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Spill the beans...on what to buy duty-free

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  • I bought my Fianc!e's engagement ring Duty free from Tiffany's at Heathrow. Saved me enough for the flights to Australia.
  • I always find it cheaper to buy the goods from the airport I am returning from. Boston, New York, Singapore and Bangkok are always cheaper than UK airports.
  • onlineo
    onlineo Posts: 46 Forumite
    I find when travelling that everything is cheaper in the country you come from than the airport no matter if it is duty free. Bought our last bottle of Vodka for $12.99 for 1.75L from Walmart in Florida. It would have been over $20 in the airport. Looking at getting a cheap bottle of wine in Valencia airport 2 days ago, the cheapest I could find was €6. When it was €0.75 for a bottle of nice wine in the mini supermarket next to the metro station. I have never seen cheep chocolate in an airport, and it has been many years since I have seen perfume cheaper in an airport than online.
  • I really wanted some red GHD hair straighteners - I did my research beforehand and ended up getting them almost £30 cheaper at the Manchester Airport Duty Free than I would have anywhere else - and I got 3 free mini bottle of wine!
  • simonfirth
    simonfirth Posts: 10 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    A couple of years ago I bought one of the new Sony laptops in the Sony center in T5 Heathrow, I saved myself a couple of hundred pounds (550 at the airport, 750 elsewhere), unfortunately the store has gone now, it was useful as it sold other sony accessories cheaper than Amazon.
    I also note ipads are only a fraction cheaper than apple at Dixons but I would not want to gamble with the insecurity of warranty for a few pounds if something ever went wrong.
    Generally, Duty Free prices are poor, I do occasionally buy spirits if they are on offer, but you need a smart phone to check prices.
  • Tarry
    Tarry Posts: 11,195 Forumite
    Why on earth does duty free always have giant toberones anyway? I don't really like them.

    I normally just buy perfume ;)
    The Very Right Honourable Lady Tarry of the Alphabetty thread
    -I just love finding bargains and saving money
    I love to travel as much as I can when I can
    Life has a way to test you, it's how you deal with this that matters
  • cz7gdm
    cz7gdm Posts: 5 Forumite
    Not much of anything is a bargain in 'Duty Free' these days - 'duty' free but not 'profit' free. I recently bought a pair of headphones at Dixons Heathrow, only to find that I could have got them 10% cheaper on the UK High Street or 40% cheaper on Amazon.... Even the booze is often cheaper at Tesco or Sainsbury.
  • Doshwaster
    Doshwaster Posts: 6,306 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I almost never buy anything in airport duty frees (Well, OK, sometimes I get tempted by special offers on whisky - especially after a few drinks in he bar). I fly to Spain and the US regularly and it's always cheaper to buy in the shops there.
  • Golden_Anemone
    Golden_Anemone Posts: 1,505 Forumite
    Doshwaster wrote: »
    I fly to Spain and the US regularly and it's always cheaper to buy in the shops there.

    Normally I would agree with you about Spain. I go most years and the duty free is almost always a bit dearer than in the local supermarkets or tobacconists but I flew back at the beginning of this month from Malaga and Aldeasa, the big duty free store, has a 20% off sale on. Spirits that were 10 and 11 Euro in the supermarkets were 8.15 Euro in duty free. Not sure how long the 20% off sale is on for.
  • phatbear
    phatbear Posts: 4,057 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Anything with a fixed price, ie apple products.

    And perfume/aftershave etc.

    I work at an airport so I'm able to check prices before I take the plunge
    Live each day like its your last because one day you'll be right
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