Perche

I've always used Globalblue because of the tremendous hassle of doing it any other way, although there are ways to do it without paying the steep commission. I usually don't shop the required 159 euros in one day at one store to qualify for the VAT. I do travel to Italy for long periods of time that result in change of seasons, such that I need to buy a sweater or a jacket, or winter turns to summer, and I need shorts, shoes, and different running gear that does reach the 159 euro threshold, but it is seldom.

I spent last month in Rome, and lost my prescription sunglasses just prior to leaving from the USA, so I had to buy new ones over there. The cost was about 850 euros. I still have the Globalblue envelope for the VAT refund. Since medical things like glasses have a lower tax rate, 4% I think, the refund will only be 17 euros, so I haven't gone out of my way to go to the post office and mail it yet.

I will add one piece of advice if you are going to use Global Blue or Premier. By all means, try not to do it at the airport.

Almost every major city has a Global Blue or Premier refund point within the city itself. I learned this the hard way in Milan 4 or 5 years ago when I went to the line at the airport and a tour bus had just gotten there, resulting in about 40 people loaded with shopping bags or luggage carts full of merchandise ahead of me. None of them spoke any language (I won't say which) that the people behind the counter could possibly understand. Their tour guide had only a few italian phrases at her command. It was taking 10 minutes to process each person, so I gave up, and went to the lounge.

The airport, with all of the stress of delays and unpredictable check in and security lines related to flying, is not the place to process your VAT refund because it just adds more time and stress to the process. Do it before, in the city, where there is usually no line.

For example, in Venice, literally 5 yards from Piazza San Marco there is a place that will process your Global Blue refund on the spot. The last time I used it there was a group of 4-5 people who could not speak any language that the people behind the counter could understand. They did not have the receipt, forms, or anything prepared. I waved my Global Blue form to the ladies behind the counter from behind them. The lady waved me to the counter and I slid the form, receipt, and my passport under the glass. In about 30 seconds she slid the euros and my passport back to me, and gave me something she told me to put in the mail, which I went outside and threw in the trash. At the airport in Venice I'm sure I would have been stuck in an hour long line.

About a year and a half ago I was leaving Rome and I had some VAT money coming back to me. There is no way that I want to leave this to the last minute at the airport, with unpredictable lines. There is a place about 15 yards from the Pantheon that will process Global Blue Refund on the spot. It isn't obvious because they don't have a sign. In fact, I asked a police officer where it was, and she said she had no idea. I looked around and realized that both she and I were standing 10 feet from it. The only sign says that they make change, then I saw the little Global Blue authorized refund point sticker in the window, and the transaction took less than a minute. I was the only one at the counter, and this was about 8 O'clock in the evening, when that area is packed with people.

There is an authorized Global Blue Refund Point right in front of the Spanish Steps so if you go shopping on Via Condotti, where you will definitely hit your 159 euro per day at a single store spend the street ends at the Spanish Steps, and you can get your refund right there, immediately after you made your purchase, rather than waiting for an unpredictable amount of time at the airport.

My suggestion would be, don't do it at the airport. Do it in the city, before you leave. Otherwise, you will likely have a tour bus full of people in front of you, laden with shopping bags, unable to speak to the people behind the counter.

There are five instant Global Blue refund places in Venice, three practically in Piazza San Marco. In n Florence there are five instant Global Blue refund spots right in the historic center. In Rome, Milan, Naples, Torino, Como, Bari, and almost every other city, there are many instant VAT refund sites. Don't wait to do it at the airport when you may already be stressed by the lines.