Airline traveler goes viral for mixing cocktail before boarding a plane: Is it legal?
Airline passengers are making their own espresso martinis at the airport by bringing their own spirits through TSA, but are they allowed to drink them on the ground and aboard?
A recent travel trend shows people enjoying a spirited cocktail before boarding, but they aren't paying for it at the bar.
Social media creators appear to be turning into mixologists at airports by creating their own espresso martinis before getting on a flight.
Some travelers are posting themselves using various shooters — predominately vodka and coffee liqueur — added to their espresso that they purchased at a Starbucks at the airport.
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Alexis Olive, who is a resident of Texas, is one user who shared her video on Instagram, where she showed off her homemade cocktail hack. The footage has garnered more than 10 million views.
"Espresso martini under $10 - mini vodka, Baileys or Kahlua, or both. it’s the airport, there are no rules. And I ordered a double shot of espresso on ice from starbies," Olive captioned her video.
Olive was inspired by her mom to make this video, who she said has "been using this same trick for as long as 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, shooter bottles through TSA as long as they all fit into a quart-sized plastic bag.
Most social media users found the hack to be something they wanted to try, but others questioned how Olive was able to get the shooters through TSA and whether she would be able to bring the spiked coffee aboard her flight.
The amount of alcohol in a shooter or nip bottle is 1.7 oz, which is less than the permitted amount allowed in a carry-on containing less than 24% alcohol by volume (ABV) or 48 proof, according to TSA guidelines.
TSA's website also says that you can store anything from 24-70% ABV in your carry-on as long as it is 3.4 oz or less.
"The 311 rule applies and that is 3.4oz in one, one quart bag and that is the liquids rule. So long as the liquids rule meets the security requirements, it can get through the checkpoint for sure," a TSA spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
"A lot of airlines do prohibit bringing in outside alcohol and this is because of the unruly passenger trend, unfortunately, that has really kind of taken flight, pun intended."
"Airlines, and really all of us [in the transportation industry]…have worked hard to curb the unruly passenger element," the spokesperson added.
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If TSA agents allow travelers to bring a shooter-sized bottle of alcohol through security, the question, according to several users who asked on social media, is, "Where can you drink it?"
"After getting so many comments and controversy on the video, I did do extensive research, and it does not say anywhere that you are not allowed to drink the alcohol in the airport. You're just now allowed to drink it on the plane. That is illegal," Olive said.
In 2018, Thrillist, an online media website that covers travel, reported that there is no "master database of all airports" where you can take a beverage to-go or make your own and then freely roam.
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"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 wherever, even at your gate," the outlet reported.
"Generally, though, there are marked off areas within airports where people can enjoy an adult beverage purchased at one of those little kiosks or poured into a plastic to-go cup at a bar," the site continued.
There does not appear to be a universal policy that all airports follow regarding where throughout the airport you are allowed to drink an alcoholic beverage, and some people believe this may depend on the open container laws in the state.
While your ability to drink freely in an airport is up for debate, it is universally known that you cannot consume your own alcohol on your flight.
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"p.s. it’s only illegal to consume the alcohol on the plane, not while waiting at your gate," Olive noted in the caption on her viral video.
TSA's website asks that travelers leave it to the pros to dish out any alcohol while flying.
"Our airline partners and the FAA ask that you don’t drink your own booze while flying," the government website reads.
The Code of Federal Regulations states that, "No person may drink any alcoholic beverage aboard an aircraft unless the certificate holder operating the aircraft has served that beverage to him."
While many social media users have acknowledged that you must finish a cocktail before boarding a flight, others have taken a risk by bringing their boozy coffee aboard.
However, travelers can be fined for illegally drinking their own alcohol aboard a flight.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) levied fees ranging from roughly $8,000 to upwards of $40,000, with additional charges against fliers in 2021 who were found consuming their own alcohol illegally aboard a flight, according to the FAA's website.
"I think the reason why that video was doing so well and went viral is because many people did not know that you could bring those mini bottles of alcohol with you into the airport, but I did just want to clear that on the airplane your own alcohol is illegal," Olive said.
"Just one or two [shots] before a flight most likely will not get most people highly toxicated, so [it should help] if you need it for relaxation or to calm your nerves. A lot of people have anxiety when flying."
"It's not really that much of a hack, but I think it's just people, again, didn't know," she added.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FAA for comment.
