My friends are all telling me I have to shop at the Duty Free shops when I am at various airports.

What is the advantage? Thanks.

You benefit from paying for the product without needing to pay the taxes of the country you are in. What you buy as you're leaving say London, is free of local taxes. However, you are required to claim the products on your US Customs declaration.

Duty free shops do not charge tax since you're taking the product out of the country. For example you can shop duty free at a US airport before leaving the US. Your purchases are given to you as you board the plane so you can't cheat.

Conversely you can shop the duty free in a foreign country airport before returning to the US.

Many people focus on alcohol and tobacco as they're taxed more so the savings "should" be greater.

I've never been terribly impressed with duty free. Like every other time you have to know your prices to know if it's a deal.

I've seen foreigners at Cincinnati airport rave over the price of duty free alcohol before departure. It usually is cheaper then European prices. Too bad they didn't do their homework. You can buy most alcohol for less at a local Osco drugstore then you can at duty free.

Oh, is that the same as not paying the VAT tax? You just pay for the item w/o the taxes and then take it on the plane? You should know the taxes whereever you are then too to see if it is a bargain.

Hi peeky,

>...is that the same as not paying the VAT tax?<

Yes.

However, you don't always get the lowest possible price at a duty free shop.

Thanks Ira. Is Duty another word for Tax?

This really takes some homework on the buyer's part but it may pay off just for convenience.

That's about the sum of it peeky.

I have a pastis swillin' friend. In October in Greece he paid 12euro for a bottle of Pernod. The exchange rate of 1.27 made it 15 USD. He has to pay 24 USD for it in the US.

Not only did he guzzle two bottles of the stuff in Greece, he brought home 4.

Oh boy, traveling is a complicated mix! Customs, duty free, VAT, three hour wait at the airport just to get on the plane - it must be exhausting just to get away to relax.

But I am not complaining, I have my vacation narrowed down now.

Unfortunately, some people think that if they buy merchandise that is "duty-free" they are not required to declare it on their customs form and as Ryan, has advised, that is definitely not the case.

It really does help if you can compare prices on some items in advance..knowing what the same thing costs at home can make a big difference.

peeky- hate to break the news, but I rarely find travel a way to <relax>. Traveling IS a <complicated mix>. Don't get me wrong, I love it dearly. But if I wanted R&R I'd head to a beach in Mexico, not the airport to fly transatlantic to Europe!!

By the way, many stores not located in airports allow you to buy from them "Duty Free" by charging you the tax and providing a form you can use to get it refunded before you leave.

Thus you get the dual advantages of the more competitive downtown prices AND no tax.

My experience with "duty free" shops means that the merchant jacks up the "tax free" price to slightly more than you could buy the same article in town with the tax.

The only thing I have ever saw cheaper in a duty free shop is alchohol and cigarette's..

The prices in those places seem pretty high to me, possibly wiping out any tax savings.
On the plane rides, I don't ever see more than a few customers checking out the duty-free cart. Most people seem to ignore it in droves.

We have found duty free shops to be more expensive than home-especially the LHR shops. Liquer and cigarettes used to be cheaper but not any more. Last trip to LHR duty free, we found that scotch was cheaper at home. Don't know about the trinkets and perfume though. I would not buy unless I knew the price at home.

The latest edition of "Conde Naste" has a good article on Duty-Free Shopping. One of its points is: know what things cost at home, before you go. The article mentioned an item that could be purchased at JFK as you left the USA for less than it cost in NYC and also less than in any of the duty-free shops which were featured in the article.Ciao! MHM

yes, the airport shops are dealing with a bored, captive audience. When I've had time to kill in European airports and I've had some pounds or euro left over, I've bought some last-minute perfume or candy or whatever. But in many cases the items were much cheaper in discount stores in the city I just left, with or without VAT refunds. Liquor never seems to me to be that much of a bargain in duty free shops, as here in the US--New York State, I can often find a better deal.

If you buy something at the Duty free say in England and then come back to the States do you have to pay anything like to Customs? I am traveling to Europe for the first time and am unfamiliar with the whole process.

Yes - before you land you will fill out a landing card listing items you are bringing into the States. You need to include everything -- whether they were bought "duty free" or fully taxed.

if you are over the personal limit you will have to pay duty on the excess.

Another thing to remember is that not all duty-free shop or prices are created equal. The very big and busy international airports will not have too many savings, but the smaller, not as busy and some specialty airports such as Dubai will have some wonderful savings on high priced items.

I also find that alcohol bought on the plane is usually about 20% less than the duty-free shops at the airport. Just last week at LHR the shops were selling 2 1-liter bottles of Absolut Vodka for 20BP (about $37-38US). On the plane the same bottle was being sold for $15 (2 for $30). Depending where you live in US that could represnt some savings, but you have to ask yourself the following question - are the few $ that you save worth the hassle of carrying 2 heavy bottles around, especially if you still have to connect to 1 or 2 more domestic flights to get home.