Host: Mark Ryes (MR)
Guests: Justin Ryan (JR)
Colin McAllister (CM)

MR: Hello there and thank you for joining this afternoon show. I’m Mark Ryes. We’re talking about travel today; because the world’s got a whole lot smaller hasn’t it – with cheap flights there are now lots of new destinations to go to. When you’re going on holiday, where you start your holiday? Is it when you pack your suitcase or at the airport or when you land? Well have a think about when you’re at the airport because I’ve got two experts here with me, Colin and Justin who know all about airport shopping. You’ll know Colin and Justin from programmes such as ‘How Not To Decorate’ and of course the brand new ‘Wedding Bells’, which is coming out on, Five very soon. Hello guys.

CM & JR: Hello there.

MR: Where has this phenomenon come from? Suddenly we all want shop at airports whereas before we use to just rush through.

CM: Well I think that it just because there is a range there, you can turn up at the airport and instead of just being at Heathrow, say, Terminal Three, you might as well be in Bond Street; you know, I could spend hours there. We actually plan in advance at www.baa.com/shopping we check out individual airports to see what opportunities and that shopping opportunities, leisure opportunities and of course beauty therapy.

MR: And you’ll be covering all of those. And I guess your closest airport is Heathrow Terminal Three?

JR: Yes, it is and it just so happens that at Terminal Three, you are going to find some of the fine shopping ever. People say to us why do you get so excited about shopping at the airport? Well we say it’s just the biggest time saver. We don’t have time because of the lives that we lead to be out shopping in advance of the holiday so we pretty much do it at the airport. Bit of a secret, we travel with an empty suitcase, we shop and shop and shop and just pile it all in and bring it back home. There’s all sort of opportunity to be had and we’re there to find them.

MR: Well that ties in to one question we’ve had already. Tim wants to know how do you pack? Do you pack everything? Do you pack lightly? Do you pack carry on bags? Check in bags? What do you included in your hand luggage? The whole run down?

CM: Well, we like to get our first argument out the way. Because when you’re on holiday that’s when people argue, couples in particular. Justin just says to me ‘You know what? Pack me a toothbrush and a pair of Speedos and I’ll be fine.’ whereas I pack for every eventuality and Justin just wears all my clothes.

MR: That’s what I was wondering, so you actually have to pack double of your clothes.

CM: Yes.

JR: Colin likes to think that he is in control of packing and is some ways he is but I actually like to think that I am in more control because I know that he will choose everything that I need to wear so I have the easier option. Sometimes, when I’m on holiday, I just pack an empty bag, fill those bags at the airport then go on holiday. With the discount you can find at the airport lounges and airport shopping it seems mad to buy everything at full price when you can buy at a discount elsewhere.

MR: Well you just done a series of films for BAA about the shopping availabilities there and we are going to have a look at one of them in just a few moments time, because there’s a service called ’Shop and Collect’. What’s that all about, it sounds fantastic?

CM: Er it’s not really a service it’s more of an obsession. You ‘shop and collect’. It’s fantastic, who knew that you could turn up at Heathrow and just pick up prebought goods? You can even buy champagne.

MR: Is this just at Heathrow?

CM: No, you can do this at BAA so it all BAA airports. If you look at the website at www.baa.com/shopping it will give you the inside information into what you can do.

MR: And these links are at the bottom of the page that you are watching on right now.

CM: With the ‘Shop and Collect’ service you can turn up and say your flying to Italy and you are thinking what am I going to do with my time here? You can buy twenty bottles of champagne, if you like at 15% discount.

MR: Yeah but I know but, how am I going to take them all on holiday?

CM: Well, exactly; buy them at the airport, leave them at the airport, go off to Italy have a fantastic holiday, come back and some nice person from BAA comes and meets you gives you your champagne and then you take it home, then party, party, party!

MR: So, you can buy and collect when you come back off holiday?

CM & JR: Yes.

MR: That’s fantastic!

JR: But there’s another thing that I think is just as clever as that, like hardware electrical, big things like flat screen televisions. Who’d have thought the airport is one of the best place to buy those sorts of things? Recently, we were trying to figure out whether we buy a nice flat screen for the spare bedroom here or we go on that shopping trip to New York that we’ve been planning. Then we realised, if we can tie both things together we can turn an advantage into a bigger advantage. So we book the trip to New York and when we get to the airport we can buy our telly at 15 % discount, our telly will then be packaged up then popped in a gorgeous glossy box from Dixons and sent to our house in London. And the saving of 15% on the three grand is enough to pay for the cost to fly to New York so yay for both.

MR: Even though there are duty free prices, you’re not actually taking the television out the country?

