How much cash is allowed on commercial jet?

Hi,

I am flying to another state to purchase a car and am paying in cash.

It's roughly around 30k, will I have a problem bringing it on the plane?

Steve

 

I think you can carry as much as you want legally as long as you can prove the money is clean (and as long as you are not flying internationally?).

Isnt there an easier way for you to get your cash at your final destination? Your bank doesnt have a branch there?

 

$10K in cash is the financial limit for requiring legal disclosure. Anything less than that is technically home free......but still.......

Would I do it ?

Hell no......the TSA bastards are f_ cking idiots when it comes to a bottle of aftershave and nail clippers. You are asking for trouble and IMHO will have a 50% chance of a delayed flight and/or confiscation of the funds. Take a suppository 24 hours beforehand if you plan on trying.

Ever heard of the concept of a bank wire transfer ?

 

Is 10k the limit even if I am flying domestically?

Because the more I ask around and research it, it seems that 10k is the limit if I am flying internationally, not domestically. They say no limit on domestic.

 

Technically you can carry any amount you want. $10K is the limit at or above which you need to DECLARE it to customs when returning from travelling internationally. There is no declaration requirement when travelling domestically. In 2009, TSA issued a policy which says that agents are not to detain passengers for any except flight safety reasons.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/06/20/tsa.lawsuit/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCText

http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/how-my-lawsuit-against-tsa-made-airports-safe-constitution-again

 

Personally, I'd be more worried about what happens at your destination-- a car deal requiring $30k in cash doesn't smell right to me.

 

Wow, very interesting.

So by law, they cannot doing anything to me? Even interrogate me?

Listening to that recording really makes you really dislike the TSA, the way they treated that guy is ridiculous!

It does worry me that that guy was stopped for about 7x less amount then I am considering.

Steve

 

isn't that only for international travel?

 

why don't u take a cashiers order? it's as good as cash.

 

I googled it and read about some gamblers having their cash confiscated for almost a year by authorities..Sounds like a lot of headache.

 

I am referring to the "FINTRAC" regulations (might be a Canadian thing only, not sure though as a lot of US/CAN regs are the same for obvious reasons, but still).........any cash transaction, whether domestic or international of $10K or over must have a bunch of forms filed out.

We've had people here traveling with cash get it confiscated as proceeds of crime, until they can prove otherwise. Usually diamond merchants.

I would not accept a cashier's cheque if I was a vendor....you can put a stop payment on those.

The TSA thinks they are above the law......having the cash could deem you a flight risk as maybe someone planning on committing an illegal act under the guise of buying a car is actually financing a terrorist act. So they seize it and hold you and while maybe they cannot, they still will, and you have to fight after the fact at your expense. It is how they work.

 

Not unless it's in the form of sacked up pennies. Go to the bank and get it in mostly big bills. Personally though I think I'd figure out another method of payment or a way to get cash once I was there...

 

$30K is nothing. In $100 bills, each envelope of $5K is less than 1/2 inch thick, and you only have 6 envelopes. Wear cargo pants, with the $$ in your pockets. TSA will have zero say in the matter.

 

Yes, it will all be Bejamins so, maybe I can try to fit it in my wallet .

 

Make sure you get a cash receipt and Bill of Sale for the car deal.

The problem with cash is the other guy could later claim you didn't pay him the full amount.

The other risk is for the other guy to arrange for a third person to play the role of a mugger. You get mugged just before arriving to the car's location and they get to keep both the money and the car because it was some other guy that robbed you.

Here is a better approach: If there is any branch of your bank in the state you are traveling to, after checking out the car and agreeing to the deal, have the guy go with you to the bank and have him witness the bank tellers creating the cashier's check. Then he knows it is a valid cashier's check and can sign over the car title and give you the keys on the spot, there in the bank, in exchange for the cashier's check.

 

As I understand it, the bigger headache will be on the purchase end of things, if this is a legit dealer, you will be filling out forms for anything over $10k in cash.

I've carried that much on vegas trips and it has never been an issue.