Is Duty Free Booze Worth Getting?

[kopite]

liquor bottles are generally pretty tough, drop an empty one sometime. I've seen them bounce off tile from 3-4 feet.

I'm going to bubble wrap the box just in case. 555

[SunSeeker]

Keep in mind that if you are flying on from Bangkok, you will not be able to take your duty free liquor with you on your next flight.  I understand that you are restricted to 100 ml of liquid in you carry on luggage.

 

I neighbour of mine was complaining that they had a couple of bottles of expensive duty free booze taken from them when they transferred to a flight down to Phuket.

[house516]

Keep in mind that if you are flying on from Bangkok, you will not be able to take your duty free liquor with you on your next flight.  I understand that you are restricted to 100 ml of liquid in you carry on luggage.

 

I neighbour of mine was complaining that they had a couple of bottles of expensive duty free booze taken from them when they transferred to a flight down to Phuket.

 

Many if not most duty free shops can seal your purchase for connections. Recently, I bought some Brugal rum in Dom Rep. The duty free folks sealed it in Santo Domingo. In Newark (US), security decided they wanted to 'swab' inside the bag. They ripped open a hole and then sealed it again with their own TSA-labeled tape. Arrived in Toronto (Canada) for another connection and there were no problems. Two connections, two seals and 3 countries. Ask the clerk if they can seal your purchase before buying.

 

As a matter of custom, KLM provides sealable bags for the 'jin houses' that they provide to executive passengers. This is to get your Danish jin onto a connecting flight.

Edited December 13, 2014 by house516

[simagu]

Many if not most duty free shops can seal your purchase for connections. Recently, I bought some Brugal rum in Dom Rep. The duty free folks sealed it in Santo Domingo. In Newark (US), security decided they wanted to 'swab' inside the bag. They ripped open a hole and then sealed it again with their own TSA-labeled tape. Arrived in Toronto (Canada) for another connection and there were no problems. Two connections, two seals and 3 countries. Ask the clerk if they can seal your purchase before buying.

 

As a matter of custom, KLM provides sealable bags for the 'jin houses' that they provide to executive passengers. This is to get your Danish jin onto a connecting flight.

Think perhaps you got lucky and it just seems like a lot of trouble unless you're getting the deal of the century. On my last flght out of Montreal, they simply asked if I was transiting through the US and wouldn't sell it to me. That simple...

[Scuttler]

I arrived this morning into Bkk, and I had a chauffeur drive booked with Emirates.

 

So after clearing customs and going to the ATM in the arrivals area (where people wait for incoming passengers) I was minding my own business walking down to gate 5 where the Emirates drivers hang out, until some customs girl ran up to me and started asking to look in my duty free bags!! To be clear this was well after the official customs check, out in the hall. 

 

I just ignored her and carried on walking, but she kept asking to look in my bags! Once I reached the Emirates driver she seemed to give up but was glaring at me until I walked off to the car.

 

Don't know what the issue was, but no doubt some type of scam, so keep an eye out for her if you are inbound. 

[simagu]

I arrived this morning into Bkk, and I had a chauffeur drive booked with Emirates.

 

So after clearing customs and going to the ATM in the arrivals area (where people wait for incoming passengers) I was minding my own business walking down to gate 5 where the Emirates drivers hang out, until some customs girl ran up to me and started asking to look in my duty free bags!! To be clear this was well after the official customs check, out in the hall. 

 

I just ignored her and carried on walking, but she kept asking to look in my bags! Once I reached the Emirates driver she seemed to give up but was glaring at me until I walked off to the car.

 

Don't know what the issue was, but no doubt some type of scam, so keep an eye out for her if you are inbound. 

Technically, they don't call it "clearing customs" for nothing, so your story is indeed quite strange. And you say she was wearing a customs uniform?

[Scuttler]

Technically, they don't call it "clearing customs" for nothing, so your story is indeed quite strange. And you say she was wearing a customs unif'

"clearing customs" to me is leaving the baggage hall and going through the "customs" area, where they have an x-ray machine.

 

So...what part of my story is indeed strange?

[house516]

Think perhaps you got lucky and it just seems like a lot of trouble unless you're getting the deal of the century. On my last flght out of Montreal, they simply asked if I was transiting through the US and wouldn't sell it to me. That simple...

It may have been lucky on the Canadian connection but the bag did exactly as intended for getting through US customs. My neighbour is a Canada Border agent. I'll ask her for clarification.

 

However, I normally don't buy duty-free as I find the prices to be jacked up. My example is Santo Domingo coffee in Dom Rep. At the resorts, it's $15US/pound. At the duty-free, it's $10US/pound. At a local grocery store, its about 200 pesos ($4.60US)/pound.

 

Also, what is the deal with duty-free in Thailand? You can buy duty-free after arrival - even downtown, as long as you have a foreign passport. Is this normal elsewhere?

[simagu]

"clearing customs" to me is leaving the baggage hall and going through the "customs" area, where they have an x-ray machine.

 

So...what part of my story is indeed strange?

Sorry if I wasn't clear, meant that it was strange that this happened AFTER "clearing customs", i.e. when customs should no longer have been a factor. And was the girl wearing some kind of offical uniform, that's the part I was curious about. While there are a still a few touts running around, I find that Bangkok airport is rather well organized for the most part.

[Scuttler]

Sorry if I wasn't clear, meant that it was strange that this happened AFTER "clearing customs", i.e. when customs should no longer have been a factor. And was the girl wearing some kind of offical uniform, that's the part I was curious about. While there are a still a few touts running around, I find that Bangkok airport is rather well organized for the most part.

Yes it was after the customs checking area in the hall, I had been to the ATM, and was slowly walking down when she came up to me.  

 

Don't know what the scam was but she wanted to look in my duty free bags?

 

She was wearing a dark blue uniform....

[simagu]

Yes it was after the customs checking area in the hall, I had been to the ATM, and was slowly walking down when she came up to me.  

 

Don't know what the scam was but she wanted to look in my duty free bags?

 

She was wearing a dark blue uniform....

May have been a duty free store employee fearing that they had made a mistake by not charging the right amount or forgetting to charge something, or a customs employee that realized too late that you may have brought in more than the acceptable limit (which I believe is one bottle). Of course that's just a guess, but I do admit it's odd.as Bangkok's main airport does not seem like the type of place that lets employees run in and out of secure areas to try and scam people... That part usually begin once you've left the airport or start taking 10 bath tuk tuks :P

[willow]

Or a taxi company looking for business hence her look when you went off in a car.