Jim Eagles: Where is the best duty-free?

COMMENT

Where's the best place to buy duty-free? Depends where you're going and what you're looking for ... and to some extent who you ask.

But, in summary, while New Zealand duty-free shops have the reputation of being among the best in the world, you can buy most things cheaper elsewhere if you're willing and able to shop around.

Unfortunately market research in the duty-free area can be rather time-consuming and difficult.

So why not start by asking the opinion of travel agents, who get to see a lot more duty-free outlets than most of us.

When United Travel surveyed its 70 offices on the topic, 93 per cent responded that New Zealand was the best place in the world to buy duty-free.

Wendy Hughes, United's product manager, said the agents felt the best things to buy in New Zealand were "perfume and alcohol, which are both very cheap compared to normal retail outlets".

Auckland International Airport was particularly singled out for mention, but the consensus was that New Zealand generally "has the best duty-free in the world for prices, quality and the over-allowance our Customs allow."

When Flight Centre asked its agents the same question, the response was not quite so overwhelmingly in favour of New Zealand, although communications manager Clare Naden said Auckland "got a few mentions as being one of the best value places on this side of the world".

Both groups of travel agents praised Singapore's Changi Airport as a good place to buy duty-free generally, and Rarotonga for its cheap cigarettes and Jim Beam.

United agents also thought highly of Australian duty-free shopping, while several Flight Centre agents were very enthusiastic about Abu Dhabi and Dubai for the amazingly cheap gold.

And one Flight Centre agent was ecstatic about "the border between the south of France and the northeastern coast of Spain. There is shop after shop of perfume, alcohol, makeup, accessories ... you name it, they have it ... and the prices are unbelievable."

Okay, that's what experienced travellers think, but what about consumer research?

In its February issue, our own Consumer magazine compared duty-free prices for whisky, champagne, digital cameras, perfume, iPods and scanners at Auckland, Sydney, Suva, Los Angeles and Hong Kong, with rather unexpected results.

Consumer's investigations found Los Angeles to be the cheapest in all categories, except perfume.

The cheapest place to buy perfume was Hong Kong, which also equalled LA's low prices for cameras and iPods.

New Zealand duty-free prices were the most expensive for cameras, perfume, iPods and scanners.

One of the biggest surprises is probably that while duty-free prices for a litre of 12-year-old Glenfiddich single malt ranged from $108 at the old duty-free haven of Suva, to $60 and $57 at Auckland and Sydney, to $44 and $48 in Hong Kong and LA, the best deal was to buy retail at LA for just $33.

The finding on electronic gear should not be so surprising because anyone who has looked at prices on the internet will have found that most things are much cheaper in the US.

For instance, Consumer looked at prices for a Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-F717 digital camera and found that in New Zealand, the standard retail price was $1799 or $1599 duty-free. The same camera was slightly cheaper in Sydney, but only $1331 in Hong Kong or LA duty-free stores, representing a reasonable saving if you happen to be going that way.

A quick search on the internet comes up with prices from US firms as low as $860, including freight, to New Zealand, showing once again that duty-free prices are not always as good as it gets.

Another investigation of duty-free prices has been done by www.ninemsn.com.au/getaway (search for duty-free) and it reflects rather more favourably on New Zealand.

That check found a basic Sony Discman portable CD player selling for $184 in Australian duty-free outlets, compared with $208 in Bangkok and $169 in Singapore, representing no great saving. In New Zealand the duty-free price is $179.

Alcohol, too, they found was fairly much the same price everywhere. "We found a 1-litre bottle of Johnny Walker Red at Singapore's Changi Airport for A$17.10 ($19.81), which is only marginally better than the A$22 ($25.50) price for a 1.125 litre bottle at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport." Or, they might have added, the $28.90 in New Zealand.

One thing that survey did discover is that it is often cheaper to buy products like perfume on the aircraft. "On British Airways you can pick up a bottle of Anais Anais perfume for A$36.45 ($42.20), nearly A$10 less than duty-free stores in Sydney and Melbourne."

The possibility that in-flight prices may be cheaper than those at airports has been underlined by another website, www.asiatraveltips.com, with a comparison between the cost of assorted cigarettes and whiskies at Hong Kong Airport, in-flight on China Airlines, and at Bangkok Airport.

They reported that 200 Mild Seven Cigarettes were US$12.80 at Hong Kong duty-free, US$10 in-flight and US$12.20 on arrival in Bangkok. "By purchasing them in-flight," the website pointed out, "you save yourself over US$2 a carton." That's NZ$3.25.

But the really big savings came on the fancy whiskies. Their inquiries found 75ml of Chivas Regal Royal Salute selling for US$103 at Hong Kong duty-free, US$62 in-flight and US$136 at Bangkok duty-free. "This," they said, "really is staggering, as you could buy two bottles in-flight for less than one bottle at Bangkok International Airport."

What all that goes to show is that if you're determined to get the best price, then you'll have to shop around a fair bit and be careful that you compare like with like ( that is, the same size, brand, model and currency).

You can get some prices off websites like Regency and Duty Free, but for the full range you really have to be there.

Alternatively, you can just accept that for most things New Zealand duty-free offers a pretty good deal and save yourself the hassle.