I accept that I am probably not representative of most people, but I often cannot be ar*ed to get off my seat to get my credit card for inflight sales. I guess this new requirement will probably finish me off completely, due to the hassle.

Anyone else feel the same way?

FWIW, I was asked for my passport at LGW last year, when I wished to buy duty free and the assistant explained it was because some underage people had bought things and age needed to be checked.

Given that I am in my 50s, I found this utterly ridiculous, said a polite 'no thank you' and bought the items needed in the arrivals duty free shop in Malta.

There is a fine line between taking precautions and becoming a sales prevention service and there are a lot of buying options out there.