BOOTS has infuriated holidaymakers by raising its airport click and collect fee to £4.50 – three times more than the previous cost.
Travellers use the handy hack to get around the 100ml limit on liquids being brought through terminal security checks.
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So if they want to bring full bottles of suncream, shower gel and shampoo on holiday with them, and don’t want to put them into their hold luggage, they could collect the items from airside branches before boarding the plane.
Then they could carry them in their cabin luggage, or some airlines allow an extra shopping bag from the duty free area to be taken on the plane.
Using the click and collect service means paying Boots’ online prices, which are often lower than those in its airport branches.
It also means you can order exactly what you want, rather than rely on what’s in stock.
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The service is available at 15 airports, including Gatwick North and South, Glasgow, Heathrow terminals 2, 3, 4 & 5, and Leeds Bradford.
But shoppers have noted a hike in the fee from £1.50, or free on orders of more than £15, to £4.50.
One angry shopper said on X, formerly known as Twitter: “£4.50 is an excessive charge for click and collect anywhere. Looks like pure greed to me!”
Another added: “Boots charging £4.50 to click and collect from airport stores. Absolutely ridiculous. No way round it.”
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A third fumed: “As someone who regularly uses this service too, I am also annoyed at this. Why so much? You charge less to ship to my home!”
And on a Reddit debate, another added: “Wow that is shocking! Disappointed in Boots for that – just greedy.”
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Boots said on X that the change came after a review of its airport click & collect service.
They said: “Sadly we were unable to continue offering this service at the previous price point.
“The airport stores incurred additional charges for security scans for each order they received and as the service grew in popularity, additional storage space was required to smoothly process each order received.”
A spokesperson also added to The Sun that it’s the first time the charge has increased in over five years.
Susannah Streeter, of investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown, said the move could be linked to Boots potentially being floated on the London Stock Exchange too.
She noted Boots is “hardly struggling right now” with retail sales including those at airport stores growing solidly recently.
She added: “Although this has been partly due to a new store at Luton and revamped outlets in Gatwick and Manchester, it seems clear that the company is profiting from a captive market, given the limited products travellers can take through security.
“However, its US parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance has been struggling, reporting an operating loss for the last quarter, due to one-off charges but also partly due to declining retail sales.
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“There is speculation that Boots may be spun off as a separate company and floated on the London Stock Exchange.
“Recouping costs wherever it can right now is clearly a priority, and with the UK airport security system proving to be an ongoing headache, Boots is wasting no time in passing on extra overheads to customers.”
What are the airport rules for liquids?
AIRPORT rules currently say all liquids in your hand luggage – including toiletries such as shampoo and shower gel – must be in containers no bigger than 100ml and must fit in a clear plastic bag.
The Department of Transport previously set a deadline of June 2024 for all major UK airports to introduce new 3D scanners that would end the need to remove liquids and laptops during pre-flight security checks.
The 100ml liquid rule would also end, allowing passengers to bring bottles of up to two litres.
But this month The Times reported that major UK airports will miss the deadline for this summer, meaning holidaymakers will need to follow the old rules.
Large airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester are now understood to have until June next year to install the new scanners.
Several smaller airports around the UK already have the new technology in place, including Teesside and London City Airport.
Birmingham will become the first major UK airport to scrap the 100ml liquid rule from June 1.
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