Modern day life is now full of so many conveniences that we didn’t have several years ago. One of the biggest areas where modern technological advances have taken effect is in travel. When I was younger and my family and I were going on holiday, we would have to turn up at the airport three hours ahead of departure time, queue up at the check-in desk in a snake-like queue and then proceed to hang around bored in the terminal until it was time for take off. Not to mention the money we usually had to fork out for an expensive meal or magazines and sweets for the family.
These days, things are much different. As someone who’s taken countless flights over the last couple of years, I thought I’d take a look at how modern day travel is a lot different than it was twenty or thirty years ago and how this new era may even spell the end of the duty free shop.
Online Check-In
With the advent of online check-in, people no longer have to arrive at the airport three hours before a flight just to make sure that they can sit together on the plane. These days, you can simply check in online the day before your flight, choose your seat and then simply turn up around 1-2 hours before (sometimes less on domestic flights or if you have no luggage to check). This means that people have less time to hang around the terminal and are therefore less likely to spend money in the shops and restaurants. They will also often go straight to the gate, where there are shops and outlets are few (or none).
E-Cigarettes and Alcohol
I don’t smoke myself, but it always used to boggle my mind when I would see people buying huge boxes of cigarettes to last them for the duration of their holiday. These days, with the invention of vaporisers and Intellicig e-cigarettes, people don’t have to buy cigarettes at the airport. And they certainly wouldn’t want to pay extra baggage fees on low cost airlines to transport those bulky boxes with them. In addition to that, there are different duty free laws in every country outside of the EU, so it can be tricky trying to figure out exactly how much you can legally buy. These days you can just take the vaporiser with you and have no need to worry about it. As for alcohol, many people only buy it a present for those at home, unless they are travelling to somewhere where alcohol costs a premium (as we found in Malaysia). With the current laws surrounding liquids in your luggage, many are baffled and confused as to what they can and can’t fly with and so stay away from purchasing alcohol or perfumes altogether.
Cosmetics and Chocolates
I don’t know about you, but I feel like the airport no longer represents good value for money when buying cosmetics and chocolate. In fact, with all the deals in supermarkets and beauty stores these days (both online and in physical stores), I am often shocked by the sticker prices of these items in duty free shops. Perfume is often a similar price to that in the high street stores and chocolates can sometimes be three times the price of the same item in the supermarket. I understand that people in an airport terminal are a captive audience, but that seems pretty extortionate.
Clothing
Part of the fun of preparing for a trip, in my opinion, is buying new clothes. I tend to have a budget for buying new things beforehand and then a budget for spending money which I take with me. I assume most people are the same way. Which is why I’m always surprised to see so many high end stores in airport departure terminals. The only time I have ever bought anything in the airport was when my day bag broke straight after check in on a flight to Iceland and I needed a new one to take with me (I ended up buying this one in the Accessorize sale). But I certainly wouldn’t want to make a dent in my spending money on clothes at the airport when it could be spent on fruity cocktails at the other end! Again, in the internet age, clothes are so much cheaper when bought online that I’m surprised if anyone shops at the airport unless they are bored or have some extra cash to splash.
So there you have it. Do you think that the end of duty free shops is nigh? Or do you use them regularly and sing their praises? I’d love to know!
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