A recent travel trend shows that people are enjoying a lively cocktail before boarding the plane, but they’re not paying for it at the bar.
Social media creators seem to be turning into airport mixologists creating their own espresso martinis before boarding a flight.
Some travelers are posting themselves using various shots – mostly vodka and coffee liqueur – added to their espresso that they bought at a Starbucks in the airport.
Alexis Olive, who is a resident of Texas, is a user who shared her video on Instagram where she showed off her homemade cocktail. The footage has garnered more than 10 million views.
“Espresso martinis under $10 – mini vodka, Baileys or Kahlua, or both. it’s the airport, there are no rules. And I ordered a double iced espresso from starbies,” Olive wrote in her video.
Olive was inspired to make the video by her mother, who said she’s “been using the same trick for a long time,” she told Fox News Digital.
Olive said she is an avid traveler and has even spoken with various TSA agents who have confirmed with her that you can bring the small shot bottles through TSA as long as they are all put in a quarter-sized plastic bag.
Most social media users found the hack something they wanted to try, but others questioned how Olive was able to get the attackers through TSA and whether she would be able to bring the spiked coffee on board her.
The amount of alcohol in a shot or sipper bottle is 1.7 oz, which is less than the amount allowed in a carry-on bag containing less than 24% alcohol by volume (ABV) or 48 proof, according to TSA guidelines.
The TSA website also says you can keep anything from 24-70% ABV in your carry-on as long as it’s 3.4 oz or less.
“The 311 rule applies and that’s 3.4 oz in a bag, a quart and that’s the liquid rule. As long as the liquid rule meets security requirements, it can safely pass through the checkpoint,” a TSA spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
“A lot of airlines prohibit bringing alcohol outside, and that’s because of the unruly passenger trend, unfortunately, that’s really kind of taken flight, pun intended.”
“The airlines, and really all of us [in the transportation industry]…have worked hard to curb the element of unruly passengers,” the spokesperson added.
If TSA agents allow travelers to bring a revolver-sized bottle of alcohol through security, the question, according to some users who asked on social media, is: “Where can you drink it?”
“After receiving so many comments and controversies on the video, I did an extensive search and nowhere does it say that you are not allowed to drink alcohol at the airport. Now you’re allowed to drink it on the plane. This is illegal,” said Olive.
In 2018, Thrillist, an online media website that covers travel, reported that there is no “master database of all airports” where you can grab a drink or make your own and then roam freely.
“But from our research it appears that Nashville International, Chicago’s Midway and O’Hare, George Bush Intercontinental and William P Hobby in Houston, Fort Lauderdale International, Las Vegas McCarran International, Miami International and Tampa International all allow you to buy a drink and enjoy it anywhere, even at your doorstep,” the media reported.
“Generally, though, there are designated areas inside airports where people can enjoy an adult beverage purchased at one of those little kiosks or poured into a plastic cup to take to a bar,” the site continued.
There doesn’t seem to be a universal policy that all airports follow regarding where you’re allowed to have an alcoholic beverage throughout the airport, and some people believe it may depend on state open container laws.
While your ability to drink freely in an airport is up for debate, it’s universally known that you can’t consume your own alcohol on your flight.
“ps it’s only illegal to consume alcohol on the plane, not while waiting at your gate,” Olive noted in the caption of her viral video.
The TSA website urges travelers to leave any in-flight alcohol consumption to professionals.
“Our airline partners and the FAA request that you do not consume alcoholic beverages during the flight,” the government’s website states.
The Code of Federal Regulations states that, “No person shall consume any alcoholic beverage on board an aircraft unless the license holder operating the aircraft has served such beverage to him.”
While many social media users have acknowledged that you should finish a cocktail before boarding a flight, others have taken a risk by bringing their own brewed coffee on board.
However, travelers can be fined for illegally drinking their own alcohol on a flight.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed fees ranging from approximately $8,000 to over $40,000, with additional charges in 2021 against fliers who were found to be consuming their alcohol illegally on a flight, according to the FAA’s website.
“I think the reason that video did so well and went viral is because a lot of people didn’t know you could bring those mini bottles of alcohol with you to the airport, but I just wanted to clear the alcohol on the plane myself. it’s illegal,” said Olive.
“Just one or two [shots] before a flight it is very likely that most people will not get very poisoned, so [it should help] if you need it for relaxation or to calm your nerves. A lot of people get anxiety when they fly.”
“It’s not really a big hack, but I think people, again, didn’t know,” she added.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FAA for comment.
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