Duty-free shops ?

[brett]

We find duty free stores to be expensive. Many airports now 'force' you to walk thought a duty free shop to get to the departure gates.

In LHR, we find the cost of GB products at the duty free store to be about 30 percent (or higher) more that what we pay at regular retail in Canada.

Even larger discrepancies for chocolate products. We recently went through Santiago, Chile airport/duty free several times on two trips. The price of Chilean wine at these duty free outlets for several types of wine that we drink was 50 percent higher than I pay at the liquer store half mile from home.

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh Last year I flew from Malta to Dublin with a connecting flight in LHR. I purchased a bottle Maltese liqueur at the duty free in Malta, which was to be a gift. The clerk put it in a normal plastic bag. I asked her to seal it. She declined, stating that there would be no problem. I carried the bottle to LHR, only to have a British customs officer confiscate it. €16 down the drain! I did communicate this to the Maltese airport authority. Staff should be better trained. Heck, I should have known better!

Thanks, I updated my post based on this info. Sounds like everyone didn't get the memo.

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I had bought a bottle of alcohol and they sealed it in a clear tamper-proof bag but gave me the option of putting the receipt in the bag or carrying it with me.
I chose with me. Later, I had to cleared and then connect at YYC. The CATSA guy gave me a bit of a hard time because the receipt wasn't in the bag. Had a call over a supervisor who confirmed they changed the rules that the receipt didn't have to be in the bag and I simply just had to produce and show it.
Not sure if the same rules apply with the US TSA.

[greydog17]

I find duty free scotch or irish whisky purchased on return trip to US to be a bargain, typically buy full liter at similar price of 750ml at local mega-liquor store. On recent trips the duty free shop seals it into tamper proof plastic bag with receipt and then no problem carrying on to flight or going thru US Customs.

[Rustic23]

Below is from the Customs website. As I understand this, duty free means you don't pay the country tax for the country the duty free shop is located. i.e. If it is a duty free shop in New York, and you want booze, you save the U.S. booze tax. Take it back to say England, and it is subject to England's entry limits. That is why Duty Free never made much since.

In GrayDogs post I would assume he cleared customs here because he did not exceed his booze limit for entry to the US, and because he avoided the Irish tax on liquor.

Duty-Free Shop articles sold in a Customs duty-free shop are free only for the country in which that shop is located. Therefore, if your acquired articles exceed your personal exemption/allowance, the articles you purchased in Customs duty-free shop, whether in the United States or abroad, will be subject to Customs duty upon entering your destination country. Articles purchased in a American Customs duty-free shop are also subject to U.S. Customs duty if you bring them into the United States. For example, if you buy alcoholic beverages in a Customs duty-free shop in New York before entering Canada and then bring them back into the United States, they will be subject to Customs duty and Internal Revenue Service tax (IRT).

[Meadbh]

Duty free shops always have "deals" like two-for-one bottles of liquor. However, two bottles may exceed the exemption for the country you are travelling to, in which case you will end up paying the duties when you arrive. Ask me how I know.......

Bottom line: I don't bother with duty free any more, unless I have a few foreign currency bills to dispose of. Which reminds me, I have a jar of truffles from Croatia that I bought with my last remaining kuna.....

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh I have a jar of truffles from Croatia that I bought with my last remaining kuna.....

Leaving Yugoslavia in the late 1980s we had a few dinars left.....all the duty free shop had was booze.......our flight was to Riyadh.

[cathy63]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh Bottom line: I don't bother with duty free any more, unless I have a few foreign currency bills to dispose of. Which reminds me, I have a jar of truffles from Croatia that I bought with my last remaining kuna.....

That's what I use duty-frees for also. I discovered that there is nothing in the Beijing airport stores that you can't find for less in San Francisco's Chinatown, but I'd rather carry a few ounces of tea across the ocean than end up with a a bunch of yuan in my desk drawer. I still have some pre-euro currencies that aren't ever going to be spendable now, so I do my best to get rid of cash in the duty-frees and donation boxes before leaving foreign soil.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh Duty free shops always have "deals" like two-for-one bottles of liquor. However, two bottles may exceed the exemption for the country you are travelling to, in which case you will end up paying the duties when you arrive. Ask me how I know....... Bottom line: I don't bother with duty free any more, unless I have a few foreign currency bills to dispose of. Which reminds me, I have a jar of truffles from Croatia that I bought with my last remaining kuna.....

I should read up on US customs booze limits before my next cruise, as Carnival does have a good deal on the last night of the cruise, but it is the 2 for 1 thing.

I like to take a tiny amount of foreign currency back, like a souvenir.