Downsizing liquid medicines for security?

kuepper

My prescription medicine comes in 250 or 500ml bottles. I want to go on some short breaks with hand luggage only. It seems absurd to put hand luggage in the hold and pay who knows what for the privilege. If I pour the medicine into 100ml bottles I wondered if that would get through security as the bottles wouldn't be labelled (though how do security know perfumes and aftershave bottles haven't got something different in them?).

eskbanker

While there will inevitably be restrictions on taking hazardous or toxic liquids on board, the lack of labels isn't in itself an issue, as passengers will often decant liquids into unlabelled travel containers specifically because of these regulations.

OutdoorQueen

I would talk to your pharmacist and seek their advice.  They might be able to dispense in 100ml bottle and label it for you.   An unlabelled liquid, that looks different to shampoo etc ,  might be questioned

  I always carry a prescription along with any medicine which is in the original packaging.  Medicine that might be legal in this country could be illegal in another.    

amanda1024

If you have the prescription you can take larger amounts of liquids in hand luggage - I have big tubs of cream for eczema, and they just check that the pharmacy sticker on the top matches my name on my passport

OutdoorQueen

Just found these useful links:

https://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/advice/general-travel-health-advice/travelling-with-medicines

https://www.gov.uk/hand-luggage-restrictions/essential-medicines-and-medical-equipment

kuepper

OutdoorQueen said:

Just found these useful links:

https://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/advice/general-travel-health-advice/travelling-with-medicines

https://www.gov.uk/hand-luggage-restrictions/essential-medicines-and-medical-equipment

Not sure how practical it is to get prior ok from airlines and any airports I go through (as fitfortravel says) probably best bet is to downsize into 100ml bottles but then don't whatever liquids you carry have to fit into that one small single bag they give you at airport's? 

kuepper

amanda1024 said:

If you have the prescription you can take larger amounts of liquids in hand luggage - I have big tubs of cream for eczema, and they just check that the pharmacy sticker on the top matches my name on my passport

Do you just show it to the person who supervises the part where you put your things in a tray? And what about foreign airports?

eDicky

kuepper said:

amanda1024 said:

If you have the prescription you can take larger amounts of liquids in hand luggage - I have big tubs of cream for eczema, and they just check that the pharmacy sticker on the top matches my name on my passport

Do you just show it to the person who supervises the part where you put your things in a tray? And what about foreign airports?

It's been a few years since I flew from a UK airport, the method was/is to take the transparent baggie from your carry-on and place it separately in the tray for scanning. I've never known individual containers in the bag to be examined manually for content or labels, only for size limit, so I wouldn't worry about that.

As for foreign airports, UK could be in the minority that haven't yet discontinued this nonsense, Spain could be another, I don't think I've encountered it in Asia for years already. I suspect it persists to help preserve jobs in the face of modern scanning technology. Perhaps I'm mistaken..?

mdann52

When are you travelling?

Airports are currently upgrading the scanners to allow more than 100ml (target date June 2024), so it might well be a non-issue by the time you fly.

However, you will need to check the same has happened for your return airport!

DullGreyGuy

Having an "unknown liquid" in a bottle isn't going to be a problem from a security perspective and assuming you don't need more than 100ml for your travel is probably easier than going a different route. The tools they have are designed to ensure whatever is in the liquids bag isn't something that can easily go bang irrespective what's on the label. 

The one potential challenge is at Customs rather than Security as different countries have different views on what you can buy over the counter, what you need prescriptions for and what's illegal. Getting stopped by them and having to say the unlabelled bottle is methadone but you do have a prescription for it etc etc is going to be much more complex than if its in its original packaging with the pharmacist labels etc. 

silvercar

amanda1024 said:

If you have the prescription you can take larger amounts of liquids in hand luggage - I have big tubs of cream for eczema, and they just check that the pharmacy sticker on the top matches my name on my passport

This is what you should be doing. The 100ml shouldn't apply to medicines, particularly those on prescription. There are good pharmaceutical reasons for not decanting medicines from one container to another eg the risk of spillage, contamination, suitability of new container etc.