Wandering through the brightly lit, heavily perfumed aisles of shiny products in the post-airport security fresh-air free bubble, we have all had that nagging feeling that we are missing out on some incredible bargain: a piece of techno-gadgetry that is selling for a fraction of the high street price; a bottle of ornately packaged aged liquor that is essentially being given away; a skin care product that will transform our complexion that can only be sourced here in these halls. And we are compelled to peruse, and probably purchase. And back in the dinosaur era when there were much higher tariffs and trade barriers that might have been true.
But now it very rarely makes sense to buy anything in duty free. A quick web search will establish whether those pretty Bose headphones and that Clinique skin cream are a bargain. If you are really brand conscious though, at least you know what you are buying in the airport. Of course, if your headphones just cracked on the taxi ride to the airport, and you are flying to a place where you cannot really buy anything (like Cuba or Mauritania) then pick up what you need. And, despite my best efforts, I might still have a few quid in local currency that I need to spend.
The only thing that I buy in duty free is alcohol – specifically spirits like whisky and gin. I like wine, but I am not going to lug around an extra 3kg of glass and liquid for an evening’s tipple. I look for a high reward-to-burden ratio. In addition, only buy in one of the two following circumstances. If you are flying from a ‘cheap booze’ country to a ‘highly taxed’ destination (think Montenegro to Norway), when the street price of liquor may triple. Also, when flying from a ‘booze friendly’ to a ‘alcohol averse’ place (think Spain to Western Sahara), pick up a bottle, because it is really difficult to find anything where you are going.
I ignored my own guidance on a flight from Stuttgart to Antalya. The price of my bottle in the departure zone was 33EUR, while in the arrival, ‘welcome to Turkey’, zone it was 22EUR. My favorite instance was flying from Malaysia to Brunei. The Sultan forbids Muslims from drinking, but non-Muslims can obtain a ‘license to drink’ at the airport. Be sure to bring your own.
Cheers.