We all try to travel light when we fly to our destination, a simple hand luggage to avoid some extra costs for our trip. This means we have to stick everything we need into a limited size baggage. Add airport regulations that prevent passengers from carrying too much shampoo or shower gel in their on-board bag, and you get a demand for travel-sized toiletries. Sounds as if those producing them and the airports selling them to travelers have found a great way to address a legitimate need of their customers. It really is a way to make a lot of money by overpricing tiny bottles.
A new survey commissioned by Travelsupermarket.com and quoted by Daily Mail shows the travel-size toiletries can actually be 8 time more expensive than the family or standard version of the same product, when one considers the price per milliliter. To get to these results, the research compared standard store prices for normal sized toiletries with the tiny travel version sold in UK airports.
‘Whilst security regulations are tight in airports in this day and age, consumers can easily get caught out paying over the odds for their toiletries,’ said Bob Atkinson, a travel expert at Travelsupermarket.com. ‘We found over 30 products where the mark-up was over 100 per cent — or double the normal price per ml. In most cases passengers are in a no-win situation. They either have to pay out to put their bags in the hold, or travel hand-luggage only and shell out for miniatures. However, savvy travellers can get around this – my number one tip is to invest in and reuse small bottles which you can decant your regular products into before you head off on holiday.’
The bottom line, they are overpriced and if you travel with your family, you might be better off checking in one extra luggage than buying travel-size toiletries for everyone.
By Olivia GrilHey Folks! I'm Olivia from California, United States. I'm a blogger, travel lover, I can travel anywhere, whether it's a new place or already visited. I love meeting new people, clicking photos of every movement, and documenting my adventure. I also, write about travel, travel movies, the best places to visit, etc. Read my stories.
