Boarding Pass for shopping
 

Did we ever get to the bottom of the discussion about why shops needed to scan boarding passes when buying things? Just bought some Skittles at LCY and when asked for my boarding card I asked why?

They replied 'company policy' so I asked what they were going to do with the data, to which they said "we don't use it" so I said no then. They still sold be the Skittles!

Is it just a mindless response or am I missing something? If it was about them pocketing VAT surely they should say so?

Cheers

Manx Flyer

Always assumed it was to make sure you were actually traveling?

But you have to show your BP to get through to security? The odds are quite low that someone without a BP would be able to get through, though I'm sure it has happened in the past.

Staff...

I'm sure checkout staff at Boots or wherever aren't doing extra security screening, it must be something to do with tax.

Boarding Pass for shopping
 

There is no requirement to show BP.

I have a laugh with the lady at WH Smith every time I am there as I have often refused and am still sold everything.

She thinks that the company uses it for MI purposes but I told her that I don't see how I as customer benefit from it, so started to refuse. There are no issues with buying things without the BP.

No. As just posted. There's no difference for sake of my WH Smith purchases whether I travel to EDI or FRA.

If you are going outside the EU, there's no VAT. in other words, with VAT-inclusive prices, the shop gets more money. Let's say you get some earphones from Dixons for £12. If you are staying in the EU, then £10 goes to Dixons and £2 to HMRC. if you are leaving the EU, then all £12 goes to Dixons. The bp is evidence of export.

I also thought it was to make sure the pax is eligible to buy certain items such as duty free booze or cigarettes.

Because if you are not flying, you can't eat skittles ?

Boarding Pass for shopping
 

Duty free is different scenario.

Skittles / water / newspaper / Airliners World at WH Smith does not need a BP even though they make it out that it's a requirement. It's a battle I've fought and won and as said, now have a giggle over with the nice lady at LCY WH Smith every time I am there.

Staff can buy from airside shops.

I have always wondered about this waste of time and energy when I buy a bottle of water "boarding pass please" or "where are you travelling to?"

So called Duty Free (although the stuff is still cheaper on t'internet) purchases I can understand the request but not for a bottle of water or a pack of tictacs etc..

Including duty free??

I always thought the BP entitled you to purchase goods at duty free prices. My understanding is that all goods can be purchased regardless of destination but dual pricing is effectively in place and the boarding card allows for the cheaper (if applicable) price to be charged. You'll often see 'VAT free price' on labels. This is particularly noticeable for high tax items like cigarettes and other tabaco products.

In terms of staff training it's far easier to say 'scan the BP every time' than it is to expect a non tax accountant to understand the rules. This works for cigarettes but is clearly daft for Skittles. However, it is pretty accurate, simple to understand and cheap to implement.

They are usually satisfied if you just given them the (a) flight number, so it isn't satisfactory proof of anything. I always wondered if the airline gets a commission.

Is there any reason they can't/won't pass on the savings? I asked about some headphones the other day and they said it was the same price whether to EU or not

I read the question to be more related to non-duty free shops. Agree, in those, easier to just scan all. However, as said, the WH Smith "requirement" for a BP is different and not a requirement.

The reason they want the boarding pass is just to track customers, not specific ones, but passenger habits in general. I.e. how many on flights to Arlanda buys Absolut Vodka, and how many to Madrid buys Davidoff cigarettes. Not more sinister than that.

I believe this was the previous discussion:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...ing-shops.html

For small buys (not booze or ciggies), eg a bar of Galaxy from WHS, I tend to tell staff my flight number and most if not all were ok with it so far.

This really annoys me.

I've had a couple of (friendly) conversations with cashiers about it. Duty free is one thing, but these are clearly not duty free environments, and non passengers could be customers.

Asking me for my boarding pass purely to sell my information and buying habits to marketers rubs me the wrong way, especially when it's not posed as a question.

I just politely decline to give it (or even tell them my flight number) when asked. Hasn't resulted in any issues the last several times of been in LHR and seems faster for all involved.

Is it not something to do with rental costs of retail space in the likes of UK airports and their spend per head targets to maintain/change current rates?

They don't sell your information as they know nothing about you. If they are selling the data to anyone, they are selling it in the format someone above said - i.e. absolutely nothing personally identifiable (which would be illegal without your consent).

And while WHSmith clearly sells very little duty-free items, does this not work the same with VAT? Yes they're small amounts, but when you're turning over millions of pounds then it will add up.

Given I as the customer don't see any value in it for me though - and I seriously don't think it helps their planning / stocking at places like LCY - I decline.

If they scan the barcode, the systems will read personally identifiable information (full name, exec club number, origin/destination/check-in sequence). What guarantee do I have that the computer is ignoring this and not storing it?

ETA: This is an example of what gets scanned: (taken from https://lh3.ggpht.com/48CkNe5011Opir...r2q8mQ=h900-rw)

None. Which is why I never hand over my boarding pass (actual Duty Free excepted). Sometimes staff insist on being told my flight number, which then usually becomes BA 157.

They can't be going a very good job then - the stocks are usually run out whenever I've been through LCY!

Regardless of the legality of them selling that personally identifiable data in non aggregate form, I still don't like that they do it and they have it.

When they scan my boarding pass they get my name, when I was at their location, what flight I'm on, class of service, frequent flier number, etc. And they know that it was me, there are that location, again.

That's a lot of personal information I'd rather not give them.

My main point is I treat the request for the boarding pass as an optional request in these situations, and politely decline.

I would bet you that representatives and management from the establishments in question would agree, and clarify that it is NOT mandatory for customers to hand over their boarding passes to purchase a non duty free pack of gum and a bottle of water.

They just train their cashiers to ask, and the public is well trained to fork it over

I agree with you. It annoys me that it comes across as a requirement and that they "trick" the average person into giving marketing and personal information when the same average person would probably untick any marketing box on a form or decline to take part in a survey or so.

I always thought the airline got some sort of commission for the sales their pax made - duty free items or not. I thought there was a big hoo-ha about Ryanair wanting to increase it's cut of airside sales or else it was going to pull out of (yet another) airport.

The law.

Of course they would - as do the cashiers, as evidenced by the numerous people saying this every single time it's brought up.

Why people insist on saving trivial levels of privacy in this enormously connected world I have no idea, but to each their own.

While I have nothing to back up the theory, I see no logical reason why airlines would get a cut from retail sales in the airport. To be paid commission you generally have to provide something to the business paying that commission. BA, for example, provides absolutely nothing to the stores at Heathrow to warrant receiving commission (as obviously BA has no way of restricting passengers using the shops nor can realistically move airports)

Originally it was to show who was entitled to duty free booze and cigarettes but its mainly data collection for statistics nowadays. Surveys basically - who buys what vs destination, spending habits, EU vs non-EU etc etc

There is still an element of duty free compliance but for sweets, newspapers and non-duty free items it's data collection.

......

Deleted

To which particular law might you be referring?

If law school has taught me anything, it's that "the law" is never black and white. It could be argued that by requesting the boarding pass, I am voluntarily surrendering my personal information and they can use anything I hand to them for any purpose internally.

It's a VAT thing. I used to work for a retailer who had airside shops and you need to know the percentage of EU and non-EU passengers as depending on what VAT scheme you have agreed with HMRC the retailer still needs to pay the 'deemed' VAT to HMRC based on EU sales.