Duty free section at airports = hell

[Greenleavesandsunshine]

I’m sitting waiting to take off on holiday. I’ve just been through the airport departures which was busy and a bit chaotic but ok. The duty free section was hell on earth. It was bright, it was loud, it smelled of perfume, some of the bright lights flashed. People, music, slippery floors.
Why does anyone actually stay and buy anything rather than running through at top speed. The duty free section is hellish AIBU?
Anyway plane is moving.

You’re just not going to the right airports.

I’m in enemy territory.

There's no way round, you're funnelled through like the gift shop at a theme park.
I haven't bought anything in an airport apart from overpriced sandwiches in 30 years

airports are just too busy. For obvious reasons. The only way to make them more pleasant would be to get rid of most of the passengers, who are the only reason they are sustainable in the first place 😂

Have you not been here very long? A lot of MN are easily traumatised. Wait until you hear their reaction if someone knocks on the door or calls on the phone unexpectedly.

I LOVE airports, planes and flying. The night we stayed in the airport hotel in Tokyo Haneda (the airport is IN the terminal) was one of the best nights of my life. I love everything about the process. Sometimes I wish I could just go to one and hang out. I find them so exciting. I love duty free. I love it all. Sorry.

I love duty free.!! As someone who.9/10 times gets treated to a hand search at security ( i have no idea why I keep failing the body scan) I enjoy spaying myself with perfume i can't afford and hand cream i can't afford . I see it as the airports way to apologise lol

Hopefully you sit next to your family and friends on the plane and don't inflict the headache/ airway irritating duty free smells on strangers in close proximity for the duration of the flight?

All that awful perfume. I powerwalk through it, holding my nose. Makes me think of Mr Bean in the perfume section of the department store.

To be fair everything about Manchester is hell on Earth.

It sets my allergies off, it is like the old Debenham's perfume section on steriods. Hate it. Is any of it actually that much cheaper anymore?

I like airports and big train stations and for their feeling of possibility, the idea you could theoretically go anywhere, their temporary, constantly changing atmosphere and the general sense that all sorts of lives are passing through. I have always enjoyed being "in transit" especially when traveling alone (often more stressful in a group).

I hate duty free though, I don't think it adds anything pleasant. The same products could be sold in a less offensive, sensory onslaught type way, just as the clothing and snack and pharmacy and newsagents and electronics and souvenir outlets in the airport work.

I flew on a late night flight from Helsinki last month, hardly anyone at the airport, nice casual stroll through the nearly empty airport, our pick of seating (cushioned benches with footstools, reclined seats, massage chairs, rocking chairs, cushioned bits you can fully lie down on. No queues for toilets, that were clean and had bird song playing for some reason, hot water dispensers so you can make a cup of tea instead of buying one, all the escalators worked (unlike Stansted when we were flying back). It was bliss. Security was really quick and efficient too, and the person doing passport checks was surprisingly chatty for a Finn (the one on the way back was more normal, and just grunted at us )

Is Helsinki a good place for a short holiday? 🫣🤣

Good place for a layover I reckon! If you ever had to spend hours between flights, you'd want it to be in Helsinki.

Like everything else to do with airports and flying I consider it a mild annoyance to get somewhere I want to go. Same as the multiple queues, waiting around, etc etc. It's not enjoyable but it's not anywhere approaching intolerable either.

I’ve made it to the other side! It’s worth it when you get here but that bright, shiny hell hole at 6am is grim. Just need to sort out my costume and I’m in the pool.

We’re obviously two very different people in that case! I love the atmosphere of a big, busy airport. Could happily spend a day in Heathrow! The ability to fly quite literally anywhere in the world feels very liberating to me and I just love people watching - so many different cultures and walks of life.

On the other hand I dislike travelling through smaller regional airports - much quieter so no excitement and they are nowhere near as well kept or efficient.

You need to mentally recover from scanning a boarding pass and maybe dropping a suitcase or two? Must have an awfully hard existence if that’s all it takes!

I have barely any sense of smell anymore ever since I had Covid in 2021. I guess not smelling anything in Duty Free is one of the few advantages! 😂

The only thing I like the Duty Free shops for is the giant Toblerone - and even that’s not worth it since they discontinued the toasted coconut one - I could eat my body weight in that!

I'd say they are moderately annoying. There are definitely a fair few shops that are more unpleasant from a sensory perspective. And the big seating area pre gate is often worse - Stansted's is pretty horrible. The stupid waving IKEA nonsense is annoying, but I like having a sniff of the perfume and feeling superior for not succumbing to the overpriced confectionery. If I'm lucky there's an alcohol sample.

So efficient in terms of getting to the actual terminal though - a small regional airport. And no long trek to your gate.

I have asthma and allergies and am sensitive to fragrances. Duty free is hell on earth for me. I wish they would have a way around it for people with allergies and asthma!