How much cash can you bring on plane?

#21
You talked about wearing cargo pants, i read in Breaking Vegas that Semyon wore tight pants and had money in velcro pouches taped to his legs so that airport security didnt have a reason to check him too well.
 
#23
Airport

The biggest focus is on metal objects in an airport. As soon as you ping that metal detector they look at you closer. Having your cash in a non-metallic environment can't hurt, I suppose! In recent years, they do an addition random lotto style "Let's search this one EXTRA good" thing for good measure and to justify their jobs and all that. I have always been concerned about carrying large amounts of cash also and have gone to extraordinary measures for optimum concealment with much more paranoia of some "official powers that be" throwing their weight around than some desperado looking to steal it!

Another good point was made about just driving down the road also! Amazingly enough, in many places I hear that the police will flat out ask,"How much money do you have or are carrying with you?" and if it's enough they confiscate it! I heard this is a popular practice in Texas and Louisiana in particular. That television show "60 minutes" did an episode about this and went into how an older couple, retirees were on vacation driving through some place 'er other and the state troopers did this to them, taking their approximately $5000 in cash which was their vacation funds for no particular good reason and they played hell to try and get it back! Imagine spending $6600 in attorney's fees to get back your $5000 and have your vacation ruined on top of THAT! Wonderful country America, eh?

The premise of this confiscation was that "obviously this much be some sort of drug money since it's so much"... but the retirees in question had no drugs, no criminal record, no probable cause, no nothing... they were just ancient old people driving off on vacation... with a pathetic $5000 on them---Really not that much money. I think I am just as concerned about simply driving down the street with any significant amount of cash on me as flying on a plane with it. Taking it on a plane might even be SAFER!

My thoughts and advice are to be careful in ANY instance when traveling with cash. Take adequate precautions! I often carry too much money on me to not take every possible precaution.
 

WRX

Well-Known Member
#24
bjcount said:
This is old news, but yet an interesting complaint.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2007/12/17/GamblersLoot.pdf


BJC
The capper was the demand by the DEA for a release of claims for civil rights violations as a condition of returning the money. It's like catching a burglar with the stuff from your house, and having him say you can have it back if you let him off the hook for having stolen it in the first place. Unfortunately, this is a very, very common tactic by police agencies. Actually, it gets worse. They might offer to drop criminal charges and let you out of jail if you release them from any claim for damages for beating the crap out of you. Unfortunately, probably 99% of people in a situation like that sign the paper, because they're so afraid of what will happen otherwise. The plaintiffs are to be commended for not having caved in.
 

callipygian

Well-Known Member
#25
bjcount said:
This is old news, but yet an interesting complaint.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2007/12/17/GamblersLoot.pdf
I quasi-object to this being posted in this thread. The OP of this thread deals with domestic travel, and the plaintiffs in the linked article are from Puerto Rico, which - despite being legally domestic - has several rules which make it like international travel.

Traveling from St. Louis to Las Vegas is pretty different from traveling from San Juan to Miami in practice, even if in theory they're supposed to be the same.
 

cpage727

Well-Known Member
#26
get to the front of the security line, put your money in your carry on bag and send it thru the machine while you walk thru with no cash on you. when your carry on comes thru take the money out and put it in your pocket, very easy
 

FLASH1296

Well-Known Member
#27
cpage727 is correct.

I use a nylon carry-on that is 100% devoid of ANY metal other than its own small zippers.

Metal objects, coins, cell phone, jewelry, etc. - go in a plastic bag onto the conveyor belt separately.

Extremely simple. A metal-free carry-on bag raises no alarms.
 

Randyk47

Well-Known Member
#28
Never had a problem with cash and that's up to nearly $40K a couple of years ago post-9/11. On that trip we were headed home via a stop-over in San Diego to visit my wife's parents. I did reduce the amount of cash by getting a couple of cashiers checks for under $10K a piece at my in-laws' bank but that was more because I felt uncomfortable carrying that much cash that could be lost or stolen, not because of any TSA security inspection. The only thing TSA has ever commented about was a "lump" of coins, the fifty cent pieces from BJ, that we keep just for grins.
 

moo321

Well-Known Member
#29
Cardcounter said:
KenSmith said:
Carry it through screening on your body. Cargo pants will allow you to carry a quite large bankroll.

You might be interested in a recent article by Bob Nersesian in All In magazine. He describes a case where cash was confiscated. It was only around $30K or $40K if I recall correctly. After lots of legal wrangling, the cash was finally returned about a year later, and all 'charges' dropped.

Only around $30,000-$40,000 you say it if it is like $40 or something. That is a ton of money to be carrying around with you. What if you get held up and somebody steals your cash? Why in the world would you not just put the money in a checking account that has branches all over the place such as a bank of america, or a wells fargo, or a bank of the west and then pick up your money when you arrive. Anything over $10,000 can cause you trouble.
I think a lot of people on this site want to avoid taxes, so they carry everything on them instead of using a bank.
 

Cardcounter

Well-Known Member
#30
If you are planing on playing $30,000 or $40,000 why not get a marker? Carry that kind of cash makes you a target for theives, takes up a lot of room in your bags, you have to fill out a cash transaction report when you get to the casino. Plus it is a lot of work for the dealer to count out $30,000 in cash.
 

Pro21

Well-Known Member
#31
Cardcounter said:
If you are planing on playing $30,000 or $40,000 why not get a marker? Carry that kind of cash makes you a target for theives, takes up a lot of room in your bags, you have to fill out a cash transaction report when you get to the casino. Plus it is a lot of work for the dealer to count out $30,000 in cash.
Uhm... because you have to give them your real name and SSN?
 

