The Good Shopping Guide
THE SUNDAY AGE
Saturday September 17, 1994
Duty-free shopping mightn't always mean you're getting something cheap. Diane Armstrong offers a potted guide to good value around the world.
FEW travellers can resist duty-free shopping at the airport. The tedium of waiting for the flight, coupled with gleaming displays of cheaper-than-usual luxury goods, lure most of us to buy before we fly.
But, if you are going to stop at several airports, how can you tell which offers the best prices, and whether these are cheaper than Australian duty-free shops? During an overseas trip last month which began in Sydney, my plane landed in Singapore, Bangkok, Paris and Frankfurt. I compared prices for popular liquors, perfumes and cameras at five airports.
Of the five airports, Sydney airport's duty-free shop was the most expensive for four of the five perfumes. Surprisingly, Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport was not the best place to buy perfumes: prices at Bangkok Airport and Singapore's Changi Airport were less expensive.
For most spirits, Changi Airport lived up to its self-proclaimed reputation for having the lowest liquor prices, but if you're a wine buff you're much better off at the European airports which have a palate-watering array of French and German wines that made me weep at the thought of our meagre liquor allowance.
A bottle of German Rhine riesling or French Cote de Rhone costs about $A6 whether you buy it in Frankfurt or Paris, as there is no import duty between EU countries, though naturally each country stocks a bigger range of its own products. At Charles de Gaulle, Martini and Dubonnet cost around $8.
As well as its large selection of wines, aperitifs, cognac and champagne, Charles de Gaulle airport offered rare armagnac such as the 1932 vintage for $278, or a 1979 vintage for less than $40. For about $9 you could buy a bottle of Dubonnet or Martini, while Mumm Cordon Rouge cost about $$2. Singapore tempted cognac connoisseurs with XO Super Camus at $470 for 1.5 litres and $235 for the Remy Martin XO Champagne cognac of the same size.
There's no question that when shopping for Japanese cameras Changi Airport is the winner, while Frankfurt is the last place to buy these goods. On the other hand, it makes sense to buy goods in their country of origin. We inquired about a Metz flashgun at the airports in Sydney and Singapore, without success, only to find it in Frankfurt at less than half the Australian retail price.
CHANGI AIRPORT is definitely the place to buy watches, Walkmans, electronic or computer equipment, cameras and the latest gadgets. But, if you want a specific model, make sure you get a price on one before you leave home otherwise you won't know whether you are getting a good deal. Ask for an international warranty.
Boutiques at most international airports also sell designer fashions, jewellery, leather goods and sportequipment. Much of it will have been locally made, which means there was never any import duty on it in the first place, and you're probably paying more than you would downtown where there is more choice and greater competition. But it will cost less than it would in other countries, where you would have to pay import duty.
There is a vast difference, for instance, between the electronic equipment you can buy at Changi Airport and what is available in Singapore's shopping malls, both in selection and price, and the same applies for jewellery in Bangkok. But if the airport is your only opportunity to purchase these items then you will still do better than in Australia, provided that you know the retail prices and remember that our duty-free allowance is $400 a person.
Don't assume that because something is locally produced it will necessarily be cheap. At Bangkok Airport, for instance, very ordinary men's Thai silk shirts cost $US82, while four strands of freshwater pearls with a small lapis clasp cost US$113 (no bargain). But, if you're stuck for last-minute gifts, Bangkok Airport has a counter of attractive Thai silk lipstick holders, key rings and notebooks that cost only a few dollars.
Certain airports are better for some goods than others. Bangkok is not the place to buy camera equipment and very little film is stocked there. But perfumes are well priced, and you could find a good buy in a sapphire ring which, though far more expensive than what you could pay after bargaining downtown, will still be cheaper than in Australia. Changi Airport has several well-stocked jewellery shops where gold, pearls and coral are a good buy.
Like the shops themselves, the duty-free halls differ vastly in size, atmosphere, and accessibility. Changi is one of the most spacious and attractive, while Bangkok was one of the smallest and offered least choice. By 9pm many of Frankfurt's shops were closing, but Changi stays open very late. Charles de Gaulle had the most enticing shops, but also the most congested duty-free area, with very narrow passageways.
Service at airports varies from barely polite to downright insolent.
One cannot expect solicitous personal service at peak times when throngs surround the counters and assistants are rushed off their feet, but even during a relatively quiet time at Bangkok Airport the saleswomen seemed to regard the customers as an unwelcome interruption to their cosy chats, while it would be hard to find a more apathetic bunch of people than the staff at the perfume counters of Changi Airport.
It's always worth looking around at the specials on offer. On a previous occasion, I took advantage of Sydney's duty-free special on Carven eau de toilette, and bought a pack of three 50ml bottles for $A39. This time the liquor section was giving away travel bags with every two bottles of Jim Beam. On Charles de Gaulle Airport's 20th anniversary, all goods were discounted 20 per cent.
Unless planning to buy expensive equipment, where big savings are involved, it is worth considering the advantages of purchasing at Australian airports or duty-free stores. One reason is that Australian shops give an international warranty, which is often not the case when you buy overseas.
Another benefit is that if you buy duty-free liquor and perfumes in Australia, you can order them in advance and arrange to pick them up either at departure or on return, which saves lugging them all round the world. And, to encourage phone orders, Australia's airport duty- free shops offer a five per cent discount on all merchandise ordered in this way.
Making sure the price is right.
ITEM SYDNEY S'PORE B'KOK PARI S
F'FURT
Johnny Walker Black Label 1 litre $38.95 $32.75 $37.00 $32.90
$39.20
Chivas Regal 1 litre $41.95 $37.00
$39.20
Jim Beam $12.50 $12.00 $16.80 $16.50
$17.50
Baileys $23.50 $26.10 $26.00
Tia Maria $24.95 $19.00
$23.00
Beefeater Gin $13.50 $12.00 $15.00
$16.60
Gordons Gin $16.90 $13.50
$17.50
Courvoisier VSOP 1 litre $59.50 $53.60
$49.60
Chanel No. 5 100ml
eau de toilette spray $90.00 $75.00 $86.50 $84.80
$80.80
Poison 50ml eau de toilette spray $81.90 $73.00 $64.00 $66.00
Poison 100ml $133.50 $105.00 $97.00
Dune 50ml eau de toilette spray $59.95 $55.00 $64.00 $54.00
$51.00
Minolta camera S1 28-80mm lens $1399 1233.60
$1680
Nikon camera F801s 35-70mm lens $1500 $985.00
$1920
Pentax camera ESPIO 115 $455.00 $425.00
$745.00
No price published where item not available. All prices converted to
Australian dollars.
© 1994 THE SUNDAY AGE