# Duty Free & Connecting Flight



## A_b (3 Mar 2007)

Can you still buy duty free if you are going on a connecting flight in different airport or is included in the 100ml limit carry on thing?


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## Luternau (3 Mar 2007)

No duty free allowed when transfering. Its a big problem and has featured in the media.


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## A_b (3 Mar 2007)

Damn!!! Pretty pointless having duty free shops so nowadays.


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## cappamj (4 Mar 2007)

Luternau said:


> No duty free allowed when transfering. Its a big problem and has featured in the media.



Hi,
just back from Canaries and bought our duty free in airport there forgetting we had a connecting flight from Dublin to Galway.

When I was collecting our bags I asked the security guy if it would be a problem taking it on next flight he said no so joined everyone else who were in line having their water taken off them. At this stage we had 2 large bottles of whiskey and 2 of wine so went to the domestic fast track and we were told it should be in sealed bags but to go through and check with security he said we can not take it on, I told him I checked with security on getting off plane and was told its ok he then asked for receipt and let us through.
I now know we should not have gotten through as family just came home from US and they were told no duty free can be taken on connecting flights,
will enjoy it all the more!!!


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## Perplexed (4 Mar 2007)

I didn't realise this & I am travelling shortly.

Am I right in thinking then that on a long haul flight the only place you can buy duty free is at your last airport ? I am flying to Christchurch via LA & Auckland so if I want to bring bottles of Irish whiskey to my friends out there I have to buy them in Auckland ??

On the way home can I not buy duty free in Hong Kong as I have to get a connection to Shannon in Heathrow ?

Is this why it now appears you can buy duty free on arrival in Dublin airport ? Presume you just have to show your boarding card ?

Am I understanding this right ?


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## zag (4 Mar 2007)

Yeah, but no, but yeah.

Yeah, you can usefully only buy duty free on the last connecting leg of your trip.
No, you won't be able to buy duty free in Auckland since the flight is an internal one and so doesn't qualify for duty free . . .
Yeah, you might be able to buy it in LA *and leave it on the plane in Auckland* if the flight continues to Christchurch, but I think most flights from the US stop in either city, not both.

The whole 100ml thing needs to be got rid of - it adds very little security, if any.

I saw a whole family having to leave two bottles each of something expensive in Newark a few weeks ago for the same reason.  They had bought it somewhere, were transiting through Newark and hadn't realised they would be stopped.

z


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## ClubMan (4 Mar 2007)

It's surprisingly easy to get through security with stuff that is supposedly contraband although I would not recommend it as a strategy for getting duty free through when it is otherwise not allowed. On our second trip abroad with the baby we were coming home just as _Portugal _brought in their own "no liquids" policy and still managed to get through security with lots of open tubes of creams/gels and lots of open liquids (not just the bottle of formula that we had to taste on the way through) more through confusion and ignorance (not just on our part) than through design.


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## Perplexed (6 Mar 2007)

Thanks for the help. I'm still confused though !
My flight does touch down in Auckland on the way to Christchurch for about an hour but we move planes as I know the connecting flight is by Jet Connect as opposed to Qantas.

I think I'll have to clarify this at check-in ! 

I totally approve of airport security & am very quick at unbuckling my belt & taking off boots at this stage but this latest lark is a bit much.


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## ClubMan (6 Mar 2007)

Perplexed said:


> I think I'll have to clarify this at check-in !


Don't assume that the people that you ask will understand the question or know the answer. Most people are totally confused by this stuff at this stage. If in doubt just forego the duty free purchases - it's just not worth the hassle or the potential disappointment of seeing the stuff confiscated.


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## EvilDoctorK (6 Mar 2007)

According to this [broken link removed] the liquid restrictions in NZ on liquid are only on International Departing flights - so it may not apply on the Auckland - Christchurch flight .  

However you are stopping at LA so if you are getting security cleared there then I'd be fairly sure that you won't be able to carry Whiskey purchased in Dublin & London through that security check (I would assume you'll have to go through security screening at LA- you even have to clear US immigration in international transit on the same aircraft nowadays, which is nuts but there you go!)

As others have observed it's all a lot of nonsense anyway and hideously confusing.

For another perspective on it I like the Register's rather irreverent article on "flying toilet terror" - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/flying_toilet_terror_labs/


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## monkeyboy (6 Mar 2007)

Perplexed said:


> Thanks for the help. I'm still confused though !
> My flight does touch down in Auckland on the way to Christchurch for about an hour but we move planes as I know the connecting flight is by Jet Connect as opposed to Qantas.
> 
> I think I'll have to clarify this at check-in !
> ...



put the whiskey in the hold baggage from the start, you can then leave it there for the whole journey, or if you get your bags again in LA you can put the bottles in at this point after buying in DF.


