Here’s a little relief for Aussie travellers, next time you’re purchasing a duty-free item at any Australian airport you can say ‘no’ when asked to present your boarding pass.
For years we’ve been travelling and buying under the assumption that in order to complete a duty-free transaction we were legally required to present our travel documentation to the teller.
So, feeling legally obliged, we’ve rummaged through our carry-on, pulled out our travel wallet, filtered through the paperwork just to present that single boarding pass.
But after a little snooping, KarryOn has discovered that it is not a legal requirement to present your boarding pass in order to make a duty-free purchase at Australian airports.
Our investigation started last week when thousands of UK-based travellers took to Twitter to express their shock after discovering they weren’t legally required to present airport retail tellers their boarding pass.
Reports in The Telegraph, revealed the real reason airport documentation was requested by gateway retailers was to help them claim back tax.
The truth was revealed by airport retailers such as WHSmiths and Boots in the UK, who admitted scanning the boarding pass isn’t required to complete a sale.
After reading about the situation in the UK, KarryOn contacted Sydney Airport, which confirmed Aussies were also under no legal obligation to present their boarding passes when purchasing items at duty-free.
“I can confirm it is not a legal requirement in Australia to show your boarding pass in order to purchase duty free product within an Australian airport.”
Fiona Wood, Sydney Airport Communications Manager, Retail
This means, next time you’re in a rush to purchase perfume, makeup or even some IT products from duty-free you can politely decline and continue on with your purchase.
While some travellers took to social media to say they don’t mind presenting their travel documentation to retailers, others found it concerning, particularly because they were lead to believe it was a requirement of purchase.
Twitter user, ‘Skhan10′ said it was ‘violating’ to think of how the information was used.
I actually feel violated thinking back to all the times I have shown my boarding pass at airport shops and gifting these corporations money
— سمير خان (@Shkhan10_) August 12, 2015
