This article is reposted from the WeChat public account of a reader from our WeChat group, 懒人 33 的吃喝玩乐. Original link. Some subheadings were added by editor ymlulu.

ANA has an in-flight duty-free shopping service, and this article gives a brief introduction. The selection is not extensive, but it is actually pretty easy to shop from.

Pre-Order

Whether you are flying to or from Japan, you can place an order before departure. The current rule is: Orders can be placed any time from the 22nd of the month prior to the departure date up to 23:59 three days prior (JST) for both Japan and non-Japan departures.

For details, refer to https://ana-support.my.site.com/enjp/s/article/answers2448en, or just google ANA duty free pre-order.

On the ANA website, open your reservation and go to the service page to find it. Some products are pre-order only, so be sure not to miss the pre-order window.

Catalog

You can view the catalog on ANA's website: https://www.ana.co.jp/en/us/travel-information/shopping/

Note that the catalog may not include pre-order only items. Also, items you order may still be out of stock. For example, the Yuzu bear that I order every time has never been available.

Buying Onboard

Items that are not marked pre-order only can be purchased on the plane. Once the flight is cruising smoothly, you can place your order through the screen.

Of course, on some older aircraft, you may need to use the catalog booklet and place your order with a flight attendant.

Payment

Before landing, a flight attendant will deliver the items to your seat. You pay by credit card at that time. If you change your mind, even a preorder item can be returned.

On the few occasions when I bought something, the flight attendants required the card used for payment to have a signature on it, and the signature on the receipt also had to match the card signature. Many US credit cards no longer have signatures, so hopefully ANA will eliminate this requirement soon.

Be sure to remember your ANA membership number. You can earn ANA miles from both in-flight Duty Free purchases and at ANA Duty Free Store locations in the airport. You earn 1 point per 100 yen. At the current JPY exchange rate, that works out to about a 1.5x return as well.

What Is Worth Buying?

1. ANA Exclusive items: for example, ANA bears. This time I bought the sakura bear.

2. Lower-priced items: these may not be worth spending extra time hunting down while you are in Japan. Even if they are 5% or 10% cheaper elsewhere, the actual savings may be small, so buying them on the plane can save time.

3. Other products that are easy to buy in department stores or elsewhere: usually you can find discounts in stores, such as 10% off + tax refund at places like Hankyu Umeda in Osaka if you also buy shareholder coupons locally; or up to 8% off + tax-free at drugstores; or 5% off + tax-free with reservations at airport duty-free shops. All of those are usually cheaper than buying duty-free onboard.

4. Hard-to-find items: for example, products like the E Cream that are often purchase-limited and frequently out of stock. Even if the onboard duty-free price is not discounted, at least they have it available.

About the Author

This article is reposted from the WeChat public account of a reader from our WeChat group, 懒人 33 的吃喝玩乐. The account publishes original and well-written articles, so feel free to follow it if you are interested.