Duty Free

[dennise]

We are travelling with US air this year, through Phil. Can we purchase duty free in Halifax and then take it on the plane in Phil? I don't know if we have to leave a secure area, having never been this route before.

 

[Gigi22]

Are you flying Halifax--Philadelphia--MCO? We flew direct from home to Philly last year, so not really what you are asking.

We checked in at the AC Desk in the Main Terminal, and took a bus to another terminal that just had flights to Canada -- if memory serves, this was where we went through Customs. There was no duty free store in that building, so we were out of luck for duty free purchases.

**If you have to change terminals at Philly**, I think you won't be able to take your duty free liquids with you unless you can access your checked luggage to put the duty free inside it.

 

[dishguy1977]

Can someone explain the whole duty free thing for alcohol? We have never purchased alcohol in the US before so I am really naive when it comes to this. We will be flying from BUF in May for 10 days. Is it best to purchase alcohol on the way in to the US at one of the duty free shops or is it better to buy in in Florida and then bring it back on the plane??

 

[ChisJo]

Can someone explain the whole duty free thing for alcohol? We have never purchased alcohol in the US before so I am really naive when it comes to this. We will be flying from BUF in May for 10 days. Is it best to purchase alcohol on the way in to the US at one of the duty free shops or is it better to buy in in Florida and then bring it back on the plane??/QUOTE]

You can buy up to 1.5 L of wine or hard liquor (I don't remember where beer fits into this). We always buy way more than that and we have to pay the GST on the value above and beyond that. We've never gotten any grief about it - but we've always been honest.

You buy the liquor at the duty free shop in the airport that you would be crossing the border at. So, if you have a connecting flight in the states, you would buy it at your connecting airport. You cannot buy at a duty free store if the flight you are on is not crossing the border - so, if you are flying from BUF to MCO, than you cannot get anything at duty free. You can buy liquor on either flight to and from the states, but it would be way easier to buy the liquor on the way back. It just makes it easier when it comes to claiming it. Plus, you would need to pack it in your suitcase on the way home and that just isn't very fun - I would worry about it breaking.

 

[Gigi22]

To add to what ChisJo said--if you are flying, you must present a boarding pass showing that you will be crossing an international border in order to shop at the duty free store. Some duty free shops will let you carry your duty free packages with you when you leave the shop, others will give you a receipt so that you can pick up your duty free as you board your flight.

 

[dishguy1977]

Can someone explain the whole duty free thing for alcohol? We have never purchased alcohol in the US before so I am really naive when it comes to this. We will be flying from BUF in May for 10 days. Is it best to purchase alcohol on the way in to the US at one of the duty free shops or is it better to buy in in Florida and then bring it back on the plane??/QUOTE]

You can buy up to 1.5 L of wine or hard liquor (I don't remember where beer fits into this). We always buy way more than that and we have to pay the GST on the value above and beyond that. We've never gotten any grief about it - but we've always been honest.

You buy the liquor at the duty free shop in the airport that you would be crossing the border at. So, if you have a connecting flight in the states, you would buy it at your connecting airport. You cannot buy at a duty free store if the flight you are on is not crossing the border - so, if you are flying from BUF to MCO, than you cannot get anything at duty free. You can buy liquor on either flight to and from the states, but it would be way easier to buy the liquor on the way back. It just makes it easier when it comes to claiming it. Plus, you would need to pack it in your suitcase on the way home and that just isn't very fun - I would worry about it breaking.

What about the duty free shops when you drive over the border? Can we buy there and then just leave it in our cars at BUF airport to bring back when we cross back into Canada?

 

[rewok]

What about the duty free shops when you drive over the border? Can we buy there and then just leave it in our cars at BUF airport to bring back when we cross back into Canada?

Sure, we do this all the time! I must also tell you that there is both a duty free shop when exiting Canada, and a different one when exiting the US. Most of the times, simple hard liquor is cheaper on the US side (vodka, tequila, rum, ...). For fancier stuff, it varies. We've gotten tremendous incredible prices on some high end hard to find scotch bottles on the Canadian side. We rarely bring back wine so I can't help much on that... Most of the time, we stick to hard liquors for drinks, scotch, and sometimes champagne. For example, I get Tequila Patron silver for 35$ (US duty free), here in Quebec it's 75$ for the same bottle, and the Canadian duty free sells for 45$.

I pays to know your prices, and to be math savvy, since bottles sizes at duty free are often 1L or 1.14L, so if comparing to 750ml at LCBO, you need to adjust.

 

[ChisJo]

Sure, we do this all the time! I must also tell you that there is both a duty free shop when exiting Canada, and a different one when exiting the US. Most of the times, simple hard liquor is cheaper on the US side (vodka, tequila, rum, ...). For fancier stuff, it varies. We've gotten tremendous incredible prices on some high end hard to find scotch bottles on the Canadian side. We rarely bring back wine so I can't help much on that... Most of the time, we stick to hard liquors for drinks, scotch, and sometimes champagne. For example, I get Tequila Patron silver for 35$ (US duty free), here in Quebec it's 75$ for the same bottle, and the Canadian duty free sells for 45$.

I pays to know your prices, and to be math savvy, since bottles sizes at duty free are often 1L or 1.14L, so if comparing to 750ml at LCBO, you need to adjust.

Agree - my hubby gets all of his scotch in the states or at duty free. We also get all of our tequila at duty free or in the states. Be careful when it comes to liqueurs - as rewok said, it pays to know your liquor prices. We saw a bottle of baileys at duty free that was $10 more than what the local Superstore Liquor was selling it for (same size). We also get a lot of wines in the states that are not shipped to Canada to top up our cellar. We always go over our allotted amount for border crossing, but we have never had any problems....just pay our taxes and go. We always end up with a really nice Customs officer.