Duty free favourites including gin and Toblerone are cheaper at supermarket and online than at airport, says watchdog
BRITISH holidaymakers are being ripped-off at duty free airport shops, as “bargains” such as gin and Toblerone can actually be picked up cheaper at the supermarket.
A 360g bar of Toblerone cost £4 at Bristol World Duty Free but £3 at Asda, while an £18 70cl bottle of Tanqueray gin at Heathrow could be found for £15 at Morrisons, a report found.
Consumer group Which? found that some items, such as memory cards for cameras, were almost 200 per cent more expensive at the airport than online or on the high street.
The airport price for a SanDisk Extreme Plus 64GB memory card is £110, compared to £37 on the high street or online.
A 100ml bottle of Eternity for Men Eau de Toilette is £25 on Amazon but £46 at Birmingham World Duty Free.
The watchdog also looked into other airport rip-offs, such as sky-high charges on parking, travel money and wi-fi.
But there are ways to beat the costs, so travellers aren’t left hundreds of pounds out of pocket before they’ve even taken off.
1 – Book airport parking in advance to save £280
In a Travel report by consumer body Which?, airport parking was found to be the biggest airport rip-off, with travellers paying up to £417 for seven days’ parking at London Heathrow’s terminal 5.
Turn up at Birmingham airport and you may pay a staggering £235 to park your car for a week.
But simply booking in advance could save you hundreds of pounds.
Paying for a week’s parking at London Heathrow’s T5 in advance will cost £137 – that’s a saving of £280 compared to paying on the day.
According to Which?, car parks are also usually cheaper the further away they are from the terminal.
A week’s off-site parking at Birmingham costs £36, while on-site parking for the same week costs £56.
2 – Be speedy with your farewells to avoid extra parking charges
While some airports don’t charge for drop-offs, Which? found that 10 minutes at Stansted costs £3.50. Stay longer and you’ll face a £50 fine.
Pick-ups can also be pricey: you’ll pay £3.90 for 15 minutes at Edinburgh and £2 for 10 minutes at Glasgow.
If you don’t want to watch the clock when you’re bidding farewell to a loved one, most airports have some free parking, such as Stansted Mid-Stay which wont’ charge for one hour, and Heathrow Long-Stay, which won’t charge for up to two hours.
3 – Make sure you have the right change for trolleys
Airports such as Bristol and Luton charge a £2 or €2 fee to use a luggage trolley.
Other airports will refund the money once you return the trolley, but if you don’t have the right change, trolley vending points at Birmingham airport charge 40p charge for using a debit or credit card.
If you make sure you have the right change, you can save yourself the unnecessary charge.
4 – Take a transparent bag to the airport and save £1
Everyone needs to have a see-through bag to carry liquids onto the plane, but what some people might not know is that Luton airport charges flyers £1 for two for anyone who doesn’t have one.
At Newcastle airport, you’ll have to fork out a quid to get yourself a bag.
The bags must not exceed 1litre (about 20cm x 20cm, or 8in x 8in) and must be properly sealed once filled.
Some transparent bags from home won’t be suitable, which is why you may need to buy one at the airport.
5 – Pre-buy your mini toiletries to avoid being ripped-off
If you’re travelling with hand luggage and need to take toiletries with you, don’t wait until you get to the airport.
Which? found that at WH Smith after security, a 50ml travel-sized bottle of Original Source shower gel costs around £2.49, whereas the same size is less than half this price in high street supermarkets.
6 – Get your water from a water fountain and save £2.09
Travellers aren’t allowed to take liquids over 100ml through security, but thirsty holidaymakers face having to pay £2.09 for a 75cl bottle of Evian inside the airport, which is double what you would pay in a supermarket.
But if you pack an empty plastic bottle in your hand luggage, you can fill it up at a water fountain and save yourself the extra cost.
They might not be easy to find, but all Heathrow terminals, as well as Gatwick North and Edinburgh have water fountains.
7 – Don’t always book an airport’s own train service
If you’re travelling to a London airport, Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted all offer their own rail passenger services, but seats don’t come cheap.
A 15-minute single journey on the Heathrow Express will set you back £25, while boarding the Gatwick Express costs £19.90 one way.
Alternatively, travellers can get the London underground to Heathrow for £5.10 one way (a £19.90 saving), or the Southern Rail train to Gatwick for £15.70 (a £4.20 saving).
You can use websites such as and to find the cheapest train fares.
8 – Don’t get caught out by sky-high wifi
While Birmingham and Heathrow offer unlimited free internet access for passengers, anyone logged on after an hour at Bristol and Glasgow airports will have to pay £5 for an extra two hours.
Most mobile providers offer data add-ons for pay-as-you go customers for just £1 per 100MB, so you can get online via your tablet or smartphone for less, Which? says.
BT, O2, Sky and Virgin Media all have hotspots in some airport terminals, so it’s a good idea to check their websites or apps for a full list of locations before logging on.
9 – Don’t buy your currency at the airport
It may be convenient, but airport currency is one of the biggest rip-offs for travellers.
Hand over £500 to ICE at Edinburgh airport and you’ll receive just $529 back.
Exchange pounds to euros at Moneycorp at Stansted airport and you’ll pay £511 for €500.
To save money, use a comparison site like MoneySavingExpert’s which sifts through the rates offered by online bureaus to find users the best deals, taking your location into account.
Best Foreign Exchange is one of the cheapest bureaus around, giving holidaymakers good on both euros and US dollars.
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