Pre ordering in flight duty free

Just a cautionary tale for anyone looking to pre order their in flight duty free.

VS have recently changed duty free suppliers, and at the moment any pre orders are processed through an office in the US which means you get charged in $. If you use a UK credit card you may therefore incur a transaction/foreign currency charge. (i did without realising).

That said on the retail therapy page it does say this in very small letters at the bottom, it also says if you do incur such charges to email them and they will refund the charges.

I emailed them regarding two charges and fair play to them within 12 hrs i had a reply and a refund of the charges. Although the refund is in $ so the irony will be that the refund will attract a small transaction/foreign currency charge as well.

Speaking with the crew travelling home yesterday, this has been causing them quite a few issues and there have also been other issues with the new company including non delivery (mine wasn't loaded for yesterdays flight home).

Luckily i had a printout of the order with payment confirmation and the crew gave me the items from the normal cart and said they would reconcile it later. to the crew

Yes there've been a few complaints on here about the new supplier - not least a much smaller selection.

A US supplier - interesting - I wonder if it's another example of "Deltaisation"? I guess it would make sense for VS logistically and financially to use the same supplier as Delta.

The company is the DFASS group, their web site says they are based in Miami and lists their partnerships as many different airlines including Delta.

You also if asking for a refund will get it in USD. VS are aware.

Looking at my statement for what I paid including the foreign transaction charge it still is the same (or less) than the price in GBP though

The company is the DFASS group, their web site says they are based in Miami and lists their partnerships as many different airlines including Delta.

There you go then. Fairly obvious why they've changed, shame it seems to have resulted in a poorer service, at least initially.

I can't help but wonder how many other VS outsourcing contracts will be reviewed and brought into line with DL.

[mitchja]

I'd also preordered tobacco last week.

Having just checked my online VS AmEx account, they have charged me in sterling, included a foreign transaction fee, but the overall cost is actually 2p less than the duty free invoice/website stated