Booze question: NZ v AUS duty free?

[Happy Dude]

Little help?

Should I buy a bottle of Grey Goose Vodka in Melbourne or Auckland?

If someone happened to be passing through Auckland and/or Melbourne perhaps they could be so good as to post respective prices for a 1 litre bottle.

Or perhaps there is there a website where I could do my own legwork?

Many thanks!

[Febs]

I did see a link once posted here, but wouldn't for the life of me remember where to start searching.

Can I piggyback on your request and also ask re: prices for Makers Mark and Absolut Vodka (flavoured) 1L varieties? Parents are in NZ at the moment and are going to pick some up for me (planned to get it on my return from the US last week, but LAX's 2 Absolut's for $29.99USD was too good to pass up ).

Cheers,
- Febs (clearly not a vodka wanker ).

[Mal]

Booze tends to be a bit cheaper in NZ from my experience, although the Kiwi $ is getting stronger against the Aussie $ so I don't see as much difference as I did a while ago.

A couple of prices from Duty free websites:

Circa $55 in Australia.

Circa $NZ60 in New Zealand. (about the same as $55 Aud. Maybe $1 less).

You'll also often find $10/$20/10% off vouchers in New Zealand (check the "arrivals" type magazines found at the airport / hotel brochure/concierge desks and sometimes certain websites such as ZUJI: Your Online Travel Guru will have a voucher (check the bottom of the page) or the duty free websites themselves).

Sign up for a frequent buyer's card from Duty Free Stores New Zealand - Duty Free NZ - Free delivery to all New Zealand airports and get a discount of up to 20% on purchases as well (You have to pre-order though as they don't have a store in Auckland). That would make the Goose about $NZ43.

Otherwise, you can also sometimes get specials pre-ordering online from a duty free store and collecting at the airport.

If you use your Amex at Downtown Duty Free Arrivals in Australia, you might be eligible for 20% off as well on full priced items :
American Express Selects


Some of the NZ duty free stores I visit:
Duty Free Stores New Zealand - Duty Free NZ - Free delivery to all New Zealand airports
Regency Duty Free New Zealand Shopping - cigarettes, alcohol, tobacco & digital cameras ...
DFS Galleria:International Luxury Travel Retailer

And of course Downtown Duty Free... the virtual monopoly one in Australian airports.
Downtown Duty Free

[serfty]

Wot Mal said !

[moa999]

Agreed the 20% off on Duty Free Stores NZ is the winning deal...
Great for Tanq Ten if your a gin fan

[NM]

Yep, if paying the price show in the DF shops (without discount vouchers), its much the same between NZ and AU at the present time. For the minimal price difference, buy from the one that is most convenient.

[Altair]

I always use the pre-order for Duty Free Stores with my Frequent Buyer Card getting the 20% off, unless they do not have the item in stock.
You will need to pre-order 2 business days before for the airports that do not have sotres otherwise ring them (NZ business hours) if you are flying into an airport with a shop eg. WLG, if you are within this window and it will be ok.
Note they have just launched their toll free number for Australia.
Occassionally Australian Duty Free matches the deals but I try not to gamble on that happening.

[simongr]

If you use your Amex at Downtown Duty Free Arrivals in Australia, you might be eligible for 20% off as well on full priced items :
American Express Selects

Frack me - I have bought in the region of 10 bottles of Moet 1998 "vinatge" champagne, 4 bottles of Bombay Saphirre, 2 bottles of Pimms and some vodka since August 2006 and never once got an Amex discount

I really need to look at my Amex benefits a little more - I have a Gold Charge Card and dont think I am extracting sufficient value from it!

[turtlemichael]

Frack me - I have bought in the region of 10 bottles of Moet 1998 "vinatge" champagne, 4 bottles of Bombay Saphirre, 2 bottles of Pimms and some vodka since August 2006 and never once got an Amex discount

I really need to look at my Amex benefits a little more - I have a Gold Charge Card and dont think I am extracting sufficient value from it!

Agree! I need to have a close look at the list too. There are some decent discounts around Australia, in particular, for using your Amex. There are even some restaurants on it I go to! If I recall, the last time I tried to use Amex to buy inbound duty free at Cairns, I think they wanted to whack a credit card surcharge on me rather than give me a 20% discount. I obviously did not say the magic words "American Express Selects!"

[Kiwi Flyer]

Yep, if paying the price show in the DF shops (without discount vouchers), its much the same between NZ and AU at the present time. For the minimal price difference, buy from the one that is most convenient.

Given how easy it is to get the discounts there is no need to pay standard duty free rate. Eg zuji $10 off DFS.