Duty Free

I always wondered what the big deal was with Duty Free. Every time I was in an airport with a duty free shop I'd check it out. Supposed to be a great deal right? But I never could see that. The prices always seemed higher than I could get the stuff at home. Now that I've been traveling a while and "lived" in different places I realize that duty free isn't for Americans. Our prices at home are less than most duty free shops and definitely less than most other places in the world. The prices (with crazy amount of taxes) for stuff in other parts of the world are so high it makes Nordstrom look like Walgreens in comparison. Think of the alcohol you can get at Costco. A handle of Jack is what $30-40US. Here in Fiji a bottle half that size is at least double if not triple. A case of Fiji Bitter (probably a Budweiser equivalent) is about $40US. It's totally crazy. Mark and I went into the Duty Free here the other day to check out the electronics. The cameras were all at least $500-600US. I just looked up the equivalents on Best Buy and none of the cameras were more than $150, they were more like $120. I just can't believe that the rest of the world puts up with this. It's just another reason I'm so proud to be an American and why we always max out our baggage limits when we leave the states to return to the boat. I now also understand why people actually take shopping vacations to the US.