JR: Yes. Despite that, you can still have those benefits and get the goods sent from the airport back to your place in Britain so to me it’s a win, win situation. Shopping to me has changed completely!

MR: It certainly has, and I wanna see you doing a little bit of shopping, so lets see Collin and Justin doing the ‘shop and collect’ at the BAA airports.

MR: You were grabbing those Champagne bottles like ‘how many can we have?’

CM: Exactly, can I just say we do not have a drink problem; we buy the drink, no problem.

MR: So, that’s fair enough

JR: You know what, at that kind of price you wanna buy in bulk.

JR: Exactly, so it’s ideal for someone who is planning a wedding.

CM: All the money you’re saving pays for the trip, because obviously the savings are for travellers, you can’t just turn up at the airport buy the stuff and go home, you to be travelling somewhere.

MR: Wendy just sent in a great question. She says what do like to do between check in and departure?

JR: We’ve got a rule of regulars we do. The first thing is check in, get rid of the big bags, and then go through to where the shops are.

MR: So I’m guessing you don’t leave it to last minute to check in?

JR: Oh, of course we don’t!

MR: You’re the first people in the queue pretty much?

JR: You know we pretty much are, we wanna get in and we wanna get shopping we wanna harness and harvest those discount, but first we go start to Jo Malone’s for a free hand massage. And that’s not just for people travelling first class.

MR: That’s what most people think that it’s only for business class and first class, but it’s not.

JR: Everybody, go to Malone’s and let them massage your stress and strains away. Then nip out of there and go to the Body Shop and get yourself a facial scrub.

MR: I’ve done a facial and that is really good before you go away on holiday.

JR: It really unwinds you.

MR: But it interesting that a lot of guys won’t go in and do it.

CM: That’s silly! Just say to the boys you’re gonna get a gorgeous girl who’s gonna massage your face, who gonna make sure you actually look fantastic. They’ll buff away that old dead skin so that when you turn up on your holiday, your skin’s in great condition, so that you’ll get a perfect, even tan.

MR: So that’s how you de-stress before you hit the shops?

JR: Then we eat, then drink.

CM: Shopping first, then a bit of eating, then a bit more shopping.

JR: No what I do.

MR: I don’t want a domestic here!

JR: What I do is get a hand massage first to get my hands ready, then grab a spot of lunch. You gotta get the carb balance just right so you get that burst of energy to go shopping with later.

MR: Energy to shop with so you’re all worn out and can sleep on the plane.

JR: I like it! I like it! You’re speaking my language. Wander around get the food then go shopping done. We go wild in the aisles; it’s so elegant these days in there. It’s not the airport of old. It’s not last minute.com, snatch and grab, it’s all planned out beautifully it’s a really good retail experience.

MR: And not just 15% on champagne and electrical goods, you can also bag up to 40% off on perfume and fragrances.

CM: Absolutely that’s one of the things I go mad on because I actually like my summer fragrances you know, all these special editions come out. You’re on holiday you don’t want to be wearing all the old heavy scents that you wore through the winter, you want something at a bit more fresh and a bit more floral as well. So I tend to go wild in there and 40% is incredible.

MR: I’m thinking presents as well. Presents. Presents. Presents.

CM: There you go, if you do ‘Shop and Collect’, you can buy all the perfumes 40% discount, leave them at the airport, so get all your Christmas shopping as well. Come back from your holiday and pick them all up.

MR: Becky is watching online and she says, ‘I thought there was no such thing as duty free anymore?’

JR: Duty free has kind of been re-branded as tax free, so there are still fantastic advantages to be had and if you think you’re brave enough to think, ok I’m not going to do my shopping before the holiday, you can get to the airport and do your shopping there. It just a matter of branding really, you know from duty free to tax free- there are still fantastic benefits to be had, and why what you not wanna have them? Why what you not want to go out there and save that money and put it to the holiday.

MR: Absolutely. Brian asks if it’s ok to spray yourself with cologne when you‘re testing it?

CM: No, no it’s not, because Brian will be the chap sitting next to me on the aircraft smelling of everything. Just get yourself some paper strips and spray onto them. You don’t want to arrive there honking. Spray it on the strips then decide on one fragrance then have a wee free spray of it.

MR: Plus if you spray before you pay, you might pick one you don’t like.

JR: Well that’s the thing. When I was a student, I loved expensive colognes but had absolutely zero cash, so I used to collect the free samples. I’d use them and go back to the shop and say can I have a sample of that and they would say unfortunately we haven’t got that and I’d say that I had a sample bottle on me, so could they fill that up for me?

CM: Really?

JR: Yeah!

MR: That is a bit cheeky.

JR: It is, but you must…

CM: That is too cheeky, when you’re saving 40% on fragrance; I reckon Brian could put his hand in his pocket and buy something.

