Duty free shops - how much will they sell you?

murphym7

I don't think I am breaking the charter rules but please close thread if I am Bill.

I am heading to the US at the weekend and I know the max cigarettes allowed to be brought in is 200 - is this the max the duty free shop will sell you, or can you buy as many as you like?

The Hill Billy

I travel outside of the EU (but not USA) regularly & can buy 400 in Dublin Airport duty free. I've also purchased an additional 400 on the plane from time to time. (I've been doing this for the past 2 years & only noticed last week that the max import allowance at my destination is 200. ) So you may be in luck if you take a risk at the far end.

I hear Guantanamo Bay is nice this time of year.

BeerNut

You could be buying for several people travelling with you. They don't know which country's customs you'll be clearing at the end of your overall journey. And, ultimately, it's a matter for you and that country's customs, not the shop. I doubt they'd stop you.

decskelligs

Just something to watch out for:

If you are using the pre clearance facility in shannon or dublin you are not entitled to get duty free outbound as it is classed as a domestic american flight.

lord lucan

The max that they can sell you is 1000 cigarettes per boarding card. They can still be bought in Dublin and Shannon before the flight but if stopped by US Customs they could be subject to a duty($10 per carton). You can't buy them on the aircraft anymore as the flight is classed as a domestic flight once you've cleared USCBP.

murphym7

Thanks for the reply's lads - its Heathrow I am going out of (to Vegas!!) on Sat. I remember them selling combined boxes of 1000 before, in a carry case thing!

The Hill Billy

BeerNut wrote: »

You could be buying for several people travelling with you. They don't know which country's customs you'll be clearing at the end of your overall journey. And, ultimately, it's a matter for you and that country's customs, not the shop. I doubt they'd stop you.

Not quite true. If you are buying 'real duty free' you need to produce your boarding card to prove that you are travelling to a destination that qualifies for a duty free purchase.
Otherwise you'd have people on a Dublin-Cork flight saying "Ah well, I'm heading off to Florida - honestly. Go on, gimme 800 B&H" & getting really cheap smokes.

lord lucan

Hill Billy wrote: »

Not quite true. If you are buying 'real duty free' you need to produce your boarding card to prove that you are travelling to a destination that qualifies for a duty free purchase.
Otherwise you'd have people on a Dublin-Cork flight saying "Ah well, I'm heading off to Florida - honestly. Go on, gimme 800 B&H" & getting really cheap smokes.

You'll always be asked to produce a boarding card for your flight and a boarding card for your onward flight if you're a transit passenger. They will accept an email confirmation of your onward flight if you haven't been issued one.

Duty Free can be bought in Ireland if you're travelling on to a DF destination via another EU country once your connecting flight is within 24 hours of your first flight.

ArmaniJeanss

I came back to Dublin from Vegas via Atlanta and the guy in the Duty Free shop in Atlanta came out with this memorable line to me when I asked what was the most I can buy (fot the return journey obviously).
'Frankly Sir, I couldn't give a damn if you buy the entire shop".

(Obviously if you buy x thousand and are subsequently stopped in Dublin you can't turn around and blame it on the person who sold them to you).