I want to wrap presents here and give them in another city. HOW?

December 18, 2014 9:44 AM

Every year I buy a bunch of gifts, schlepp them home, and wrap them surreptitiously in a secret corner of my mom's house about 3 minutes before I have to give them over, all in the name of national security. Am I being stupid? Can I do this differently?

I am not a big holidays person, but the one part of the whole stupid thing I like is quietly wrapping presents alone (it feels like crafting!) and making it all nice for the person I'm giving it to. Now that I fly home for the holidays every year, I don't get to do this, because I'm under the impression that you can't take wrapped gifts on a plane. I'd be checking them in my bag, not bringing them on the plane.

Some googling tells me that you technically can do this, but the TSA might open certain gifts to be sure they're not implements of destruction ("Phew! Just coffee again!" Said every TSA agent over and over).

I am looking into the possibility of shipping them all home, but it might be expensive, and/or they might not get there, which would suck verily.

How do you do this every year? Are there certain classes or types of gifts that I should *not* wrap in advance, while others are totes going to be fine?

posted by pazazygeek to Travel & Transportation (21 answers total)

Looks like packing wrapped gifts is out: "Do not pack wrapped gifts."
posted by erst at 9:48 AM on December 18, 2014

We are doing this for the first time this year. My approach has been to ship all gifts in anonymous brown boxes to my family member, on the understanding they are all waiting there unopened for our arrival. When we get in I'll go wrap and accessory shopping and then shut the door to our room for awhile and wrap everything and enjoy doing it.
posted by bearwife at 9:49 AM on December 18, 2014 [3 favorites]

Back when I was a kid, we would occasionally spend Christmas with my aunt, uncle and their family. The visiting family would always ship their prewrapped gifts ahead of time so that the presents would be waiting under the tree in time for the holidays. Both families did this a lot over the years and I don't remember timing, lost packages, or anything major being an issue. I can't speak for the expense but this seems like the way to go if you don't want to wrap when you arrive.
posted by Diskeater at 9:57 AM on December 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Wrap the packages like they do on every tv show: In a box with the lid easily separatable and no paper ripping necessary. Then, when you get to your destination, just tape the lid down or wrap with decorative ribbon.
posted by oxisos at 9:57 AM on December 18, 2014 [13 favorites]

Best answer: The TSA has conflicting information on their websites and blogs. I have found many places on their websites that say that you CAN pack wrapped gifts in both your checked and carry luggage, sources here here here however they might be unwrapped by employees (I refuse to call them "agents") at any point in the security process.

I would wager that this depends A LOT on the airport you are leaving from, and if you are familiar with how they behave there you can make an informed decision. I am in the same situation this year and will be nicely wrapping lots of gifts and checking them in a giant suitcase. I'm not too worried about it. Even if 1 or two get opened it's still an overall gain in terms of effort and convenience. I have done this before with wrapped gifts and never had any problems.
posted by sarahnicolesays at 9:59 AM on December 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

How about just planning ahead for a pleasant and calm "wrapping ritual" at your destination? Just tell everyone -- hey, I'm going into Mom and Dad's bedroom for a couple of hours (or another room where you can close the door), don't disturb Santa! Put some X-mas music on your phone and wrap away. I do this every year and it's pretty fun. :) I think it's all about the mindset. If you tell yourself you're huddled in a corner and have to get it done in 10 minutes it will be miserable. If you just slow down and make the experience what you want it to be, I think it could be nice. Depending on the sleeping arrangements, maybe you could get up an hour before other people and do it then (if you're staying in a guest room with a door that closes)?
posted by rainbowbrite at 10:03 AM on December 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

I would do it anyway. If some of them get unwrapped then you can always re-wrap them and you haven't lost anything but time. I suspect the things most likely to get unwrapped are electronics or square/weirdly shaped hunks of metal -- think things that are hard to determine what they are on the x-ray machine -- but anything other than that just go ahead and do your crafty wrapping and take pictures and if something gets unwrapped and you have to re-wrap it at your parents then you show the picture and shrug and laugh and say "TSA, amirite?"
posted by brainmouse at 10:03 AM on December 18, 2014 [2 favorites]

There is no actual prohibition on having wrapped presents in your luggage. The TSA's advice is based on the fact that if something in your bag triggers a warning that demands inspection, they may have to unwrap a wrapped present. They aren't saying "you must not do this" they're saying "spare yourself the potential annoyance." My advice would be to think about the nature of the gifts themselves. Are you wrapping up some knives or a replica gun or some complex electronic device? Maybe best not to pack it wrapped. But if it's something that is highly unlikely to set off any alarm bells, I think the odds of it getting unwrapped are low enough to be worth the risk.

I once had to unwrap a present at the TSA checkpoint. It was a ceramic vase, so I'd thought it would be pretty straightforward. But it had a fair amount of metallic compounds in the glaze, which made it a kind of opaque void to the scanner. The TSA agent was apologetic about it, but I could see their point. I think if you are careful only to wrap the things that a scanner will have no difficulty "reading" you'll be fine.
posted by yoink at 10:05 AM on December 18, 2014 [2 favorites]

Once I had a book in a garbage bag in my suitcase because I was flying back from a hotel with bedbugs (that's a story for another time) and TSA opened the garbage bag and inspected it. I know because they left the bag inspection calling card.

