Sit-up by Ira Imerglik on the duty-free food price reform in Israel (video editing: Nir Chen)
No vacation is complete without the intoxicating smell of perfumes in the duty free shops.
In this glittering complex, after the check-in and the security check are already behind you, you find yourself surrendering to the onslaught of sights and smells that Duty Free puts on you: from an endless display of whiskey bottles to huge chocolate packages that make you pull out your wallet.
But are the duty-free shops really cheaper, as they claim to be?
And maybe it's just a deceptive marketing myth?
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Duty Free in Netvab (Photo: Public Relations)
Israel - duty free pioneers in the world
But first, a brief background.
When moving a product between countries, a tax must be paid, which varies from country to country.
The story of Duty Free begins in 1947 on a windswept beach in the west of Ireland.
A local entrepreneur named Brendan O'Ryan passed through the tiny Shannon Airport, which served celebrities and the privileged on their way between Europe and the United States (at the time, these were almost the only people who could afford to fly abroad).
O'Ryan realized that the wealthy commuters These are an untapped source of great wealth for the city of Shannon. He persuaded the Irish government to create a tax loophole that allowed him to sell local agricultural produce and Irish whiskey to passengers in transit between flights. All this, without customs duties. O'Ryan argued that since those passengers at all They didn't leave the airport, there is no reason for them to have to pay local duties on products they don't consume locally.
The idea took off, and inspired by Shannon's success, Amsterdam also opened its own free trade zone in 1957, before the idea moved to the USA in 1962. By
the way, it turns out that
Israel
was also one of the pioneers: the first duty free store was opened in the Netherlands also in 1957, and offered a relatively limited selection of perfumes and alcoholic beverages.
The purchase was made possible in dollars only, with the aim of injecting foreign currency into the coffers of the young state.
One way or another, today it is a huge industry:
in 2021, travelers spent $35.87 billion in duty-free shops around the world
, and according to Fortune Business Insights, this figure is expected to double by 2029.
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The first duty free store was opened in Israel in 1957 (photo: Yehchat)
The products, the airports and the differences
The retail world has changed a lot recently.
Today's era is characterized by online discounts, sales held all year round and increasing competition for consumers' attention.
Against this background, the question arises, does duty free still save you money?
And if so, where can you get the best deals?
The Points Guy website conducted an in-depth examination on the matter, comparing the price of several popular duty free products at 12 major airports in the world.
After this step, a search was conducted for the same products in physical stores and online stores.
To be fair, prices of products offered for a limited time or seasonal sales were not included.
The tested products:
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey (1 liter)
Talisker Dark Storm single malt whiskey (700 ml)
Champagne Taittinger Brut Reserve or Moet&Chandon Imperial Brut (750 ml)
Hendrick's gin (1 liter)
Dior J'adore Eau de Toilette for women (100 ml)
Versace Eros Eau de Toilette for men (100 ml)
YSL Rouge Pur Couture lipstick (3.8 g)
Ray-Ban Wayfarer Folding 50 sunglasses (or similar Wayfarer glasses).
Packet of 200 Marlboro Gold cigarettes
The airports checked:
London Heathrow
New York JFK
Rome Fiumicino
Berlin Brandenburg Airport
Stockholm Arlanda Airport
Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport
Athens Eleftherios Venizelos
Vaclav Havel Airport Prague
Warsaw Chopin
Istanbul International Airport
Mexico City Airport
Dubai International Airport
Duty Free at JFK Airport, New York (Photo: ShutterStock)
Just don't buy champagne at JFK
In a survey of this kind, there are quite a few challenges, including the fact that customs and VAT taxes differ from country to country.
In addition, duty-free prices also vary between airports depending on local costs such as staff employment, rent and other local taxes. In other words, They can (more or less) determine the pricing of these products as they see fit. Thus, the duty-free prices at a certain airport may not be similar to those at another airport in the same country.
However, here are some insights that emerged from the comprehensive survey, conducted as mentioned on 12 International airports: Never buy sunglasses at airports located in sunny countries. On average, Sweden is one of the cheapest places to buy alcohol products at airports. Dubai airports are among the cheapest to buy tobacco products. Buy your makeup and perfume at the airport in Poland, and Buy champagne at JFK airport in New York.
And no less important: it turns out that duty free is not always the best deal.
If there is something you really want, you are always advised to check online first.
The airports in Dubai are among the cheapest for purchasing tobacco products (Photo: Ziv Reinstein, Ziv Reinstein)
The most expensive - and the cheapest
Unsurprisingly, Dubai airport is on average the most expensive when it comes to alcohol and beauty products.
It is also interesting to discover that in New York, the champagne is the most expensive by a large margin compared to the other airports (an average difference of $18 per bottle surveyed).
Sunglasses are most expensive in sunny Mexico City and also in Dubai – the two places on this list where you're most likely to need them.
And now, for the cheapest:
when it comes to alcohol, Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, offered the best value on
average of all the airports surveyed.
There, a bottle of Brut champagne costs just $34, compared to $39 at London's Heathrow and $50 at a local supermarket.
A bottle of Talisker Dark Storm whiskey costs $59 in Stockholm and $74 in Heathrow.
By the way, if you are into whiskey - you will find the cheapest at the Polish airport, where a bottle of Jack Daniels (1 liter) costs only 21 dollars, almost 12 dollars cheaper than in Heath
Warsaw is also the place where you can buy the cheapest beauty products
among the other airports reviewed.
As for tobacco products, smokers will be happiest in Dubai, where 200 Marlboro Gold cigarettes cost $27 - a third of the price of the same pack at Heathrow, and much cheaper than at the supermarket.
Cheapest to buy here.
Duty Free at Warsaw Airport (Photo: ShutterStock)
What is the best thing to buy in the mall and on the Internet?
The truth is that for many products, there is not always a big difference between duty free and the price you can get in a mall or online (note that the survey did not include Israel).
However, when there is a difference, it is found in the tobacco and alcohol categories, since they are heavily taxed.
These are indeed recommended to be purchased at duty free.
On the other hand, makeup products will in many cases be more expensive in duty free.
For sunglasses and watches, it's been found that while airport prices may rival what you'll pay in reputable stores in cities, a quick search online will often yield a much better deal.
Bottom line:
As long as it's not about tobacco and alcohol, it's always recommended to do a preliminary market survey on the Internet since duty free is not as cheap as they try to market it.
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