Online price guide scours 58 duty-free locations

Joe Bates

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The Airline and Airport Duty Free Price Guide could become a tool for international travellers, retailers and suppliers alike

A retired Australian businessman has set up an online duty-free price guide covering 58 airlines and international airports worldwide. The Airline and Airport Duty Free Price Guide (www.thedutyfreepriceguide.com) covers a limited basket of duty-free goods from the traditional of categories liquor, fragrances and tobacco. It is not intended to be an exhaustive catalogue of duty-free prices, but a guide to regular travellers to indicate the cheapest duty-free locations.

Founder Peter Ellis told RavenFox.com the site is updated through retailers' own websites, inflight duty-free catalogues and a network of mystery shoppers. Prices can be displayed in 18 currencies and exchange rates are updated weekly.

The site reveals some large differences between prices at various airports. For instance, a 50ml Chanel No. 5 edp costs $81 at Sydney airport, but only $42 onboard Bangladesh Airlines. Similarly, a carton of 200 Benson & Hedges cigarettes costs $42 at Vancouver airport compared to only $10 onboard Malaysian Airlines.

"I don't think that duty-free is more of a rip-off than any other retail business," said Ellis, commenting on these large price fluctuations. "Retailers have their expenses to cover and they all have competition."

Ellis hopes duty-free retailers and suppliers will make use of the site too. He added that for a small fee there was space on the site for retailers to show current special offers with a link to their own websites. Retailers that supply fortnightly updates on prices will be given a free rotating banner advertisement on the site, he said.