OTP airport .... duty free shop currency
 

I'm on a flight from Bucharest. Back to LHR.

I read somewhere (tripadviser but it was from 5 or so years ago) that in the Duty Free shops at the airport OTP, you cannot use up the local currency, LEI, and have to exchange this into Euro at a ridiculous rather, before you can purchase anything.

Is this still the case?

Or can you now use Romanian Lei.

I thought someone must know, with this being a popular destination with TP runs etc

Thanks


(changed typo Budapest to Bucharest, and OTP... Well spotted Nancypants)

Am I missing something? Budapest uses Hungarian Forints

Can't you just use your card instead?

Sorry nancypants, my phones auto format changed Bucharest to Budapest. I'm in Romania

OPI? I wasn't aware that BA served Oenpelli, Northern Territory.

Edit: I see you've changed it, to OPT. Bucharest is OTP. :)

Yes i could do and hang on to Romanian currency, but I seem to have ended up with more than I thought, as it's so cheap here if you stay out of the tourist bars and restaurants. 😋

it would make the WITWIA? thread easier for me and harder for anyone else 😂

it’s early here and the only thing I could associate OPI with was a brand of nail polish

sorry OP, can’t help with the duty free store as I have somehow managed to avoid Romania thus far (the ones in Budapest definitely take local currency though 😉

edit to add: picture of Oenpelli airport because it’ll never get any FT exposure any other way
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c84abaa41.jpeg

I really am rubbish at this Nancypants 😂😂😂

You poor thing, seems the title has been changed to OPT so perhaps the mods are suffering the same affliction 😂😂😂

To take the topic from OPI back to OTP (Bucharest Otopeni, named after the town just north of Bucharest where the airport is located), you can pay in Romanian lei (RON) at duty free, although prices are listed in EUR. No need to change beforehand (for sure don't attempt to do so at the airport exchange offices as they have awful rates).

I have unfortunately no clue about the exact exchange rate the duty free will charge for purchases as the 1-2 times I bought something I just paid with card. If you can, spend the money elsewhere or exchange in town. I can't think of anything duty free which is close to a good deal. Eg. half of the wine is Dracula-themed plonk which only tourists would buy, and the few bottles of wine which arr actually good quality command a 50 to 100% premium compared to shops in town. The only reason I can think off to buy smth is when you travel HBO and can't purchase liquids landside.

Has this changed?

Last year they definitely rejected payment in Romanian Lei. As a result still have some Lei left:D

Last month I saw everything in EUR so didn’t even try with Lei. Prices seemed inflated too

Strange that on one of the airport duty free sites it shows offer pricing in Lei

Best value?

Oh well just have to have a look this afternoon. . If not i'll just hang on to my Lei currency till August and pay by card in euro

Duty Free shops -> Where?
Are you sure you don't need to pay any government-imposed duties on these products?

OP intends to fly from one EU airport to another EU airport. Hence, I really doubt that the so called "Duty Free shop" does not collect government-imposed duties on the products sold.

When paying by card will the transaction be in EUR, or RON at a poor exchange rate from EUR?