Is there really anything worth buying at an airport?
Here we go again. Plane is late, Wi-Fi is slow, you’re killing time in the terminal, and there’s a stack of shops waiting to skim the cream off your carefully planned trip budget.
It's no secret. At an airport, there’s likely to be little or no competition for your business, and the prices (with, in Canada at least, Tim Hortons being a possible exception) on just about everything reflect that reality.
And everyone, from kiosk to high end, seems to making a buck, particularly if they understand how airport retailing really works.
Which is all the more reason for you to hold off whenever you can, argue the editors at Smarter Travel, citing a list of nine items that you should particularly still clear of in airports.
Like duty free shops, foreign currency exchanges, and souvenir kiosks to name a few.
"Since currency exchange desks in airports often hit travelers with sky-high transaction fees, the airport is probably not the best place to exchange your money. It sure is convenient, so if you're willing to pay the price for that, so be it," Smarter Travel reports.
"A good strategy is to get foreign currency by taking out money at an ATM in your destination; this way, you'll likely get the best interbank exchange rate, which is usually much better than rates offered at airport exchange counters."
Are you an airport shopper? Pure convenience or have you developed an effective way to shop?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: Tom | Nov 23, 2021 10:52:11 PM
Nothing worth buying at the duty free? I have a few bottles of scotch who say otherwise
Posted by: G | Nov 24, 2021 2:52:48 PM
Not much information here that couldn't have just been said in the title -- don't buy anything at the airport. Filling up space today?
Agree with first poster - alcohol is a definite exception.