Duty-free Shopping: Deal or Dud?

I haven't bought anything Duty-Free since I don't usually buy the types of items that are sold. When we were heading to Singapore though, where liquor taxes are high, we saw lots of people buying booze It seemed like a decent deal to avoid the taxes.

Nope, I don't shop duty free.

I just don't buy that kind of thing (perfume, etc.). And as a dedicated light packer, the things I might use (booze) are not worth hauling around airports and planes.

I don't buy from duty-free shops. I often look at thing I buy/like at home and their prices are higher.

I used to buy booze and perfume on my way back to Canada; however the last few years the prices haven't been that good a deal to make it worthwhile.

I usually buy a bottle of Glengoyne 17 yo malt whisky when leaving Heathrow. Price is around £27 compared to $99.15 at the Vintages store at the LCBO in Ontario. Saving $45 is good.

I check the prices of the Shiseido men's skin care products, but I can get them for about the same price at Holt Renfrew.

Hello Katie, I never buy anything at the Duty-free shops either for the same reasons that suze stated.

I do carryon only, and do a bit of shopping in the duty free shops. I don't search things out, but if I have some euro leftover in my wallet, it is a fun way to kill the time before my flight and I usually find some different things.

Since I do carryon only, I cannot purchase wine/etc until this point due to security. So last summer I bought a few small bottles of champagne in the airport store to bring home from France.

I don't assume I am saving anything, but rather I see it as a way to kill time before my flight, lol!

When I run out of perfume, which doesn't happen very often (we're talking years here), I buy at the last stop on my next trip. I used to buy single malt scotch for the guy who keeps an eye on my house and car, but not since taking liquids on board got difficult.

My husband & I buy special wine, port & whisky in Heathrow and Gatwick and feel they are worth the effort and cost if they aren't available in the US.

If I have forgotten something I will purchase (pashmina, makeup, etc) but they aren't a bargain, only a convenience.

I'm not a big shopper in the duty free stores, but I almost always go in and look. Occasionally, I'll grab some cookies, crackers, sweets, etc. as a last minute item and take it to the office for everyone to enjoy. But, I don't think I've ever thought of it as a "bargain store".

I'm also a no for the Duty Free shops because: 1) I don't buy liquor while travelling (it's heavy and takes up too much space in my bag) and 2) these places aren't cheap.

I buy liquor when I arrive back at Sydney. Big savings. The dutyfree is located just before immigration. There are good savings.

Make up and perfume are generally cheaper at Changi than in Sydney department stores. I also can buy travel compacts (eye shadow, mascara, blush etc) at dutyfree stores that aren't sold in department stores.

I usually pick up some kind of candy or chocolate to give for souvenirs or for myself. Stuff that I don't want to lug around on my trip and the food prices in duty free are not bad.
Usually I am using up my coins of whatever country I have been to.

Hey Katie_H, Now Smart Travel Tips posts show up when I pull up The Lounge heading!

In my experience, Duty Free stores sell at list price less the local tax. Since we have local US stores that discount significantly, most of what I see is cheaper at home...why carry it? The only time I'll buy is when I find a single malt scotch which isn't sold in the US. Of course the other problem is how to get a bottle of liquor into your fully stuffed carry on luggage before you get on the connecting flight home. It's just not worth the effort.

Perfume, makeup and cameras are much cheaper in the US then I've found in any Duty Free shop.

I don't shop at duty-free, and I don't like to shop at the airports unless I have to. Snacks, drinks - that's about it! Sometimes that orange juice just calls your name, you know

Between flights I browse around the duty free shops. I buy some makeup and perfume that is hard to get in the USA. It breaks up the monotony of waiting for the next flight and I think the prices for my items are good. Oh and maybe I buy some chocolate!

Be careful about buying alcohol if you have to transfer in the US. I was travelling from Paris to Boston and had to transfer in NYC. At JFK, they told all the people who bought wine etc. at the duty free shop that they were not allowed to carry that wine onto their next flight and had to now check it into their luggage. I was so relieved that I didn't have time to check out the wine before I had to board my flight!

