packing food in check baggage when flying jet blue

[Natalie's Mommy]

We are leaving next week, and this is our first time going to disneyworld! We are flying jet blue so we each get a checked bag for free, and i currently only need to use 3 suitcase, so my plan is bringing a 4th full of food! Stuff that is self stable of course like fruitsnakcs, chips, crackers, bread, peanut buttr, granola bars, a couple boxes of cereal stuff like that.

Is this going to be a problem???

I've heard not to bring peanut butter in a carry on bag, or any food for that matter since you take the risk of TSA tosing it on you but will they do the same thing for checked luggage? I don't care i they end up going through it, i just don't wanna spend money on snacks that won't make it to flordia because of TSA regulations.

so please post your experinces with this. i still have to to pack a large FRB and ship it to ASMu if bringing it in luggage is gonna be a problem!

 

[Mom23Disneybelievers]

We did this when our kids were younger. In fact, we flew Jetblue at the time. We didn't have any problems, but the bag was searched.... most likely due to the jar of peanut butter. They put labels on the bag stating that it had been opened. Nothing was disturbed or opened, though, so it was ok.

 

[budbeerlady]

We do this with Poptarts, fruit snacks, rice crispy treats, etc. The stuff can get a bit smashed once in a while but just know that going in.

 

[Natalie's Mommy]

thanks ladies!!! good to hear its been OK on jet blue! bring on the snack food

 

[riley2008]

We packed lots of stuff - loaf of bread in a shoe box so it wouldn't get mushed; jar of peanut butter; jar of jelly; bagels (also in empty shoebox); cans of soup and fruit, boxes of cereal, milk, etc.

My mom was more trusting - she packed containers of fresh fruit with baggies of ice.

There are plenty of people that warn about packing liquids and the risk of popped packages then liquids ruining your own luggage and that of others. (Personally, I worried about the airline losing my mother's luggage and not whether or not her baggie of ice was going to leak into the rubbermaid container and out of the luggage.) Also, a bottle of broken perfume and/or shampoo causes much more of a mess than water.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

It is perfectly okay to pack food in checked baggage on any airline. You actually can take peanut butter on the plane if you use those snack sized containers (under 3.4 oz) and put in your 311 bag. TSA will not toss food from checked baggage.

 

[monorailsilver]

Don't forget the weight limit too. Plus some things might get crushed. We usually ship our stuff down.

 

[Lex33]

I always travel with a suitcase full of food. Almost every trip the bag is searched, but nothing has been removed. Peanut butter is a foreign object to the scanners because it is so dense so expect that your bag will be opened with a love note left behind. I stay away from liquids because I don't want them to break. One trip I even brought marshmallow roasting sticks with a pointed end. Security must have loved those. For us it is easier to pack the snacks and items we know we will use and may not be able to find easily at a local supermarket. Once you have eaten everything you have an extra bag for dirty laundry or souvenirs.

 

[beansmom]

i am planning to pack a few snacks on my next trip.

Having said that, on our first disney trip we took lots of snack and ended up hauling most of them back home. It has been my experience that we always end up with food to throw out or pass on. I'd pack judiciously.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

We've done this when flying Southwest and never had any issues. To avoid things being squished we did put most of the items in large tuperware type things. This worked really well and we plan to do it on our next trip as well. Gotta save $

 

[jumpropemom]

I have taken breakfast items both times that we went because we are not big breakfast eaters and I don't want to pay for a big breakfast that noone is going to eat. I would recommend putting the more fragile items in a tupperware container, or we actually have a hard sided suitcase. It is very old, but it works! Anything to save a few bucks which will get me back to WDW sooner.

 

[LibrarianBecky]

We are planning on doing this. Not only will we be able to bring the snacks down, my plan is only pack what we can eat...so we'll have room in our suitcase to bring back our souvenirs.

My list of food stuff I"m packing:
individual drink mix packets
boxes of raisins
granola bars
pop tarts
individual peanut butter packets
cereal bars
fruit snacks/fruit leather

We're getting some stuff delivered from garden grocer as well (case of water, case of pop, yogurt, string cheese, etc), but I would rather bring these thigns from home, if I don't have to pay extra to bring it, since it'll save a bit of money.

 

[Evi]

I bring fresh picked citrus back in checked luggage so you should be able to bring food as long as its nothing that will go bad if unrefrigerated you should be fine. I'd avoid liquids though.

I should be more specific. When we go to Orlando I buy Key Limes, kumquats and a variety of lemons and pack them in my luggage its not a ton but a good quantity and I have checked them without a problem.

 

[elcodfish]

put your "crushable" items in shoebox sized rubbermaid containers. It will help protect those items and it will give you a sturdy container to pack any breakables you may buy.

 

[Bete]

bring them, too. They are so filling. It's my favorite food in luggage.

 

[Jedimike]

I've noticed lots of people buying rigid suitcases. They have some sort of plastic-like shell that doesn't crumple, so your food won't get squished. It is also helpful in prevented your clothes from getting wrinkld too.

 

[pbrim]

I have even packed things that need to be kept cool, like cream cheese. I put a gel ice pack in a baggie, then that baggie and food in a bigger baggie. The whole thing is packed in the middle of my clothes for insulation. If you do that, however, it must be checked; it can't be carry-on. However, I've never had problems with it.

 

[Marionnette]

I have even packed things that need to be kept cool, like cream cheese. I put a gel ice pack in a baggie, then that baggie and food in a bigger baggie. The whole thing is packed in the middle of my clothes for insulation. If you do that, however, it must be checked; it can't be carry-on. However, I've never had problems with it.

I can see a big problem with this if your luggage happens to get lost. Imagine the smell from old cream cheese that has been in a bag that's been all over who-know-where for days! Ew! You'd end up throwing the bag out because you wanted to save $2.00 on cream cheese.

OP, I think that you'll be fine with what you want to bring but I would skip the bread. It's not as if you cannot buy it in the food court or the Hess station across from Downtown Disney. It has too much potential to get squished and takes up too much space when packed in a shoe box.

I would also spread the weight of all those food items across the 4 suitcases instead of packing in just one suitcase.

And don't forget that your luggage will not be delivered to your room until hours after you arrive. So don't pack anything in your checked luggage that you will need right away.

 

[thomas998]

The only thing I would caution is packing something that can get squashed, breakable, something powdery or any carbonated beverage.

Cupcake can become gross when squashed.
Chips or crackers get broken.
And when I say powdery I mean like baby formula we did that once and the can somehow popped open and everything in the bag was coated in a powdery mess.
We also made the mistake of packing a case of sodas that weren't available where we were going once and the rough handling at the airport resulted in 9 of the cans exploding and soaking everything in the bag (we knew it was during the unloading at the airport because they were still spewing out a mist in the bag when it came on the bag carousel).

You might consider just stopping at a wal-mart once you get there and saving the hassle.

 

[KrazyKollector]

Are there any snacks that can be brought along in carry on luggage? I do plan to ship a box down before we go with most snacks and sundries. I'm just going to either give away leftover stuff or toss it. I just hate the idea of tossing body wash, shampoo and etc away. But I don't want to check more than one bag. $25 each way for one bag is silly.

Does anyone know if it's cheaper to just ship your "what would be checked bag" down and ship it back? I shipped back luggage and boxes after my Mom died and I didn't think it was that expensive but then I was in a state and don't remember all of it well.

I hate that the only direct flight for us is Continental. Expensive!