I’d really love some shut-eye. Meal service has ended. I’m planning to flick through a magazine before drifting off to sleep.
But I’ll have to wait. A duty-free trolley stopped alongside my seat. A tall stranger in the window seat is in serious shopping mode. I’ve resisted come-ons in a seat-pocket sales catalogue, deciding none of it is for me. Anyway, I prefer duty-free shopping on the ground.
The stranger apologises for leaning across me, explaining: “I love in-flight shopping. I can’t remember when I last went to an airport shop.”
I know prices are sometimes (not always) lower at high altitudes.
But I’m also aware product range is smaller, with items sometimes out of stock. True, I can fill in coupons and order from flight attendants. Trouble is, when I shop I want it now – not delivered later.
Airport duty-free shops also highlight online shopping options. (Out-of-stock items simply aren’t added to your cart.) Typically, you pick up what you’ve ordered after security and passport control.
It’s a not-bad system. However, I’ve a weakness for wandering along duty-free aisles. I browse, disregarding wise advice suggesting you know exactly what you want before entering.
So here it is: a browser’s guide to airport duty-free facilities at 10 destinations popping up frequently on my travels. It’s skewed toward our Asia-Pacific backyard – but that’s where many of us do most of our travelling.
AUCKLAND
Auckland Airport
Keep an eye open for bargains. Example: I spotted an almost-empty remainder basket at the entrance to a duty-free shop. It contained the last two possum-merino wool-blended sweaters at an on-sale NZ$60 (US$42.50). I bought both. Inside, newer stock cost nearly four times as much. Search for high-quality wool and sheepskin clothing. Possum-wool blends are expensive but super-soft. Australia’s possums are protected but in New Zealand they are non-indigenous pests, whose fur is mixed with wool. Alcohol and perfume prices are low – though slightly beaten by Hongkong and Singapore. A well-signposted collection point (for downtown and online purchases) is just beyond security and immigration checks.
LOOK FOR: woollen knitwear (particularly possum-merino blends) and sheepskin items.
BANGKOK
Suvarnabhumi Airport
Duty-free at stylish Suvarnabhumi is far less like picking your way through a crowded market than former Don Mueang (now reverted to the Don Muang spelling). Shops, operated by King Power’s duty-free conglomerate, include general duty-free outlets heavy on alcohol, tobacco, perfumes and confections. Prices are slightly steeper than in Hongkong or Singapore (see Hongkong and Singapore below). However, sudden and sometimes short-lived discounts make Suvarnabhumi less pricey for some items. If you’re not going to the other airports, make sure you get what you need. You’ll make big savings. The caveat: know your prices. Thai silk (fabrics and garments) and upscale handicrafts aren’t always cheaper than downtown, but prices are fixed and presentation is beautiful.
LOOK FOR: Thai silk fabrics and clothing.
DUBAI
Dubai International Airport
One of the world’s great duty-free destinations, Dubai has vast stock with very competitive prices for alcohol, cigarettes, computerised electronics, cameras, watches and clothing. A friend boasts about his 3,170 dirham (US$863) purchase of a TAG Heuer Formula 1 watch, claiming to have spotted it in a Paris shop for twice as much. Frequent travellers tell me, favourite off-airport outlets in Hongkong and Singapore have an edge for cameras and computers. Dubai excels with low jewellery prices – particularly 22-carat gold. Know your prices and don’t rush.
LOOK FOR: gold jewellery, perfumes.
HONGKONG
Hong Kong International Airport
Most commonly compared with arch-rival Singapore (see Singapore below), Chek Lap Kok is famed for duty-free. With 90-odd airlines and close to 50 million passengers passing through each year, it wants to make shoppers of as many people as possible with plenty of shops selling luxury brands. Prices are good across the board - including alcohol, tobacco and perfume. Photographer colleagues cite better deals at downtown
shops in Hongkong and Singapore – but few time-poor business travellers can schedule visits to these emporia. Anyway, price differences are small. I recently bought a 50ml bottle of Chanel No. 5 perfume for an enticing HK$480 (US$62).
LOOK FOR: electronics, cameras, alcohol, perfumes.
JOHANNESBURG
O.R. Tambo International Airport
Shopping at one of the southern hemisphere’s best duty-free airports has improved hugely in the past five years. Prices are more competitive. O.R. Tambo International Airport’s duty-free outlets cluster under an African Shopping Safari banner. Liquor and cigarettes are inexpensive. Buy a bottle of Amarula (South Africa’s top-selling liqueur, similar to Bailey’s). Some South African wines are gift-boxed in three-packs. Foods include biltong (like beef jerky but sometimes made from ostrich or antelope). Ostrich pâté is a bargain at 22 rands (US$3) a can. Don’t bother with electronics here. Instead, head for Out of Africa, a store selling clothing (including safari gear and pith helmets) and souvenirs (encompassing art, beadwork, carvings and cloth). African souvenirs include CDs of modern or traditional music. A well-stocked bookshop showcases South African authors aplenty.