I think the INBOUND Duty-Free shops are a great idea. We have two at Grantley Adams Int. Airport in Barbados and the savings are significant if you are shopping for non-Barbadian made products (ie: Scotch, Gin, Vodka).

If you are buying rum, then purchase in a local Barbados supermarket or direct from the makers (ie: Mount Gay or R.L. Seale).

Yes, I have found a super deal in the duty free shop in Stockholm, Sweden. My wife had rung up $3,600 plus at the "Ors Fors" (sic?) factory owned crystal shop the day before. The shop spurvisor waited on her while after enscouning me in a wing back chair with brandy and cigar.

Herself bought "service for 12" water, wine (red & white & bubbly & beer) crystal in the 1994 Nobel dinner pattern and ordered it shipped direct.

The next day, we found the same items at the duty free for $1200. The duty free sales lady phoned Ors Fors and cancelled our order, held our plane and brought our crystal as carry ons in seperate, no break, packaging to the plane.

"The duty free sales lady ... held our plane"

This is scary, if a salesperson has the capability to hold a plane! If it's true, of course.

More important than seeking out certain items is knowing what the prices are in your home town before you shop. Duty-free prices vary a great deal from one airport to the next. Example: Absolut vodka liter at JFK was about $23US a few months ago; same product in Than Son Nut airport (Saigon) was $13US.

I did a comparison shop for an Hermes watch last year. I priced it at JFK duty-free, at the Hermes flagship in Paris, at Hermes in New York, and at the Seoul Inchon airport duty-free Hermes shop. The price was lowest, by hundreds of dollars, at Seoul airport. Even lower than at the Hermes Paris store!

As far as alcohol goes, you will usually find the best bargains on hard liquor and not wines. Smokers already know that cigarettes are a great buy at many duty-free shops.
But take care with cigars, as I have had some complaints about duty-free products being less than fresh.



Remember: Know before you go! Certainly do not assume that a duty-free item is a bargain.

I do duty free, but I also price the items extensively on my travels coming and going to see if the duty free prices are okay. On perfume I noticed the prices were similar but not enough of a savings to bother bringing it back on a plane. My biggest savings was on liqour. I bought a liter of skyy 90 for 30 bucks. Bought a liter of Cruzan for 9 dollars. So I do the duty, but also make sure I'm getting a bargain in the process...

I can count on my hands the number of times I've purchased at Duty Free shops. I, too, see the Duty Free shop as a way to pass the time. The price differentials aren't ever enough to justify lugging it throughout my trip, or even on my way home.

I usually find duty free shops too expensive, too. But I bought some perfume that I couldn't resist at L'Occitane (sp?) in DFW. I also wound up buying some chocolates and last minute souvenirs at the DFW airport (not Duty free, though, I think). I didn't want chockies sitting on the hot runway waiting to get packed into the cargo hold!

Mostly I buy impulse items from Duty Free. I think you can usually get these things cheaper at a regular store, esp. in the US.

But, my Japanese friends go nuts at the thought of duty-free. We went on tour of Seoul, and the tour group hit FOUR duty-free shops in as many days!!! I wound up sitting in the bus with the husbands, reading the Korean cookbook I'd picked up at the One Museum we'd visited. Sigh. Note to self: try not to go on any more Japanese tour groups.

I always stock up on booze in the duty free shops when I'm on my way home - I've found that I can get a litre bottle of Canadian Club Rye or a nice single malt scotch for less than the cost of a 750 at home.

I've also found that there isn't any problem bringing liquids onto a plane as long as we're already through security, although we only really fly to/from Canada, to/from London and to/from France & Italy - not sure if the rules are different flying into the US.

BikerScott - the problem is not getting your duty free liquid onto plane no.1, it becomes a problem if you need to make a connection and have to put it in your checked luggage for plane no. 2.

True enough - I've never had that situation.

I never shop at duty free shops, either, except to pass the time. I find most of their prices to be much higher than a smart shopper will have to pay here in NY.

The only exceptions are things like chocolates or other candies, which I like to share with friends and office mates when I get home.