengers are allowed to. Only it should fit in their hand luggage, that's the only limitation.
Getting them through customs upon arrival is another issue, they might have to declare them. But that goes for passengers as well, so really there is no difference between a pilot and a passenger.
Pilots are citizens too, the last time I checked. Consuming alcohol is forbidden by law anyway, but buying a beautiful bottle of wisky, don't see the problem.
However I do question the skills of a pilot if he buys a lottery ticket, he flunked math for sure
I'd question the skills of anyone buying lottery tickets
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
My question is: WHO BUYS THEM MAGAZINES IN 2017?! I MEAN WE HAVE MUCH MORE INTERACTIVE THINGS NOW!
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
787Driver wrote:goldorak wrote:I don’t see why a pilot could not buy alcohol or tobacco in an airport as long as it’s not for consumption on-board of course, or a lottery ticket...
We can. We are just not allowed to store it on the flight deck. Cabin crew will happily help storing it somewhere else.
I know pilots who have bought alcohol while in the Caribbean or Mexico, because prices are much lower than even discount stores in the U.S.
I thought that the FAA had imposed a limit on the amount of alcohol that passengers can carry into a cabin, presumably as a response to 9/11.
Back in the 1990s, I used to see many people at SFO with cardboard carriers with 4 and 6 bottles of wine. Presumably, they had been to Napa and Sonoma. But, the last time my wife flew out of SFO, she saw very few wine bottles. By the same token, I've seen also sorts of products in catalogs for putting wine bottles in checked bags, or for shipping by USPS, FedEx, and UPS. Presumably, they are padded and leakproof.
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
They have to check the wine nowadays they have special containers for them ..
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
BNAOWB wrote:Aside from open containers of alcohol, what (if any) items are uniformed airline pilots generally forbidden from purchasing at airports by airline policies? I am thinking of items (that certain segments of society could find fault with) such as adult magazines, sealed bottles of alcohol, tobacco products, controversial books, or even lottery tickets.
We aren't forbidden from buying alcohol or tobacco (the latter is one thing you see many crew members buy VERY often), and you probably won't find adult magazines or controversial books at airports in the first place.
airbazar wrote:PatrickZ80 wrote:As far as I know pilots are allowed to buy anything that is for sale the same way passengers are allowed to. Only it should fit in their hand luggage, that's the only limitation.
Getting them through customs upon arrival is another issue, they might have to declare them. But that goes for passengers as well, so really there is no difference between a pilot and a passenger.
Nope. I'm pretty sure that pilots are not subject to the same carry-on restrictions that passengers are. And if it's too large to fit they can always check it at the gate.
I think that depends on the airline policy though. At my airline, I operated a flight where the captain took his mountainbike with him, and I know of others that took surfboards. I doubt all airlines are quite so generous though.
787Driver wrote:We can. We are just not allowed to store it on the flight deck. Cabin crew will happily help storing it somewhere else.
Again, depends on the operators policy.
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
Of course they can buy adult magazines:
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
787Driver wrote:Dutchy wrote:PatrickZ80 wrote:As far as I know pilots are allowed to buy anything that is for sale the same way passengers are allowed to. Only it should fit in their hand luggage, that's the only limitation.
Getting them through customs upon arrival is another issue, they might have to declare them. But that goes for passengers as well, so really there is no difference between a pilot and a passenger.
Pilots are citizens too, the last time I checked. Consuming alcohol is forbidden by law anyway, but buying a beautiful bottle of wisky, don't see the problem.
However I do question the skills of a pilot if he buys a lottery ticket, he flunked math for sure
I'd question the skills of anyone buying lottery tickets
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
BravoOne wrote:787Driver wrote:Dutchy wrote:
Pilots are citizens too, the last time I checked. Consuming alcohol is forbidden by law anyway, but buying a beautiful bottle of wisky, don't see the problem.
However I do question the skills of a pilot if he buys a lottery ticket, he flunked math for sure
I'd question the skills of anyone buying lottery tickets
Well I hate break this news to you but there was a DL/PAA pilot who purchased Florida lottery ticket back around 1990. He won 20 million but did not quit his job as I recall. I guess that disproves your theory?
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
BravoOne wrote:BravoOne wrote:787Driver wrote:
I'd question the skills of anyone buying lottery tickets
Well I hate break this news to you but there was a DL/PAA pilot who purchased Florida lottery ticket back around 1990. He won 20 million but did not quit his job as I recall. I guess that disproves your theory?
Nope and please come over and play poker with me, pretty please
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- CosmicCruiser
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Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
I was told to walk away from the Duty Free liquor display in Delhi because I was in uniform.
