Duty-free is the only place where you can snag a jumbo Toblerone as a last-ditch travel gift 20 minutes before your flight home and not pay taxes on it. These chain stores market themselves as bargain purveyors, as they’re legally allowed to sell goods without charging value-added tax (VAT) or excise taxes, due to their location in transit zones, which are technically outside the borders of any country.

The beginning of duty-free stores as we know them today date back to the 1950s, when the Irish government granted a tax exemption. Today, they’re everywhere and make up a big part of killing time at an international airport. Travelers spent $80 billion on goods at the taxless emporiums last year, according to Fortune Business Insights.

So, how much can you save?

Shopping at a European duty-free store can save you 8% to 27% in VAT (depending on the country) that you’d otherwise pay for the same merchandise outside the airport. Meanwhile, a duty-free haul in China and Japan could exempt you from 13% and 10% taxes, respectively. Globally, the best duty-free deals are typically found on alcohol and tobacco products.

For example:

• Buying a six-pack of 5% lager in a UK duty-free store could save you ~$4.25 worth of excise tax.
• In the Netherlands, a pack of cigarettes is subject to excise taxes and VAT amounting to 110% of its retail price.

Caveat alert: A duty-free shopping spree still isn’t advisable. The shops are filled with travel necessities like sunglasses and sunscreen, often at a markup that exceeds the tax savings. In many cases, the shops price items in a way that doesn’t pass on the tax exemption to customers.

Be mindful...there are exemption limits on how much of various duty-free products can be brought into most destination countries.—SK

Somewhere around the turn of the century, electronics retailers realized they could make an extra buck squeezing their gadgets into metal boxes at the departure terminal, like sardines in a can or you on a plane. Airport vending machines have come such a long way since then that we could actually be moments away from one that dispenses tinned fish.

The rise: By 2009, machines selling iPods and other Apple products at Las Vegas’s McCarran International Airport (now Harry Reid International Airport) were collectively raking in as much as $70,000 per month, an assistant aviation director told USA Today. Now, you can rely on vending machines for a plethora of wants and needs at almost any major airport:

• Farmer’s Fridge, the antithesis to hitting B5 for a Snickers, sells salads, sandwiches, and other foodstuffs. Its vending machines have become a popular alternative to pricey gate restaurant meals since the brand launched in 2013, though some of its $7.50 average-price options are on the smaller side.
• Uniqlo began vending thermal t-shirts and jackets in Oakland and Houston airports in 2017 for travelers who had forgotten to pack cold-weather essentials.
• Other items available by boarding gates at the press of a button include: a Kylie Lip Kit at Chicago’s O’Hare, a barbecue rib sandwich at Alabama’s Birmingham-Shuttlesworth, a diaper at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, and a Lego set at Philadelphia International Airport.

The most vending-maxed airport is…New York’s JFK, where a row of Hudson-operated machines sell Brookstone, Apple, Beats, and Bose products, Burt’s Bees chapstick and moisturizers, and customizable Build-A-Bear Workshop dolls.

Zoom out: Airport vending machines offer brands a 24/7 way to reach customers who may have no better option at the time—especially if it’s 2am and every gate store is closed. That could become even more important as airfares rise and travelers take more odd-hour flights to save money. For example, earlier this year, Southwest added red-eye routes for the first time after years of being the sole holdout among major airlines.—ML

Any time you feel guilty about paying $8 for airport Skittles, remember someone is impulse-buying a Prada bag at the duty-free boutique. Airports are increasingly becoming luxury malls as upscale brands recognize the value of showcasing their wares to a captive crowd with a vacation spending mindset and a higher-than-average income.

Luxury goods accounted for 41% of duty-free sales last year, up from 29% in 2019, according to Intel Market Research.

Who’s hawking status in airports?

