Can you take cigars on a plane?
Can you take cigars on a plane?
Cigars themselves travel fine in hand luggage or the hold with no quantity limit for a flight itself. Cutters and lighters are the problem: guillotine cutters are frequently refused at security, and jet or torch lighters are banned from both cabin and hold by most airlines. Separate allowances apply when bringing cigars into the UK.
- Cigars: no security restriction on carrying them on a flight
- Cutters: pack in the hold — security officers can and do refuse them in the cabin
- Torch and jet lighters: prohibited in cabin and hold by most airlines
- A zip-lock bag with a Boveda pack keeps cigars in condition for the trip
Cigars, cutters and lighters
Cigars are not restricted by aviation security. Carry them in the cabin if you want to; the hold is colder and drier but perfectly survivable for a few hours in a sealed bag.
Cutters are the reliable source of trouble. A guillotine cutter has a blade, and while UK security rules do allow small blades in some circumstances, the decision rests with the officer at the lane. Assume it will be taken and pack it in the hold. A punch cutter has no exposed blade and gets through far more often.
Lighters are the strictest of the three. Most airlines permit one ordinary lighter carried on your person, but jet, torch and blue-flame lighters — the ones actually useful for cigars — are typically banned from both the cabin and checked baggage. Buy matches at your destination or accept you will be borrowing a light.
Keeping them in condition
A zip-lock freezer bag with a 69% Boveda pack is the standard travel solution and costs almost nothing. It will hold cigars in good order for a week or more.
A hard travel case protects against being crushed, which is the other risk. A cigar in a soft bag under a laptop does not survive.
Aircraft cabins are very dry, around 10-20% relative humidity, so an unprotected cigar in a shirt pocket for a long-haul flight will arrive noticeably drier than it left.
Bringing cigars into the UK
Carrying cigars on a flight and importing them into the UK are separate questions. There is a personal allowance for tobacco brought in from abroad, with its own figure for cigars, above which you must declare them and pay duty and VAT.
The allowance has changed several times in recent years and depends on where you are arriving from, so check the current figures on gov.uk before travelling. Anything bought for someone else or for resale falls outside a personal allowance no matter the quantity.
Nothing on this page is customs advice. If you are carrying a quantity that might exceed the allowance, declare it.
Related questions
The variations of this question people search for most.
Can you take a cigar cutter on a plane in the UK?
It is at the discretion of the security officer and cutters are frequently refused, so pack one in checked baggage. Punch cutters, which have no exposed blade, get through considerably more often than guillotine cutters, but neither is guaranteed.
Can you bring cigars on a plane?
Yes. Cigars are not restricted by aviation security in the cabin or the hold, and there is no limit on how many you can carry on the flight itself. Import allowances when you land are a separate matter and do have limits.
Can you take a cigar lighter on a plane?
Most airlines allow one ordinary lighter carried on your person but prohibit jet, torch and blue-flame lighters in both cabin and hold. Since those are the lighters that actually work on a cigar, plan on buying matches or a soft-flame lighter at the other end.
How do you keep cigars fresh while travelling?
A zip-lock bag with a 69% Boveda pack, inside something rigid so they are not crushed. Aircraft cabins run at 10-20% relative humidity, so an unprotected cigar dries noticeably on a long flight.