When duty free isn't.

[DipStick]

12 hours ago, observer90210 said:

when you fly over to HK from BKK which airline would you recommend that is not to expensive?  As I am always looking for nearby places every 60 days to quit Thailand ...And which reliable shops are worthy to buy those lovely useless electronic gadgets et other similar stuff?  Any hassles with Thai customs when you get back? And which good chinese restaurants (that don't serve dogs or snakes in the dishes) in HK? And last question if I may, which hotel would be nice not to far from the centre and the good (and naughty) entertainment venues? Thanks for your feedback.

If these are serious questions, I will try to answer.

1. There are a number of budget airlines flying from BKK to HK, simply Google cheap flights from BKK to HK. Two that instantly spring to mind are Air Asia and HK Airlines.

2) Make your way down Nathan Rd to Mongkok where there are such shops everywhere, however I recommend you use the shops that show the HKTA logo in their window, know generally the price you are prepared to pay, and very importantly look out for the bait and switch tactics.

3) Thai Customs no idea.

4). Naughty area Wanchai, again use google for hotel search.

5). Restaurants ! There are hundreds of thousands, suggest you use the Dai Pai Dong style 

[Nowisee]

I don't even buy food in the airports.  All around overpriced crap.

 

[geisha]

I've compared prices of my favorite French perfumes, sunglasses and bags .Duty free shops have way higher prices than regular shops in Europe ! Even at Dubai I am surprised to find Duty free articles so expensive. So why buy Duty Free ?

[VBF]

20 minutes ago, geisha said:

I've compared prices of my favorite French perfumes, sunglasses and bags .Duty free shops have way higher prices than regular shops in Europe ! Even at Dubai I am surprised to find Duty free articles so expensive. So why buy Duty Free ?

The literal answer to that is "there is little reason to ever buy Duty Free". Obviously, there may be the odd emergency but in general  if you plan ahead a little, and do your shopping before going to the airport, why would you?

 

One thing that doesn't seem to have been mentioned in this thread is that, even ignoring potential alleged profiteering, you need to remember that in general, in a DF shop, you get charged the recommended retail price minus the duty. Now i don't know about you, but I rarely pay the RRP for anything! What with cut-price supermarkets, discount stores and online shopping, most items I buy are less than the RRP anyway. If the duty is (say) 20% on the RRP, but you can get it 25% less anyway.....you work it out!

 

As an example, a well  known and reputable but expensive UK electronics store is asking £25 for a certain charger. An equally well known and reputable online store is asking £13 for the same charger - not a copy. So if I bought it at the airport and (say) saved 20% duty on £25, i'm still paying £20 when I could have got it for £13 online.

[MuntyC0re]

yeah man I know duty free is a scam for tourists