DUTY FREE . . . GOOD DEAL OR NOT?

[thepiranha]

I've always wondered whether duty free goods are less expensive than those same goods that we can buy at home. I like to browse in the duty free shops when I'm on the way home from a trip and I usually buy an item or two, but I have no idea whether or not I'm saving any money. I would like to read some opinions about what are the best buys in duty free shops.

[CMDAVILACLI]

I check out the Duty Free stores everytime I am flying internationally. The liquor is always a great deal for us (Washington State has stupid State liquor stores, so the prices are absurdly high). The problem is that if you have to change planes and are subject to going through security again, you cannot bring the liquor through security.

Many of the perfumes are a good deal too since the USA has high taxes on "luxury" items like perfume... but again, the same problem if the bottle is larger than 3 oz and you have to go through security lines. Watch out for this one... often times the bottle will say 100ml (which equals 3.38 ounces), and here in the States, this is over the 3 oz limit and security will confiscate the item (this happened to me when I was bringing back different olive oils from Italy - the bottles were 100 ml and security took them all!)

Cigarettes are half the price...if you smoke. The cosmetics can occasionally be a bargain if you know what to look for, but overall they aren't too much of a great deal unless the duty free store has some sort of special going on a specific cosmetic line.



cmdavilacli

[thepiranha]

Thanks for the info. I've always thought that liquor was a good deal and I usually pick up a bottle when I fly internationally. We live in Oregon, your neighboring state. Our liquor stores are state licensed but not state run, so they have sales on items, just like a supermarket. I don't smoke and my wife isn't too into makeup, so we aren't interested in those items. Great point that you made about the 100ml bottles. Since you've already gone through security once, it's pretty ridiculous that you can't buy something at the duty-free shop to take with you on the plane.

[kyshel]

If passengers want to risk checking baga, it's ok to get alcohol. I can tell you that a fine bottle of tequila, no matter the deal, is not a good thing when it's dripping from somebody's bag on the carousel!!
I find that many of the duty-free stores have gone upscale with their selections and have fewer good buy specials, like the ol' days.
Duty on imported fragrances used to average 30% when I was in the industry, but I think it looks more like 20% now. If you keep in the 50ml range for real perfume, great, but it still has to fit into that baggie!! How frustrating...

[omegaet]

CMDAVILACLI...I am wondering at what point you pass through another security line? Are you taking about domestic connecting flights from foreign destinations when you say:



"Watch out for this one...often times the bottle will say 100ml (which equals 3.38 ounces), and here in the States, this over the 3 oz limit and security will confiscate the item..."



Many of the international flights we make are non-stop, arriving at our home destination. When we do shop at Duty Free involving these flights, we have already passed through security and simply show our boarding passes and claim the purchases just before boarding the aircraft. I carried in (4) 750 ml bottles of ALTO del CARMEN Pisco on a non-stop flight from Chile to MIA recently and no one said anything. I always buy 3 or 4 bottles of tequila at Duty Free when I fly from Costa Rica and Honduras to MIA and never have a problem.



Returning from Italy, we did "buy & pack" (double sealed plastic freezer bags) a bottle of Limoncello de Capri,since we had to change planes in ATL and pass through security once again with hand carried baggage....it made it home, but had a short shelf life due to thirsty friends.

[kyshel]

You must have been lucky.
I have had any liquids such as cabin water bottle taken (almost empty, totally forgotten.)
I've also had an overzealous TSA agent take a mini bottle of vodka. That instance prompted a discussion between 2 TSA agents (I was not actually involved in their dispute) and the junior one still took it after the senior walked away. (I didn't argue, but I called TSA and reported her. I got an apology letter from TSA later.)
It is a requirement that all liquids over 3 oz be stowed in checked bags when connecting any international flight and not allowable as carry-on.
I've since asked TSA about the 3oz vs 100ml; hope to hear soon. Overseas requirements say 100ml but that doesn't apply coming in--such a minor difference. I'm certainly not going to challenge that and have any of my stuff confiscated.
Other differences in other countries:
On a recent trip from Brasil to Panama, the agent there took our Trac razor and insisted it be put in checked luggage. We can carry a corkscrew here but not out of France. We take our shoes off here, but hardly anywhere else. Interesting...

Message Edited by kyshel on 07-31-2008 07:17 AM

[CMDAVILACLI]

Hi Omegaet... Most flights to Seattle from an international destination are NOT non-stop... hence we have to go through Immigration and Customs somewhere else besides Seattle. It's at this point that we have to go from an international terminal to a domestic terminal and this most always means going out of the "secured" area and then back through a security line in another terminal. This is especially true in Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles.Even items purchased on board flight end up getting confiscated unless you canquickly pack them in your suitcasein the customs area beforeheading off to your next flight.



I'm hoping that the US will get on board and increase the limits of liquids to 100ml so atleast we can bring in some perfumes and such from duty free without them getting snagged by security!



cmdavilacli

[omegaet]

CMDAVILACLI.....suspected that was the case. Coming to MIA from an international destination, you could probably walkby theCustoms Agents withan elephant, as long you don't have it wrapped in a square thick plastic waterproofcovering and you delcare it in "pounds" not "kilos".....another day in paradise!

[Mountie]

thepiranha, have you ever compared the duty free shop prices of the items you have purchased in the past to what you might have been able to buy the for when you arrived back home? What have those comparision shown? Deal or No Deal?

[thepiranha]

Mountie, I've thought about doing it, but I never have. I try to remember how much certain items cost in the duty-free shops, but after I return home, I'm too busy unpacking, catching up with my mail, returning phone calls, etc., and I never remember to check the prices of comparable items at home. I'm going to bring a notepad and jot down some prices the next time I travel overseas.