Finn Dog

Well-Known Member
#32
Pi Yee Press Jewelers Pouch

Does anyone know if these things are now full proof against setting off metal detectors post 911? There's some jargon in their advertisement that they're improved or something, but has anyone tested one of their new pouches lately through airport security? (Because it does still have metal on it.)

Best regards,

FD
 

beating vegas

Well-Known Member
#34
21forme said:
Any concerns about carrying false ID on you at an airport?
i would not carry a fake i d through the airport security will detain you and ask you why you have it. i would not go down that road its just asking for problems or at the very least a couple of hours and mising your flight
 

flyingwind

Well-Known Member
#35
Using the bank

If one chooses to use their bank which has branches in Las Vegas, and wanted to withdraw or deposit their bankroll, which of the following scenarios will get noticed by the bank or the IRS?

1. Does withdrawing $10k one time get noticed by the IRS or the bank?
2. Does withdrawing $10k multiple times, say, 2 days in a row... or 4 days in a row... or 7 days in a row for my week in Vegas?
3. If not 10k, is there another number above which transactions are noticed? 12k? more?
4. What about deposits back into the bank? Is 10k noticed? 12k? Is 10k deposited once per day for 7 days noticed?

Based upon the answers to the above questions, the following or variations on the following may or may not work. So how about the following option for carrying money thru an airport:

Bring just 5k with you through the airport. In Vegas, withdraw $10k from the bank. Play with your $15k bankroll. After you're done, deposit $10k back into the bank. Carry 5k plus your winnings through the airport. This probably works for anyone who's planning to have less than 5k in winnings, for a max total of 10k going back through the airport. Those with larger bankrolls and/or plans to have much higher winnings may need to plan it another way.

Personally, I would prefer to obtain my bankroll using a bank. I'm afraid of carrying more than 10k on myself through the airport. I just don't want to trigger an IRS investigation.
 

Sonny

Well-Known Member
#36
flyingwind said:
...which of the following scenarios will get noticed by the bank or the IRS?
They will all get noticed by the bank and it is possible that none of them will get noticed by the IRS. Anything OVER $10k within a 24-hour period (which is set up by each establishment individually) triggers a CTR, which gets filed with the Treasury. That report may or may not get noticed by the IRS. Obviously the bank will be aware of the deposits and withdrawals, but what they do with that info is up to them. If you are at exactly $10k then the bank might accidentally try to file a CTR on you, although at the very least they might fill out a SAR. A casino will almost always try to get your personal info for an amount like that and sometimes they will incorrectly (illegally) harass you or deny you in that situation. Take all of these things into consideration as you make your plan.

-Sonny-
 

chichow

Well-Known Member
#37
9k 6k

You could carry around 6k. And then deposit / withdraw 9k.

As stated earlier, 9k doesn't force the CTR although CTR and SAR can still be filed.

So 6k / 9k instead of 5k / 10k. 10k and above will force a CTR.

And I am guessing (again guessing) that Vegas banks are less likely to file a CTR / SAR for amounts below the thresholds given that 100's are like 20's in usage out there.
 

FLASH1296

Well-Known Member
#38
Chichow — You said “10k and above will force a CTR.“

It must be at least .01 above $10K

However I have had to point this out to employees of both banks and casinos over the years.

So it is wiser to not flirt with 10K.


Note that attempted “structuring”of cash transactions suffices for a bank to file a “Suspicious Activity Report”.

From about 1992 to late 2008 I had created > 100 C.T.R.’s and never received an ounce of trouble from the I.R.S.

The reports go to the Treasury Dept. Perhaps they are automatically copied to the I R S,
but I suspect that the I R S only gets them upon request, e.g. when they are looking at an active tax evasion case.

My closest buddy plays BJ only when he can do so betting purple and above.
He has had many CTR’s but his answer to that is to always generate C T R’s and lots of them.
I call that “hiding in plain sight”.
He purposely generates random CTR’s at his local bank. Generally withdrawing 25−50 K in cash.
His bank only requests a few days advance notice for large cash withdrawals. He has never been audited by the I R S.

I know of no credible reports of ANYONE actually being audited by the I R S and being asked to account for their C T R’s. Do you ?
 
#39
Once quick comment regarding cargo pants:

Avoid any bulges in the cargo pants and also use your left and right front pockets. Split money into four groups.

I do wear cargo shorts a lot in the warmer months (I like the utility of the extra pockets), and I get patted down a lot at airports. Roughly 1/3rd of the time I am patted down on the cargo pants.

Putting it through with your carry on might also be a good idea, as suggested earlier in this thread. I've never tried it this way, but maybee (hopefully) some day I will have to try : )
 

chichow

Well-Known Member
#40
From Shadroch:

" If you are at exactly $10k then the bank might accidentally try to file a CTR on you, although at the very least they might fill out a SAR. "

From Flash:

"Chichow — You said “10k and above will force a CTR.“

It must be at least .01 above $10K

However I have had to point this out to employees of both banks and casinos over the years"


Flash:

I agree that it is supposed to be above 10k per the regulation. Based on my experience though, despite the regulation...there are tellers and supervisors that will mistakenly file the CTR at 10K.

And by pointing in out, sometimes they will also go ahead and file the SAR.

So even though there is the policy, there is also the actual practice so I stated 10k and above.

Thank you for pointing out the 1 cent.
 
Top