MR: One of the things about your programme though it’s not about getting something for nothing but it is about saving money.

CM: Of course it is.

MR: Just like ‘The Million Pound Property’ it’s really a way of improving your life but not breaking the bank whilst doing it.

CM: Absolutely, I mean we always say it’s not what you spend it’s how you spend it, you know. So I think that any money you do spend at the airport you’re actually contributing to your holiday. And I, always make a beeline for Gucci and I always, with out, fail by myself a new piece of jewellery.

JR: Every single time, which I hate because he spends too much money on jewellery, you can’t actually spend too much on lovely things but Colin can get a bit out of control, he just spends, spends, spends.

MR: We’ve got another question from Kerry and she’d like to know how much can you spend at the airport? Is there a limit to what you can spend?

JR: Yeah it is a misconception. People think there will be a ceiling on what you can spend and maybe only buy a couple of bottles of champagne, that’s not the case, you can pretty much buy limitless product and take it back. Your discount won’t increase the more you buy but neither will it diminish.

MR: I guess, this is really a question of if you are really going to buy in bulk you may as well do it in somewhere were you know you’re going to get great quality. Mike came up with a good question there, can I still return goods if I’m not happy with them if I’m not at the airport anymore and how do I get back to return a good if it’s not up to scratch?

CM: You can actually contact BAA shopping at any of the airports they will be able to help you with that so if you got stuff at Heathrow and maybe ended up in Glasgow or Aberdeen and there was something, you can contact a local airport and there would be able to help you out with that.

MR: The great thing is we not just talking about London airports because BAA have airports all over the country so it well worth checking out, so do you wanna give us that web link again?

CM: It’s www.BAA.com/shopping Not only do you get the web information, you also get a three lovely little moviette.

MR: We do we do as we’ve just seen a little clip; we’ve got another clip coming up towards the end of the programme as well which is great. I’ve got another question from Richard; What do you recommend buying at the moment? What’s hot at the moment?

CM: Oh. As you saw in the clip earlier, that was Pucci Cliquot champagne.

MR: That was fabulous.

CM: You get designer labels and champagne, in the one product there. There were these little Neal print zipper jackets so your champagne remains cool.

JR: Lets talk about Armani because there are only a few Armani stores in Britain so it can be quite difficult to find them. You go to the airport there’s one waiting for you there. So not only do you find what you wanted but it’s available to you on discount. So their Armani range is particularly good. The range of sunglass is just incredible. Infact, I’ve got a pair of Chanel glasses and a pair of Gucci glasses.

MR: Where on the high street you’d pay a fortune….

JR: Who wants to spend a lot more when you can spend a lot less get exactly the same piece of merchandise.

MR: Very much so, very much so, you’re doing a new show called ‘Wedding Belles’ which is gonna be on Thursday on Five which ties in quite nicely. Why not register for gifts at with BAA shopping?

JR & CM: Oh that’s a great Idea.

CM: That something we need to take forward, I don’t know if BAA shopping have got a wedding list at the moment, but certainly if you were catering for a function and you were planning a wee trip with in Europe you could buy your champagne at the airport it send back which could save you a fortune.

MR: And also we were talking about present earlier, the ‘Shop and Collect’ is great to actually find gifts for people whether it be Christmas gift or wedding to have it sent home or waiting for you went you get back.

JR: We have friends do that. Colin’s mother is a devil for doing that. She plans out all her Christmas shopping, all her Easter shopping…

MR: You do realise you just called your mother- in- law a devil?

JR: Oh well she is a bit of a devil; she’s a very nice devil. She does virtually all her shopping on holiday. She does the ‘Shop and Collect’ deal, goes away gets a lovely tan comes back and all the presents are brought for the year. They’re delivered to a central point in the airport, she takes them back, talk about de-stressing for the year if you can actually remove a problem and let’s face it – we all have a problem when it comes to Christmas, we’re running around buying the wrong thing and it’s a snatch and grab - last minute.com situation and you’re always think I wish I hadn’t of got that and they’re gonna think the worst of me, well plan it clearly and you take away that problem.

MR: And you’re saving money every time you buy.

CM: Don’t we want that? Don’t we want to save money on major product? And come on it’s a holiday indulge yourself, travel it’s exciting.

MR: Got another couple of questions in. Joe said ‘Can you literally turn up at the airport with the clothes on your back and get all your clothes, accessory and suitcase and everything?’

JR: Well you can.

CM: I love to do that; I would actually love to do that

MR: There is a programme in that - you two you just never realised!

CM: We could turn up at Heathrow in just our trunks and see how we get on. Now wouldn’t that be a fantastically indulging thing to do? It such a clever idea, I can’t think why we haven’t done this before.

