In general, you’ll find the best prices on alcohol in the Caribbean, cosmetics and fragrances in Europe and tobacco products in Asia. The overall cheapest airport for tax-free goods is Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the most expensive is Santorini, Greece.
Not all duty-free stores are created equal, according to The Points Guy, a leading resource for travel news with 10 million unique visitors a month. In some cases, the same product can cost an additional 30% or more in another airport.
The study collected and compared duty-free prices, excluding sales and promotional offers, for 13 popular items at 50 airports across six continents. The products were arranged in four categories: liquor, cosmetics, fragrances and tobacco.
World’s Cheapest and Most Expensive Airports:
In general, you’ll find the best prices on alcohol in the Caribbean, cosmetics and fragrances in Europe and tobacco products in Asia. The overall cheapest airport for tax-free goods is Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (KUL) and the most expensive is Santorini, Greece (JTR):
Domestic Airports: While no U.S. airport was the world’s cheapest or most expensive, costs can vary in the U.S., too. Of the 14 domestic airports examined in the study, the overall cheapest U.S. airport for duty-free was Honolulu (HNL) and most expensive was Seattle (SEA):
As U.S. travelers shop around for the best deal, be mindful prices can differ based on what airline you’re flying and terminal. For instance, a 1-liter bottle of Bacardi Gold rum at New York (JFK) varied from $14 to $23 and a 100-milliliter bottle of Acqua di Gio at Newark (EWR) went for $82 in Terminal B and $93 in Terminal C, a 13% difference.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
