This means that passengers will be able to buy duty-free alcohol and tobacco products, where available, in British ports, airports, and international train stations, and aboard ships, trains and planes.
Cheap Duty Free Cigarette
To guide our research, we chose a sampling of 13 popular duty-free items spanning a range of categories from liquor to fragrances. Then we asked our team of reporters and editors to stop by airport duty-free shops across the world to collect the current prices in our representative market basket. We ignored limited-time sales and promotions and made sure to convert all foreign currencies to U.S. dollars. For items that weren't sold in the duty-free stores we visited, we used relative averages to impute a range of assumed selling prices.
In the end, we collected data from 50 airports across six continents. We even visited some airports multiple times to confirm that prices hadn't changed. What follows is our comprehensive guide to airport duty-free shopping.
We sampled quite a few European airports and saw an astounding variance in liquor prices. For instance, we got a great deal on alcohol in the duty-free store at Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD): A 1-liter bottle of Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey sold for $26.72. In London, the price for the exact same bottle of Jack Daniel's was a whopping 30% more. In addition to Madrid, we found the best deals on liquor in Kiev and Grand Cayman.
For the best prices on tobacco, stock up in Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok. Rather unsurprisingly, the largest variance in prices came from cigarettes. In some countries, tobacco is heavily taxed, so purchasing cigarettes at the airport duty-free store can often be one of the best deals in the game (just be sure to check your country's duty-free import allowance).
Although we often find great flight deals to Bangkok, this Southeast Asian metropolis isn't the place to buy your cosmetics and fragrances. We found that prices for both were 20% to 25% above the average prices in our rankings. Also, make sure to avoid buying overpriced duty-free cosmetics and fragrances in Madrid, Zurich and Vienna.
Though no U.S. airports made the list as either the cheapest or most expensive in a given category, we did see duty-free pricing trends across the 50 states. We sampled 14 U.S. airports and found that the overall cheapest U.S. airport for duty-free was Honolulu (HNL) and most expensive was Seattle (SEA).
Duty-free prices even varied significantly within a state. In Florida, we sampled three airports: Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Miami (MIA) and Tampa (TPA). Duty-free alcohol was cheapest in Miami by 14%, while fragrances and tobacco were cheapest in Fort Lauderdale by 3% each.
Of all the U.S. airports we surveyed, Tampa's airport had the most expensive duty-free liquor. But we also found that liquor stores close to Tampa International had prices similar to those in the airport's expensive duty-free stores. Considering that you'd need to pay tax on purchases outside the airport, it may still make sense to purchase from duty free, even though the prices in Tampa are higher than those in other U.S. cities.
Imagine you're flying from Tokyo Narita (NRT) to London Heathrow (LHR) aboard ANA's recently reconfigured 77W (one can wish!). In Tokyo, you'll want to pick up liquor and tobacco, where it's 20% and a whopping 82% cheaper than in London, respectively. Then, when you land in London, head to the duty-free store to buy your cosmetics and fragrances, where they're 20% and 18% cheaper than they were in Tokyo.
If you're got multiple flight connections or stops on an itinerary, it pays to be strategic about the airport in which you buy your duty-free items. Say you're going to Paris (CDG) and Zurich (ZRH) on a trip. In Paris, the 60-milliliter size of La Mer's Crème de la Mer costs $277, while it costs $370 in Zurich. You'd save roughly $100 by buying it in Paris.
It depends. In some cases, you may see different prices based on what airline you're flying. We went to every single duty-free store in New York-JFK and Newark Liberty (EWR) and found different prices for the exact same products in different terminals.
The varying prices among the terminals at JFK and Newark can probably be attributed to the fact that different companies manage the duty-free stores in each terminal. In JFK, International Shoppes operates the duty-free stores in terminals 1, 5 and 8. DFS manages the store in Terminal 4, while Duty Free Americas runs the store in Terminal 7. At Newark, the duty-free stores in terminals A and B are operated by EJE Travel Retail, while the stores in Terminal C are operated by Dufry.
In certain airports, yes! Through our research, we found that there are some airports where duty-free shopping makes sense and others where it doesn't. Unfortunately, there is no single airport that's got the best duty-free store.