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## EvilDoctorK (6 Mar 2007)

Whiskey in hold luggage = high chance of some very smelly clothes on arrival ... personally I would not do this (unless you can get it in a plastic bottle maybe ?)


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## monkeyboy (6 Mar 2007)

EvilDoctorK said:


> Whiskey in hold luggage = high chance of some very smelly clothes on arrival ... personally I would not do this (unless you can get it in a plastic bottle maybe ?)



Package it securely! bubble wrap etc its easy done it loads.


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## Perplexed (7 Mar 2007)

Just had a thought. The friend I want to bring the whiskey to is in Australia. I hop over to Australia from Auckland so I guess I can find an Irish whiskey in the duty free there ! She wont' know it didn't come all the way from Ireland with me personally.
I don't want to pay twice the price in my local Off Licence & risk it breaking in my checked in luggage, when I can buy it duty free !


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## ClubMan (7 Mar 2007)

monkeyboy said:


> Package it securely! bubble wrap etc its easy done it loads.


You can also buy special (e.g. wine) bottle cases that go inside your normal case or can be checked in separately and protect against breakages and spillages. However you would probably be over duty free limits if you filled one!


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## BsAs (8 Mar 2007)

monkeyboy said:


> put the whiskey in the hold baggage from the start, you can then leave it there for the whole journey, or if you get your bags again in LA you can put the bottles in at this point after buying in DF.



How can you put it in the hold?  Don't you have to check your bags in before going to the duty free shop?


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## redchariot (8 Mar 2007)

BsAs said:


> How can you put it in the hold?  Don't you have to check your bags in before going to the duty free shop?



That is true, but if you are connecting in a USA airport, you have to collect your bags and clear customs anyway. So all you would have to do is pop the duty free into the hold luggage before checking them back in.

Having said that, I think that the Air New Zealand flight from LHR to Auckland only touches down in LA and bags are unlikely to be unloaded.


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## Perplexed (9 Mar 2007)

I'm travelling Qantas but we only stop in LA for 4 hours. Imagine my luggage will be just switched. We may not even change planes as it's BA to LA & then Qantas to NZ but from my experience before they seem to be one & the same.

Flying has become a lot more complex than it used to be !


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## EvilDoctorK (10 Mar 2007)

You'll change planes and you'll have to clear US Immigration (even though you're only staying 4 hours and not going landside) .. I don't think you'll need to retrieve your baggage  - that should be through checked all the way as you don't need to clear US Customs


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## Perplexed (10 Mar 2007)

Thanks EvilDoctorK. It's good to know what to expect.

Now for an awful question .......is there an area where smoking is allowed in LAX ?  No slagging please ......I know I'm an outcast & I will quit one of these days !


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## ClubMan (10 Mar 2007)

Looks like a joke but it's on the _LAX _official website so I presume it's for real!


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## Perplexed (11 Mar 2007)

*                            LAX is not a "smoker friendly" airport*                            (and we here at iFlyLAX.com highly recommend that you                            quit                            smoking -- cold turkey -- immediately!),                            and there are no designated smoking areas. However,                            tobacco using airport employees and travelers do manage                            to get in a few drags outside the terminal buildings                            in some of the more open areas; and there is a *"Smoking                            Pen"* in the United terminal.

Clubman, you got my hopes up there until I saw the pics .....perhaps these are some of the "more open areas"


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## jmayo (26 Mar 2007)

Just back from NZ.  We came back the opposite to your outbound. 
Flew from Auckland to LAX and then flight from San Francisco to Heathrow and then aother onto Dublin. 
Do not buy any major liquids (spirist, large perfume bottles etc) until last leg of flight.  You will not be able to take them as hand luggage.


 If going through Heathrow you can only have one carry on bag and that includes handbags.
Just hope your flight is not delayed in Auckland, the airport is poor and you will be only allowed back off aircraft to gate and not through security screen.
That sounds ok until you realise that there are only two toilets for 350+ people on baord 747 and there is not food or drinks bar a vending machine.
Oh and they hit you with a $25 airport fee for development purposes ( we all reckoned it was for new toilets).

As far as I know Christchruch does not handle 747s which are what Quantas and Air New Zealanad use on the trans Pacific flights so you would probably have to change aircraft in Auckland.

Now if land in Auckland for change over, you have problem because you may have go back through security screens just before entry to gate and then may lose liquids.  And if flying from Auckland to Christchurch you cannot buy duty free since internal flight.
Don't worry they do have bottle shops over there and loads of steinlager on tap.

Also pre-book your accomodation in Christchurch if anywhere near tourist season.


