Bring a Taste of Idaho Home: How to Fly With Idaho Wine

You came to Idaho for the scenery, the tasting rooms, and maybe a glass or two of something you’d never tried before. Then, you found a few wines you loved. Now what?

Thanks to wine travel programs from Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines, visitors have more opportunities to bring a taste of Idaho home after exploring the state’s wineries and tasting rooms. It’s a convenient way to extend the Idaho wine experience beyond the trip.

For the Idaho wine industry, it’s an opportunity to introduce more people across the country to award-winning wines they may not otherwise have the chance to taste.

What Are Wine Travel Programs?

Both Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines offer programs that allow eligible travelers to check a case of wine without an additional checked-bag fee when departing from participating airports.

Alaska Airlines: Wine Flies Free

With Alaska Airlines' Wine Flies Free program, Atmos Rewards members who are 21 or older can check one case of wine, up to 12 bottles and 50 pounds, at no additional cost when departing from the Boise, Idaho Falls or Sun Valley airports and traveling to a U.S. destination.

Southwest Airlines: Sip & Ship

Southwest Airline’s Sip and Ship program offers another great option. Travelers 21 and older can check one case of wine, up to 12 bottles and 50 pounds, for free when departing from the Boise airport to an eligible U.S. destination. No Rapid Rewards membership is required.

How to Take Your Idaho Wine Home

Bringing your favorite Idaho wines home is easy. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Build Your Case

Start by exploring Idaho's wine regions and tasting rooms. With more than 65 wineries across the state, there are plenty of wines to discover.

When you find a few bottles you love, you can create your own collection from the trip. Your case doesn’t need to be made up of the same 12 bottles of wine. You can bring home a mix of bottles from different wineries and regions.

2. Package Your Bottles

Your wine needs to be packed in a protective case or box with appropriate materials to help prevent breakage.

Tip: Ask the winery or a local wine shop about wine-shipping boxes and protective inserts. Many have packaging specifically designed to keep bottles secure during travel.

3. Check Your Airline’s Requirements

Both airlines require you to be 21 or older, and your case can contain up to 12 bottles and weigh no more than 50 pounds. If you’re flying Alaska Airlines, be sure your Atmos Rewards number is attached to your reservation.

With Alaska, the first eligible case won't count toward your checked-baggage allowance when the program requirements are met. Southwest's eligible case also does not count toward your standard checked-bag allowance.

4. Let the Airline Check Your Case

Once your wine is properly packed and inspected, the airline will label and check your case. Just bring your sealed case to an Alaska Airlines or Southwest Airlines Customer Service Agent at the ticket counter and they’ll handle the rest! Then, all you’ll have to do is board your flight.

5. Pick Up Your Wine when You Arrive

Once you reach your destination, head to baggage claim to collect your case. Because wine is fragile, it may be delivered in an oversized or designated baggage area rather than on the standard carousel.

And just like that, your case of Idaho wine has made it home with you!

Taking Idaho Wines Further

For many visitors, a trip to Idaho may be their first introduction to the state's wine industry. They taste something new, discover a favorite winery and leave with a bottle they can't stop thinking about.

Now that bottle can make its way home to a dinner table in another state.

It can be opened with friends. Shared at a celebration. Served at a dinner party. Or simply enjoyed on a Friday night when you're looking for a reminder of a great trip.

That's an important opportunity for Idaho wineries. Every bottle that leaves Idaho has the potential to introduce someone new to Idaho wine.

A traveler might share a bottle with someone who has never tasted an Idaho wine before. That person may become curious about the winery, the region or Idaho's wine industry as a whole. In that way, a single tasting-room experience can continue well beyond the visit.

Programs like Wine Flies Free and Sip and Ship help make that possible by removing one of the practical barriers to bringing wine home.

Ready to Take a Taste of Idaho Home?

The next time you visit Idaho's wine regions, leave a little extra room in your travel plans for a few new favorites!