I wouldn't spend the time gift wrapping packages, especially if the wrapping paper had metallic details, and put them in my luggage.

I tend to order presents over Amazon and ship them to myself c/o my relatives house.
posted by msladygrey at 10:10 AM on December 18, 2014

To piggyback off of rainbowbrite's idea, our family has just adopted the "secret wrapping ritual" across the board. We all have to travel some distance except for our mother, so we all arrive with suitcases full of unwrapped gifts, and then after Xmas eve dinner we all retreat to various parts of the house to do our wrapping. Everyone gets to take their time, nobody feels like they're missing out on socializing because *everyone* is wrapping.

So maybe you could talk some/most other family members into a wrapping retreat hour? Lord knows it's hard enough buying everything on time, people might be thrilled to put off their wrapping.

(NB: this works because we all arrive on Xmas eve but don't exchange presents until xmas day, if you're literally never arriving until 10 minutes before the gift exchange I guess it wouldn't fly...)
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:14 AM on December 18, 2014

I've taken wrapped gifts on planes before, and have yet to have problems with the TSA. However, there's always the risk of the wrapping getting fucked up from bouncing around at the mercy of baggage handlers - squashed bows, little rips in the paper at the corners, etc. The risk of the wrapping paper tearing is higher for gifts that are soft or bendy (like clothes or paperback books) or uneven (like an action figure on a blister card). So if you want to try it out, I highly recommend putting gifts into sturdy cardboard boxes before wrapping and packing them, and saving the bows and embellishments until after you've landed.

I don't really like lugging presents on a suitcase if I can help it, so typically I order everything online and have it all delivered to my mom's house so it's all waiting for me when I arrive. Most online orders ship with tracking numbers, so I don't freak out about delivery, and shipping usually ends up being way cheaper with free shipping promotions and such. Sounds like it's too late for you to do this, but it's what's worked best for me.
posted by Metroid Baby at 10:16 AM on December 18, 2014

Best answer: We've flown from Milwaukee to Tampa a few times with wrapped gifts and haven't had a problem. I stopped using boxes so they could fit in my luggage easily. One year I had a package get unwrapped on a Milwaukee to Boston flight, but the TSA actually taped it back up and stuck a note on it. I'd wrap them at home and if you have to re-wrap, so be it. I'll be doing this again this weekend and will report back if I have any issues.
posted by notjustthefish at 10:27 AM on December 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

This is exactly the situation that is easily handled with tissue paper and gift bags.

Why wrap, when you can bag?
posted by BlueHorse at 10:31 AM on December 18, 2014 [7 favorites]

I have flown with a checked suitcase full of wrapped packages (cushioned in all my clothes) and opened the suitcase to find an inspection card. Everything was neatly packed, and the tape on many (all? don't remember) of the packages was cut, such that the agent would have slit the tape, folded back the paper, identified the item, refolded the paper, and moved on. All I had to do was re-tape the wrapping paper.
posted by aimedwander at 10:32 AM on December 18, 2014

Gift bags.
posted by maryr at 10:47 AM on December 18, 2014

Department stores will wrap stuff for you, even if you didn't buy it there.
posted by brujita at 1:00 PM on December 18, 2014

I think some answerers are missing the point that the Asker likes wrapping presents as a kind of creative project. "Just use bags" or "get a department store to do it for you" doesn't really address the Asker's needs.
posted by yoink at 1:02 PM on December 18, 2014 [4 favorites]

I have multiple family members who have had checked presents unwrapped by the TSA so would either wrap and ship or plan to wrap at your destination.
posted by leslies at 1:39 PM on December 18, 2014

I am ALL about the tissue in a gift bag. We've been using the same bags for years, back and forth in the family. So its eco-friendly too!

Pack the tissue flat, pack the bags flat, put gifts in, assemble when you get where you're going.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 2:34 PM on December 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I'm wrapping mine and taking them on the plane, but with enough time built-in on the airport side for getting pulled aside and unwrapping, and the awareness that I might need to do some re-wraps on the other side. I figure as with so many other things (sometimes I don't take my mini toothpaste out, because I'm a rebel!), most of the time they're not going to care. So it's just a question of which possibility you'd find more annoying: possibly being stopped, or definitely having to wrap on arrival.

No one else I travel with has this "whatever happens, happens" attitude towards airport security, and I'm told I drive them nuts, but whatever. If I had any control over it, I'd do away with all the stupid theater in a heartbeat, but ultimately, very few things about air travel screw up my life that badly. As long as it's something that isn't likely to be perceived as highly irregular or dangerous by TSA, I do whatever will make my life the easiest and then play along if they bother to tell me I've done it wrong. Most of the time they don't, and overthinking that possibility just isn't worth the hassle for me.

I've found the best way to avoid getting a bag pulled aside for inspection (checked or carry-on) seems to be not putting dense, bulky, or electronic items next to each other; that seems to increase the likelihood of getting flagged and sent back through the x-ray a second time, if not opened.
posted by deludingmyself at 4:48 PM on December 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

I flew to Tampa yesterday with a big L.L. Bean rolling duffle full of wrapped presents, which included a big chef-grade mandoline. No problems, all gifts stayed wrapped.
posted by notjustthefish at 8:00 PM on December 21, 2014