Duty Free - for rejected visa travelers

[german_welsh]

Hi All

May sound like a slightly odd question, but do travelers that have to leave the country to get to go to the duty-free area? Let me explain:

I would like to buy my boyfriend his favourite perfume, to make things easier I want to buy it online from WorldDutyFree (I know it is more expensive) so he can collect it as a gift when he has to leave. Before I do this I was just wondering, though, will he be allowed to go into the duty-free area to collect it in the first place?

Just to give you some background, he doesn't come from a commonwealth country. His visa application was rejected after he's been in Britain for 5 years (with a student visa for most of the time), the home office still has his documents and will give them to him at the airport. Also, he has to go to the Immigration office in Croydon this week to do something (I assume sign paperwork etc.).

It would be great if someone could let me know if they had any experience with this.

Many Thanks

[Frontier Mole]

It all depends on how "escorted" he is when he travels through the airport.
If he is a voluntary departure he will not be escorted beyond the point of entering air side security.
The only issue is he is likely to get his passport at the departure gate and I think he needs his ticket and possibly his passport to purchase duty free??

[noajthan]

...

The only issue is he is likely to get his passport at the departure gate and I think he needs his ticket and possibly his passport to purchase duty free??

The 'show your boarding pass' thing is just that VAT scan.

Its obvious anyone (not staff) in the departure area is a bona fide traveller.

See http://www.independent.co.uk/money/tax/ ... 56609.html

Refuse to show your boarding card when asked in airport stores. There's no legal or regulatory requirement for you do to so. It's just a device to allow stores to reclaim the VAT.

[Wanderer]

I was asked to buy some Apple Ciroc from Basel Airport Duty Free only yesterday, I didn't because it was 45 Swiss Francs, about £40, and it only costs £24 in the shop locally in Leeds!

Duty free means just that, no duty, doesn't necessarily imply the actual product is cheaper, the local markup may well be far more than the duty, as in this case.