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- Starlionblue
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Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
I agree with some posters above. These days some people are so ready to take offense it's ridiculous. If a pilot buys a bottle of Whisky at duty free, please be confident he won't consume it on board, or even in uniform. Consuming alcohol in uniform is a firing offense at my airline.
By the staff? Wow.
At what airline? If I buy some wine at duty free (inside security) I can merrily carry it on board as long as I don't store it in the cockpit.
CosmicCruiser wrote:I was told to walk away from the Duty Free liquor display in Delhi because I was in uniform.
By the staff? Wow.
COSPN wrote:They have to check the wine nowadays they have special containers for them ..
At what airline? If I buy some wine at duty free (inside security) I can merrily carry it on board as long as I don't store it in the cockpit.
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
There are airports at which, due to local regulations, Pilots and Cabin Crew are prohibited to shop for Duty Free Items. Italy and Norway are two countries where I've experienced this.
In the USA, crew are limited to ONE bottle of ALREADY OPENED and PARTIALLY CONSUMED alcohol (officially, though I know many crew violate this). Ostensibly the rule is there in the USA, Italy, and Norway, to prevent crew members on Transborder "Shuttle" flights from basically operating a small business by bringing in mountains of Duty Free goods during their working time and potentially multiple daily trips across the borders.
Anecdotally, I had a little bit of fun when I was flying LAX-Mexico-Houston trips regularly. Id always pick up 5 or 6 bottles of wine at Trader Joe's in LAX (before they were nationwide) and "smuggle" them through customs in Houston after the 2-leg trip. The few times I was "caught" by the eager and hungry Customs folks, it was always a small pleasure to produce the receipt from Trader Joe's showing I had purchased it domestically and paid full tax and Duty already, and see the disappointed look on their faces when they realized I had done nothing wrong.
There was a period of time when Customs was on a "Mission" to nab crew members for frivolous offenses, like accidentally taking a piece of fruit in their bags (which also had been purchased in the USA earlier in the trip) so it was a satisfaction to "get back at them" in this way.
In the USA, crew are limited to ONE bottle of ALREADY OPENED and PARTIALLY CONSUMED alcohol (officially, though I know many crew violate this). Ostensibly the rule is there in the USA, Italy, and Norway, to prevent crew members on Transborder "Shuttle" flights from basically operating a small business by bringing in mountains of Duty Free goods during their working time and potentially multiple daily trips across the borders.
Anecdotally, I had a little bit of fun when I was flying LAX-Mexico-Houston trips regularly. Id always pick up 5 or 6 bottles of wine at Trader Joe's in LAX (before they were nationwide) and "smuggle" them through customs in Houston after the 2-leg trip. The few times I was "caught" by the eager and hungry Customs folks, it was always a small pleasure to produce the receipt from Trader Joe's showing I had purchased it domestically and paid full tax and Duty already, and see the disappointed look on their faces when they realized I had done nothing wrong.
There was a period of time when Customs was on a "Mission" to nab crew members for frivolous offenses, like accidentally taking a piece of fruit in their bags (which also had been purchased in the USA earlier in the trip) so it was a satisfaction to "get back at them" in this way.
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- Starlionblue
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Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
Whatever you do, don't ever bring fresh produce, meat or fish into Australia, even accidentally. Your time in customs will be long and tedious...
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
ThrottleHold wrote:With the infectious spread of the "eternally offended and outraged" snowflake mob these days, I probably couldn't buy a bottle of water without "offending" some social media whinger.
I buy alcohol all the time in duty free stores in terminals. I'm sure as hell not going to pay the inflated prices where I live.
Gee...you sound like a fun guy.
To the OP’s point...many years ago Travel Life Insurance policies were available for purchase at airline terminals. Might still be, I dont know, but I have not seen this in years. .I would imagine it was frowned on for a pilot to be seen buying one of these policies prior to his flight.
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
In some countries there are more stringent restrictions on crews (also ships crews etc. - I think the wording in the German law is "persons who usually leave the European union more than once a month for work purposes" or similar, too lazy to look it up now...) than there are on passengers on what you have to declare with customs. This is to avoid people making a business with bringing "gifts" for friends...but no other restrictions...
Last edited by Flow2706 on Sat Nov 04, 2017 1:15 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
Sorry double posting, mods you can delete the second one...
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- CosmicCruiser
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Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
[quote="aeropix"]
In the USA, crew are limited to ONE bottle of ALREADY OPENED and PARTIALLY CONSUMED alcohol (officially, though I know many crew violate this). Ostensibly the rule is there in the USA, Italy, and Norway, to prevent crew members on Transborder "Shuttle" flights from basically operating a small business by bringing in mountains of Duty Free goods during their working time and potentially multiple daily trips across the borders.