LOOK FOR: South African wines and foods.
LONDON
Heathrow Airport
A friend watches me jotting down her recommendation. She passed through Heathrow a few days before my trip and raves about World of Whiskies (with several airport outlets). It stocks over 300 items, ranging from big-brand favourites to tiny distilleries’ output. I pick up two 750ml bottles of 12 year-old Dewar’s Scotch for £35 (US$53) (a single bottle is £22 (US$33)). Such specials come and go, so watch out for them. Heathrow is generally memorable for alcohol and perfumes but Hongkong and Singapore have an electronics edge. Perfumes are claimed to be 40 percent cheaper than a basket of British “High Street prices”.
LOOK FOR: whiskies, other alcohol, perfumes, luxury brands.
www.heathrowairport.com, www.worldofwhiskies.com
NEW YORK
JFK Airport
Aficionados of American fashion and accessories should make a beeline for Terminal 4’s mall where Fossil fashions (including wristwatches and eyewear) and other brands are crammed cheek-by-jowl. Saunter into the several Runway stores, with a range spanning designer labels such as Ferragamo, Hermes and Zegna (at lower prices than some Asian airports) as well as mainstream American clothing. This collection of brightly-lit stores reminds me New York still sees itself as capitalism’s heart. Through lenses of just-purchased shades I notice Johnny Walker Black Label costs US$56 for a jumbo-size 1.75 litres.
LOOK FOR: American fashion brands, designer labels and alcohol.
www.panynj.gov/airports/jfk.html, www.jfk-airport.net
SEOUL
Incheon International Airport
Incheon International Airport isn’t bargain-basement duty-free. Prices are competitive but the stock is skewed toward luxury goods. It has three duty-free operations: Lotte Duty Free, Shilla Duty Free and Korea Duty Free. Prices tend to be identical. Top-end items include Bally, Coach, Fendi and Versace handbags. Plenty of premium liquor is stocked but shelves bulge with mainstream brands, too. With time on hand, wander through the fourth-floor Exhibition Hall of Korean Artistic Crafts. Then go to one of several stores selling Korean celadon, local ceramic ware, which are tasteful and classy souvenirs. This high-quality glazed pottery is sometimes intricately inlaid or painted or, occasionally, stark.
LOOK FOR: luxury goods (such as designer handbags), computers, Korean ceramics.
SINGAPORE
Changi International Airport
Often pitted against Hongkong in passengers’ perceptions, Changi is a temple to Singapore’s shopping passion. They do it well. While this may cost more and that may cost less, price differences between Hongkong and Singapore are generally tiny. Occasionally an item surprises with a considerable price differential – but there’s no pattern. Unless you’re going to both places and are prepared to check in advance, discrepancies aren’t worth the worry. Definitely meriting a peek in Terminal 3 are Sony
Style, FIFA Official Store and what’s highlighted as Ferrari’s first airport outlet (merchandise includes
luxury watches and sunglasses) outside Europe.
LOOK FOR: electronics, cameras, perfumes.
SYDNEY
Kingsford Smith International Airport
Don’t buy cigarettes at Kingsford Smith International Airport (even though they’re roughly half the price of off-airport smokes). Government anti-smoking levies ensure that, even duty-free, they’re typically about A$52 (US$47.65) a carton. Alcohol and perfumes are cheap, as are some electronics and cameras. Clinique beauty products are exceptional value. Gift-packaged three-packs of Australian wines are popular. Kangaroo meat, abalone and other Aussie fare are in dry ice for travel. With kids in tow – or if buying presents for children – visit the new Wiggles duty-free store where merchandise linked to the globally-hot kiddie super-group is modestly tagged. Another worthwhile buy: renowned down-under brand R.M. Williams (boots, shirts and other clothing).
LOOK FOR: Australian wines and foodstuffs, alcohol, perfumes. www.
HOW TO BE A HAPPY AIRPORT SHOPPER
Go armed – with knowledge (the only weapon allowed through airport security). Check prices where you live and downtown at cities visited (ask associates or, where possible, check online).
Buy on departure rather than arrival so you have time for off-airport research.
Know what you want; don’t buy on impulse in duty-free shops. Not everything they sell (particularly near check outs) is necessarily duty-free.
Don’t take at face-value signs saying prices are 30, 40 or even 70 percent below downtown prices.
If warranties are important, ensure they’re global. (Call brand agents in your home country; don’t just take the word of duty-free sales assistants.)
Don’t skip a purchase because you’ve seen it fractionally cheaper at an airport you’re not visiting on this trip. You want the item now – and the difference is less than the cost of a drink in an airport bar.
Are you comparing apples and oranges? Alcohol and perfume often vary slightly in size between airports. Is the Scotch 1000ml or 1125ml? Is the perfume 50ml or 75ml? Cigarette cartons in Australia are 250 (10 packs of 25) but 200 in most countries.
Particularly with electronics and cameras, open your package in the shot, or soon after you left to check you have the correct model and that components are all present. You may want to discard packaging to save some space in your carry-on, anyway.
