Yes I agree but I don't suppose they are doing it because they want to annoy us. But someone has decided this has to happen. I did get asked once when I was only buying a packet of mints and thought it was ridiculous.

I tend to agree. Buying a newspaper or magazine shouldn't really need a boarding card. Cigarettes and alcohol I can understand but not smaller items. As far as I know, as it's duty free shopping, it's a requirement from the government, not the shops or airport.

Darren

Agreed. I can understand the need for it at duty free but it can be annoying when you're in boots purchasing their 3xinflated bottles of water for a longhaul flight. I've found in Manchester, the boots by Starbucks in t1 didn't ask me for my boarding card but the one by passport control and duty free did for some reason? I'll make a note of it on Sunday when we're going to Cuba

Well, passengers travelling outside the EU still usually pay a lot less on alcohol and tobacco than those travelling within the EU (and do have different allowances) so they still need some checks as to which price you should be charged.

I suspect that there are two reasons for this being routine with everybody with every purchase

1) Get staff in the habit of always asking for your boarding card and it is less likely that they will forget to ask the people that they really do need to check.

2) There's probably an awful lot of marketing intelligence to be drawn from matching shopping to flights. In recent years I've only flown longhaul and they do seem to enter my flight details into their tills. I can't remember whether they do this for all flights but being able to check whether eg longhaul compared to short haul passengers tend to buy different things or whether shopping patterns change during the day would be really useful information for them with regards to stock control and special promotions etc.

Knowing who tends to buy what and when is valuable in any retail sector hence the growth in shop loyalty points cards etc but for airport retailers with their captive market it is priceless. Most women know that perfume bought at the airport can usually be had as cheap or even cheaper bought on-line or even on the High Street but I suspect that careful monitoring of sales demonstrates that whilst business travellers have stopped buying perfume at airports, that buying a bottle is part still all part of the going on holiday ritual for many women travellers. And if you can track which perfumes sell in relation to which destinations then you know who your best customers are and can also tell what other goods particular categories of passengers are likely to also buy along with their perfume. Overall top line stock control tells you what products are selling but it doesn't give any clues as to who is buying it.

But if you can track it and see that people who buy a particular perfume are also likely to buy eg high end cosmetics as well, then you can perhaps tip them into always buying both perfume and a ritzy foundation if you introduce a linked offer. I love L'Eau d'Issey and check the prices of it before travelling - if it's cheaper at the airport I will buy it but most of the time it isn't so I don't. But if they are selling the eau de parfum at the same price as the High Street is selling only the eau d'toilette then I am usually tempted. Or if it is the same price but is being sold in a promotion pack with the body lotion (which is a really great product but very expensive and I would never dream of buying it as a routine purchase away from an airport) then I will also be tempted to buy it and usually do.

I'm sure that Curry's and the like do exactly the same in relation to the gadget geeks - someone will have clocked that if the customer buys X it can worth training the assistants to point out and ask whether they would also like to buy Z to go with it.

SM

There are a few "myths" and reasons why boarding cards are requested when making purchases , one of the more plausible ones is that airport retailers pay a commission on sales to the airport operator , and the commission rate is dependent on the destination of the customer either Domestic , EU or Rest of the World , on the retailers tills they hold a file of all the flight numbers and destination country , and when they scan the boarding pass they are reading the flight number and thus capturing the destination country against the transaction , so that they can report the sales and pay the correct commission to the airport .

Another which would include shops is that when tax and duty free shopping was abolished in the UK they decided to run one price for all passengers regardless of the destination , at the point of paying the passenger is asked for the boarding pass so that retailers can record the the destination allowing them to reconcile those items sold on which they need to PAY BACK the VAT later . Tobacco and alcohol have a UK duty on them plus VAT , different countries in the EU have different levels of duty , so there is a EU price and ROTW price on these products .

Another reason and by- product of the information received is that is useful for marketing purposes .

Strange as in all the years I have used Manchester I have never been asked for my boarding card when buying a paper or water. Only reason for us to go in the duty free is they seem to channel everybody through there.

fwh

I dont understand that at all fwh. When at Manchester in June I had to show my boarding card at WHSmith when buying 1 newspaper and 1magazine.

Like fwh, I have never been asked for my boarding card in Boots or Smiths at Manchester! Don't usually buy anything in Duty Free.

WHSmiths in Manchester Airport (T2) has a big sign up saying you need to show your boarding card and even the serve yourself till has a member of staff looking at your boarding pass.

I have had two friends lately that have given up on airports as they are too much like hard work and not a good start to a relaxing holiday, a 6am flight really isn't a good start either

We flew from Manchester T1 last month and they wanted to see our boarding card in WHSmith and Boots. Very annoying!

Maybe it's because if you are going outside the EU they can claim any VAT back on articles that are VAT rated. To stop the staff forgetting the tills are most likely set up to automatically to ask for the boarding cards. Whist any transaction may only be a small amout, taken over a whole year they would add up. Just a guess I may be talking out of my ( you add the word)

I had to show my boarding pass in Gatwick North WHSmith back in February for sweets and a bottle of water..didn't think much of it.