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## bond-007 (27 Mar 2007)

EvilDoctorK said:


> You'll change planes and you'll have to clear US Immigration (even though you're only staying 4 hours and not going landside) .. I don't think you'll need to retrieve your baggage  - that should be through checked all the way as you don't need to clear US Customs


Why is this the case if you are not entering the country? I say it must cause problems for those with US immigration problems/history?

I wonder what the questions are like?


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## EvilDoctorK (27 Mar 2007)

bond-007 said:


> Why is this the case if you are not entering the country? I say it must cause problems for those with US immigration problems/history?
> 
> I wonder what the questions are like?



Agreed it's fairly crazy - It's been the case since shortly after 9-11 I believe ... those with potential US visa problems should find somewhere else to connect through would I think be the best advice.  (Also if you're not from a country like Ireland that is part of the Visa Waiver program you'd have to apply for a visa in advance of connecting through a US Airport)

http://www.airnewzealand.co.uk/travelinfo/planning_your_trip/transiting_via_la.htm

This is one of the Reasons that Air NZ has started flights from London to Auckland via Hong Kong as well as those it has always offered via LA as the transit "experience" in LA isn't the best - especially compared with somewhere like HK with a brand new airport and no immigration requirements during transit.


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## jmayo (27 Mar 2007)

I remember meeting a Brazilian flying between Vancouver and Rio via Toronto a few years back.  The reason they did not fly from Vancouver direct to Rio/Sao Paulo was the flights stop in USA.  That meant they needed a transit visa which cost couple of hundred dollars.  So not alone do you need a transit visa if not from VISA waivered country, it means queing at a US embassy for few hours and paying the cost.  
I actually found US immigration to be fine this last time.  
Maybe it's because I had been used to spenting hour and half getting through NZ immigration/customs/livestock control/fruit and veg control, etc  in NZ.  
It is a bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has trully bolted and run around the paddock a few times.  The country is already well and truly infested with deer/possums/rats/foxes/stoats etc.  
Beware make sure your hiking boots and golf shoes are clean before arriving in NZ.  Otherwise they can take them off you and dump them.


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## Buckshee (27 Mar 2007)

Travelled back frome Cape Town with herself 2 days ago with KLM via Schipol in Amsterdam.  Browsed the duty free as normal and selected the usual aftershave / perfume ,  chocolates and two bottles of cream Liquor.   The lady at the cash register when she looked at boarding card asked "is Amsterdam your final destination".  When we informed her it wasn't she indicated that we would not be allowed to take the 2 bottles of Cream Liquor on board the Amsterdam to Dublin leg of the journey.  

While it was disappointing to have to leave them back it was still better than having to lose them at security in Amsterdam.


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## jmayo (29 Mar 2007)

To avail of duty free anywhere you have to be leaving the jurisdiction. So if you next destination is within same country, or in this case within EU, then you cannot avail of duty free. Now of course there are exceptions. The Åland Islands in the Baltic, even though belonging to Finland (part of EU), offer duty free because they got an exception, so if you stop off there you can get duty free booze. I am not sure if Isle of Man or Channel Island got same protection or not?


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## bond-007 (29 Mar 2007)

The channel Islands and the Canary Islands got the same protection. They are not in the EU to begin with.


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## mell61 (2 Apr 2007)

I just got the following email from BAA - regarding flights to Australia...


As a valued WorldPoints member we thought it important to update you
on the latest change in industry regulations regarding the carriage
of liquids.

While cabin baggage restrictions introduced back in November of last
year remain a long term solution, Australian legislation changes have
affected many transfer passengers departing from the European Union.

From 31 March 2007, European Union airports will be unable to sell any
liquid purchases to passengers travelling to Australia. All liquids
will be screened at the last point of call and quantities over 100ml
will be confiscated.

For the latest updates on security information please check
www.baa.com before travelling. In the meantime we wish you a pleasant
trip next time you travel.

Best wishes


Samantha Varriale

WorldPoints Programme Manager


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## Perplexed (12 Apr 2007)

Hi Folks, just back. Must say LAX was the worst airport I've even been in. Nearly missed my connecting flight with all their security & immigration 
( including fingerprinting ) delays. I had to collect my bag & go through the whole checking palava again.
Everywhere else was fine.
Bought my duty free in Auckland on way to Australia & no prob. Didn't bother with df on way home.
Everything did go more or less to plan though & I got an upgrade on flight from Hong Kong to Heathrow which was nice.
It's worth it all ....New Zealand is absolutely fabulous & I'd go through it all again if I could afford it


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## 26cb (13 Apr 2007)

Check the smoking comments here....

http://www.iflylax.com/


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## 26cb (13 Apr 2007)

Sorry....hit reply before reading the last page....ignore...must be a Friday thing !


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