Looking for cheap duty-free liquor? Head to the Caribbean and select European airports. For duty-free cosmetics and fragrances, stock up in London, Madrid and Dubai. And if you're searching for cheap duty-free tobacco products, your wallet will fare well in Asia.
Expedite your travel purchases at participating duty free stores with Duty Free Americas, an innovative online pre-order service by Dulles Duty Free. No time to buy a bottle of her favorite Gucci fragrance or his favorite Cognac? With Duty Free Americas, you can shop for these and other duty free products online up to seven days before arriving at the airport for your international trip. Shop Online Now >
Duty-Free Shop articles sold in a Customs duty-free shop are free only for the country in which that shop is located. Therefore, if your acquired articles exceed your personal exemption/allowance, the articles you purchased in Customs duty-free shop, whether in the United States or abroad, will be subject to Customs duty upon entering your destination country. Articles purchased in a American Customs duty-free shop are also subject to U.S. Customs duty if you bring them into the United States. For example, if you buy alcoholic beverages in a Customs duty-free shop in New York before entering Canada and then bring them back into the United States, they will be subject to Customs duty and Internal Revenue Service tax (IRT).
The flat duty rate will apply to articles that are dutiable but that cannot be included in your personal exemption, even if you have not exceeded the exemption. For example, alcoholic beverages. If you return from Europe with $200 worth of purchases, including two liters of liquor, one liter will be duty-free under your returning resident personal allowance/exemption. The other will be dutiable at 3 percent, plus any Internal Revenue Tax (IRT) that is due.
Returning resident travelers may import tobacco products only in quantities not exceeding the amounts specified in the personal exemptions for which the traveler qualifies (not more than 200 cigarettes and 100 cigars if arriving from other than a beneficiary country and insular possession). Any quantities of tobacco products not permitted by a personal exemption are subject to detention, seizure, penalties, abandonment, and destruction. Tobacco products are typically purchased in duty-free stores, on sea carriers operating internationally or in foreign stores. These products are usually marked "Tax Exempt. For Use Outside the United States," or "U.S. Tax Exempt For Use Outside the United States."
For example, a returning resident is eligible for the $800 duty-free personal exemption every 31 days, having remained for no less than 48 hours beyond the territorial limits of the United States except U.S. Virgin Islands, in a contiguous country which maintains free zone or free port, has remained beyond the territorial limits of the United States not to exceed 24 hours. This exemption includes not more than 200 cigarettes and 100 cigars:
In particular, HTSUS 9804.00.65 allows for the duty-free importation of personal-use articles from a Column 2 country when the fair retail value of such goods is under $800. Also see 19 C.F.R. 148.33. HTSUS 9816.00.20 establishes a duty rate of 4% of the fair retail value for personal-use articles under $1,000 imported from a Column 2 country. Thus, any articles imported under this section for personal use with a value of under $800 can be imported duty free, and any articles imported for personal use with a value between $800 and $1800, will be subject to a flat 4% duty rate. Any articles valued over $1800, regardless of whether for personal use, will be subject to entry and should be classified, appraised, and assessed duty appropriately under the specific HTSUS Column 2 rates. Also see 19 C.F.R. 148.101 and 148.102. Any commercial importation, i.e., not for personal use, is subject to entry requirements and payment of applicable duties, fees, and taxes.
Federal and state regulations allow you to bring back one liter of an alcoholic beverage for personal use duty-free. However, states may allow you to bring back more than one liter, but you will have to pay any applicable Customs duty and IRT.
In brief, for both alcohol and cigarettes, the quantities eligible for duty-free treatment may be included in your $800 or $1,600 returning resident personal exemption, just as any other purchase should be. But unlike other kinds of merchandise, amounts beyond those discussed here as being duty-free are taxed, even if you have not exceeded, or even met, your personal exemption. For example, your exemption is $800 and you bring back three liters of wine and nothing else, two of those liters will be dutiable and IR taxed. Federal law prohibits business-to-private consumer shipping of alcoholic beverages by mail within the United States.
The United States gives Customs duty preferences-that is, conditionally free or subject to reduced rates-to certain designated beneficiary developing countries under a trade program called the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Some products that would otherwise be dutiable are not when they are wholly the growth, product, or manufacture of a beneficiary GSP country. Visit the Office of United States Trade Representative website for additional GSP information. 2ff7e9595c
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