Actually my experience with that, and believe me I read it out loud to more than one customs agent, is that on the back of our "Gen Dec" it addresses items that Do Not have to declared and the "crew bottle" was one. There was a small quantity of tobacco and items bought that were needed for the flight such as toiletries. I brought wine from France most every trip and could have been charged duty but never was. As for the "Crew Bottle" we were not allowed to have "open" liquor on the jet so it was never a player. In earlier years we could have a crew bottle but it was stopped years ago.
I also had a chocolate chip cookie confiscated in Seoul because it contained nuts. No Nuts allowed.
In the USA, crew are limited to ONE bottle of ALREADY OPENED and PARTIALLY CONSUMED alcohol (officially, though I know many crew violate this). Ostensibly the rule is there in the USA, Italy, and Norway, to prevent crew members on Transborder "Shuttle" flights from basically operating a small business by bringing in mountains of Duty Free goods during their working time and potentially multiple daily trips across the borders.
Actually my experience with that, and believe me I read it out loud to more than one customs agent, is that on the back of our "Gen Dec" it addresses items that Do Not have to declared and the "crew bottle" was one. There was a small quantity of tobacco and items bought that were needed for the flight such as toiletries. I brought wine from France most every trip and could have been charged duty but never was. As for the "Crew Bottle" we were not allowed to have "open" liquor on the jet so it was never a player. In earlier years we could have a crew bottle but it was stopped years ago.
I also had a chocolate chip cookie confiscated in Seoul because it contained nuts. No Nuts allowed.
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- Georgetown
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Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
ckfred wrote:Back in the 1990s, I used to see many people at SFO with cardboard carriers with 4 and 6 bottles of wine. Presumably, they had been to Napa and Sonoma. But, the last time my wife flew out of SFO, she saw very few wine bottles. By the same token, I've seen also sorts of products in catalogs for putting wine bottles in checked bags, or for shipping by USPS, FedEx, and UPS. Presumably, they are padded and leakproof.
If you’re referring to post-security it probably has more to do with liquid carry-on restrictions that went into effect in 2006 more than anything else.
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
Starlionblue wrote:Whatever you do, don't ever bring fresh produce, meat or fish into Australia, even accidentally. Your time in customs will be long and tedious...
I know a guy who was a Flighty and he used to sprinkle the leftover spices from 'biltong' in the turn ups of his trousers - used to drive the OZ customs people and their sniffer dogs nuts.
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
Dutchy wrote:BravoOne wrote:BravoOne wrote:
Well I hate break this news to you but there was a DL/PAA pilot who purchased Florida lottery ticket back around 1990. He won 20 million but did not quit his job as I recall. I guess that disproves your theory?
Nope and please come over and play poker with me, pretty please
Now youre an expert poker player and odds maker? What a load of make believe.
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
What about pilots buying a life insurance policy before departure?
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- Starlionblue
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Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
Balerit wrote:Starlionblue wrote:Whatever you do, don't ever bring fresh produce, meat or fish into Australia, even accidentally. Your time in customs will be long and tedious...
I know a guy who was a Flighty and he used to sprinkle the leftover spices from 'biltong' in the turn ups of his trousers - used to drive the OZ customs people and their sniffer dogs nuts.
There are stories of practical jokes, and small acts of revenge against unpleasant colleagues.
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
A relative of my father had a senior management position with a major Australian International airline** in the '60s and at that time there were restrictions on what crew could bring into Oz..
The relative travelled nearly as often as the crews so on many trips he had no significant duty free needs, he would make contact with the crew before the flight and see if they wanted anything brought in..
** Yes OK, how many major Australian International Airlines were there in the '60s?
The relative travelled nearly as often as the crews so on many trips he had no significant duty free needs, he would make contact with the crew before the flight and see if they wanted anything brought in..
** Yes OK, how many major Australian International Airlines were there in the '60s?
Re: Items that airline pilots cannot purchase at airports?
Balerit wrote:Starlionblue wrote:Whatever you do, don't ever bring fresh produce, meat or fish into Australia, even accidentally. Your time in customs will be long and tedious...
I know a guy who was a Flighty and he used to sprinkle the leftover spices from 'biltong' in the turn ups of his trousers - used to drive the OZ customs people and their sniffer dogs nuts.
I flew back into SYD early one morning and the man from AQIS and his nice beagle were giving me quite the going over until I remembered that an hour so earlier a flight attendant had dropped a tray while clearing the breakfast service and there was bacon and tomato omelette smeared down my camera bag!
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