Fashion houses, high-end cosmetics, and perfume brands are eager to get travelers’ cash and use airports to boost recognition. They often differentiate the experience from street shopping by offering travel-exclusive products and, sometimes, savings due to duty-free tax exemptions:

• The luxury conglomerate LVMH has owned Duty Free Shoppers since 1997, when it acquired the chain to better entice travelers with its high-end handbags and other products.
• Many brands, including Hermes and Rolex, opt for stand-alone boutiques. And more are coming in: Louis Vuitton recently opened a boutique and cafe in London’s Heathrow Airport, while Dior cut the ribbon on a fragrance store offering exclusive perfume and soap products at New York’s JFK.

Airports are a bright spot for luxury retailers, as they face stagnating sales due to economic turbulence. Growing US domestic and international travel continues to deliver more foot traffic, with airport luxury retail projected to grow 6% annually through 2028, per GlobalData.

It’s mutual: A stacked luxury shopping lineup has become a badge of honor for the airports themselves and a major source of revenue, as airport retailers’ rent is often charged as a percentage of their sales. Dubai International Airport ranks at the top when it comes to airport lavishness, according to an analysis by All Clear travel insurance, with the most ritzy shopping options.—SK

For every passenger trying to decide if a $17 slimy ham and cheese croissant and their phone’s 34% remaining battery will sustain them for a four-hour layover, there’s someone smugly sipping a complimentary gin and tonic in a secret luxury lounge.

Once a refuge for frequent business travelers, airport lounges are increasingly becoming more popular (and crowded) with casual travelers, encouraging some companies to create even more exclusive spaces—or raise the barrier to entry:

• Capital One opened its largest lounge (13,500 square feet) in June at NYC’s JFK Airport, complete with Ess-a-Bagels and a designated cheesemonger (as well as classic lounge amenities, like shower suites and a cocktail bar).
• Over half of JFK’s overall Terminal 4 lounge space has been added in the last two years.

How much would you pay for exclusivity?

The increase in global airport lounge visits in 2024 (31%) has outpaced growth in air traffic overall (10.4%) compared to the previous year. And access isn’t cheap. United charges $750 annually for individual access to its airport lounge network. Amex recently announced that the annual fee for its Platinum card—which includes the perk of lounge access—is increasing from $695 to $895. And one of the most popular travel perk cards, the Chase Sapphire Reserve, just ratcheted up its annual fee from $550 to $795.—MM

For nearly four decades, Hudson News has been a steady oasis for weary travelers, even as smartphones and tablets have jockeyed for carry-on space with magazines and books. So, each time you grab sour gummies and a fantasy novel at the airport, you’re not just avoiding your family—you’re helping keep one of North America’s major periodical chains alive.

But…the company behind Hudson News hasn’t depended on book sales for some time:

• About a decade after opening its first location in New York City’s LaGuardia Airport in 1987, Hudson News changed its name to Hudson Group to signify that it also sold non-periodical merchandise and concessions.
• The company now operates ~1,000 stores in 89 airports, train stations, and other travel hubs, according to its website.
• As of 2021, you could buy books at 425 of those locations, 50 of which were full-fledged bookstores, a Hudson VP told Publishers Weekly.
• Beyond its flagship storefronts, Hudson has also struck dozens of retail deals to operate airport concessions for brands ranging from Brookstone to Jamba Juice. It also has original food & beverage restaurant concepts, like Plum Market.

Literature is a small slice of the pie. Before being bought in mid-2020, Hudson was briefly a publicly traded company, which provided a glimpse into its longtime pivot from books to food:

• From 2017 to 2019, sales of books, magazines, and periodicals fell from 10% of net sales to 7.8%, according to SEC filings.
• Meanwhile, food and beverage grew from 35.7% to 40% of net sales over the same period.

Zoom out: Hudson was taken private in December 2020 by Dufry, a travel retail giant that also owned World Duty Free. Dufry later merged with Autogrill, the company behind Italy’s infamous highway rest stops, and became Avolta, the world’s top travel retailer.—ML