Duty-free
 

I spent most of the 1980s flying, returning home only to mow the lawn and iron five shirts. I always used to buy my full duty-free allowance, stashing the outgoing allowance in my hold baggage for the return flight (it never got searched) so I returned to the UK with 2 bottles of spirits and 400 cigarettes. I don't smoke. Once I had accumulated a fine cocktail cabinet I started taking orders from my UK customers for booze and fags. I sold to them at the price I paid, and showed them the receipt. This meant my UK customers were always glad to see me, and I reckon a bottle of single malt whiskey was worth about £ 100,000 in sales. I was popular.

I sold 200 cigarettes a week to Freddie Fox of Plessey Poole, 200 to other customers. Freddie got lung cancer and died of it. I felt that I had had a hand in his death, and after that only sold booze.

In those days duty-free meant exactly that, whereas now in aeroports you are lucky to save 20% VAT compared with online prices.

In Riga, vodka was £ 2 a bottle, and in Johannesburg Zimbabwean tobacco was R4 for 200 Dunhills. It was actually cheaper to buy on the plane than at the aeroport duty-free.

Who'd buy duty-free on the plane now? Even if it was still available?

I will bring back Cuban Cigars and obscure Gin if I like them from foreign parts though my Cigar intake is maybe 6 per year so a trip to Shanghai is far worse !!
Cheers
Mr Mac

Far cheaper to buy everything in the local supermarket so just don't bother

I can tell you Cuban Cigars and none UK generated Gin is more expensive in UK. Also Jet 2 Tanqueray on Jet 2 is export strength on their flight minatures ie 48%, BA is Sainsbury std at low 40,s for tax break.

I flew up to Havana to buy a stash of my favourite cigars when on a job in Panama, which will probably see my life out, which was compounded by a grateful client sending me a Humidor complete with cigars on my exit from the company from Cohiba !!

I would suggest you look at what you buy at what price, and see how it works out. For instance I never bought duty free inbound from Munich as most stuff cheaper in the UK though Mrs Mac insisted I buy certain cosmetics and culinary items.
Cheers
Mr Mac

I forgot about the cigars, yes these are worth buying duty free, and as the smoke doesn't go into your lungs I'm not as worried about the effect on my remaining lung. I like H. Upmann, a very mild smoke with a subtle flavour. Like you, a box of 25 transferred to the humidor will last me years. I don't like a long smoke, I prefer panatelas, I still have some from my last visit to Sheremetyevo some years ago, when you could fly there direct from LHR rather than having to fly via BEG.

Until the middle of last year we used to buy cigarettes DF as MrsATN smoked. Now she's stopped we won't go near duty free purchases.

In the halcyon days of being the EU the cigarette prices at Eurotunnel were way more expensive than a tobacco supermarket near Veurne in Belgium.

Duty free must be, for most products, one of the biggest rip-offs in travel (apart from drop off fees).

As far as I am aware "duty free" is neither tax free nor VAT free. If you are lucky you may get a bit of discount over the high street price but to stop comparisons there are often "airport specials". Most drink is cheaper in Tesco but some bargains can be had overseas.

Last time I was at a Chanel perfume counter in a duty free I was told it was the same price as in John Lewis in Crawley who were doing a special.

Duty free still very much an in flight staple on the likes of Jet2 and TUI. Mrs W is partial to the odd G&T, so we do occasionally take advantage of the "two litres for £30" offer. Much cheaper than UK pricing.
What Mrs W has found to her cost, however, is that the gin is usually of the 47.3% proof variety (compared to 37.5% as sold in UK supermatkets) and therefore a sligthly less generous pour is required !

The fact that duty free stores still exist in pretty much every international airport surely means there is still reason for people to buy from them.

Gordon's gin, 47% ABV, is excellent value as a multibuy on Jet2.

On the other hand Ricard on the channel ferry is considerably more expensive than in Calais hypermarkets.

Airbanda
Jet 2 Tanqueray at £30 for two litres of 48% proof is a good value, and you don't have to lug it around the airport. When I was a regular through Munich I always looked at Tanqueray price but it was still north of £30 but it was 48% proof. I cocked up a few autumns ago in that I used one of the 48% proof bottles to make Sloe Gin, this went down very well with some friends at a shoot pre Christmas, though I am not sure the shooting improved !

Cheers
Mr Mac

Don't think I'd appreciated that the Tanqueray was higher ABV than the UK supermarket version which is massively preferable to the wibbly 37% stuff from Gordons etc Tesco/Sainsbo etc major on.

Off to Tenerife on 23/02 so I'll check it out on our return.

It used to be different - I was working in the US in the 70's and one of the guys had assembled a stupendous stereo set, all built at very low cost from components bought in dfifferent duty free's (mainly across Asia but also including LHR !!)

Having spent a long summer dragging pax out of the queue in the Duty Free so tha their flight didn't miss their slots, I might have a slight jaundiced view but it has always baffled me when "safety is our first priority" we are encouraging pax to take on board glass bottles of inflamable liquid - can't imagine why.... :rolleyes:

Which us why buying duty free onboard, in light plastuc bottles, at a cheaper price is a no brainer !

In Iceland (haven't flown there recently so I don't know if the rules have changed) you used to be able to buy duty-free as long as you were airside, so you could stock up on arrival at Keflavik. This seems to me a lot more sensible way of selling people duty-free than loading it onto a plane, either for duty-free sales on-board or extra luggage if bought pre-flight with the delays you mention.

Any form of alcohol was prohibitively expensive in Iceland, so a gift of a bottle of whiskey was always enthusiastically received. Suddenly customers became friends. I don't actually like whiskey that much, so I'd say no need to open it and share a glass, keep it until you can appreciate it at home.

I'm half-Icelandic (thanks mum for the genes) but I've only been there twice. Wild and beautiful, and that's just the women.

I seem to recall that several UK airports also have duty free shops after baggage reclaim, but before the public arrivals area. Certainly BHX has one such shop.
It never seems to have many customers. I think the mind set of passengers at that point is that they just want to get to their final destination, and buying a bottle of cheap spirits is not a priority.

Sometimes the final set of doors opens ahead and you see Uncle Fred waiting for you - and you don't have anything for him... or you get a text when your collecting your bagage saying the wife is there rather than your usual taxi - last minute duty free can be very convenient!!

Personally, I think the whole concept of 'duty-free' , shops at least in most of Europe, is past it's sell by date, if you'll pardon the pun. Part of the problem is that the business has been taken over by conglomerates who, by the time they have paid the airport for the rent, the lighting(!) and bonuses for the directors, cannot offer a significantly discounted product. A personal favourite, Bacardi Gold, is normally cheaper from people who deliver to your door duty paid, especially if they have an offer running, than it is in duty-free in Europe.
One exception is the duty-free shop in Gibraltar, run by the airport authority. Not a huge choice range, but then it's not a huge airport. There is also a small shop in arrivals before baggage reclaim.

I know very little about my compatriots except that they are prone to certain eccentricities like getting into a rowing boat and rowing to Norway after they've had an argument with the wife. Most Icelanders are related, so you can get an app to find out if the girl you are chatting up at the bar is actually your cousin. I wasn't there long enough to have to resort to the use of this.

Well, the lady singer Laufey, who is a mix of Icelandic and Chinese, is a fine example of what can happen when the gene pool is extended a little wider:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laufey_(singer)

:

Iceland also has (or has contributed to) a database attempting to record the genealogy of all Icelanders who have ever lived, the Íslendingabók.

Íslendingabók

Not the world's biggest task - now if the Chinese tried it, that would be impressive!