MR: Exactly, it strikes me as weird but it’s great it’s being done now. Gerry just came up with a really good question. I was told that you can’t go into the duty free side of the terminal if you haven’t got a valid ticket, is that true?

CM: Yeah, that is true - you have to be a traveller before you can enter the world-shopping arena.

MR: And that’s travelling into the EU.

CM: Yes it’s a ticket with in the EU.

MR: Let’s just talk some more about ‘Wedding Bells’. The show follows you as you set up three different weddings.

CM: We’ve got a £7,000 wedding, £15,000 wedding and a £28,000 wedding, and the premise of the programme is that we think the weddings are like a package holiday, and we want to try and do something that a bit more tailored and a bit more bespoke and more individual. We’re trying to revolutionise romance. These three lovely couples have agreed their budget and we decided how to spend it.

MR: Wow!

CM: So it not without its peaks and its troughs.

MR: So I guess it’s ok for the couples to do that, but it’s the mothers and mother- in-law you’ve needed to win around.

JR: Do you know on virtually every occasion- ‘Butt out Barbara it’s not your wedding! It’s your daughter’s wedding!’ That drives me mad because so often you go to a wedding and the bride and groom look at little bit lost, and they’re surrounded by elderly aunties and very, very aged uncles and all of the parents friends. Everything that’s been put together has been put together by the parents and not the bride and groom and we think it’s about time people realised that the biggest day should be about the bride and groom not the mother-in-laws.

It kicks off with Kerry and Steve who we love. They’re a fantastic Liverpudlian couple and we remained very good friends with them. Following on from Kerry and Steve, we got Bridezilla Lara and Robin. A lovely couple but I can’t respond well to people who snap their fingers or whistle at me to get my attention. I hate that; I’m not a dog. Some people might disagree, but I’m not a canine and if you want to get my full attention, it’s best to give a bit of eye contact and directly question me.

MR: And what about the third one quickly?

CM: Vicky and Andy lovely couple they’re second timers, it’s a really nice episode actually it’s about them getting together and it kind of pagan, they’ve turn their backs to the church because the church’s turn their backs on them.

MR: Well it sounds fantastic. Well this is going to be on this Thursday on Five.

CM: The perfect antidote to the World Cup?

MR: Marcus has asked us a question how hand luggage is suitable to take on with you when you shop at the airport? I mean you are expert packer, expert travellers, what can you take because those bags that go in the over head cabin are pretty small?

CM: You’ve gotta be careful with it because I mean it obviously depends on size of the plane you’re on but there does tend to be a little guide near so that you can put your bag in a check that it’s gonna work if your in any doubt then you should speak to the baggage handler.

MR: You don’t really want to save excess on one amount and pay on the other.

CM: Exactly, that’s where the collect system comes in really handy so I would check that out first, then go shopping.

CM: I think the whole thing about the shopping for us is that it’s such a surprise how much you can do. When we were filming the wedding programme, we were flying up and down the country all the time and we were up in Southport, we’d fly down to London then we were going to France. So we were getting the connection over but on the flight down, I got coffee all over my shirt.

MR: Oh no!

CM: It was covered in coffee so I leaped into Thomas Pink at Heathrow, brought a shirt and when they asked if I was going to wear it now, and I said yes and they said you go and have lunch and I’ll iron it for you and I’ thinking this is fantastic!

MR: So there’s a ironing service too?

CM: It’s not just star treatment - they do this for everyone, if you wanna arrive looking fresh and going on to another destination and transfer - they will press your shirt, iron your tie and bring it to you on a hanger. How fabulous is that?

MR: That’s fantastic! Zoë asks, ’What are some of the unusual things you can get at the airport?

JR: There’s a brand there called Victoria’s Secret, which you can’t find in most outlets, and of course there are Victoria’s Secret smellies - absolutely gorgeous!

MR: And of course, the airport is a great place to find exclusives that aren’t actually sold on the high street anywhere.

JR: Like the Veuve Cliquot bottle with it’s Pucci packaging. It’s impossible to find it anywhere else except the terminal.

MR: We must clarify that it’s not just Heathrow, it’s not just Gatwick, it’s not just Stansted. There are BAA airports all over the country can name check some of them?

CM: Glasgow if you check out on BAA.COM it will give a full run down on all the BAA airports.

MR: Fantastic. Now we were chatting about being pampered as well. So a hand massage, a bit of a facial, what else is going there?

CM: I’d look at aromatherapy as well. The last time I was in Heathrow I went to Molton Brown and it was incredible. It was about preparing myself for my holiday and that was with these two fantastic consultants who were buffing and scrubbing and heating me up, so that I was right and ready for the sun.

MR: Millie wants to know, ‘Can I get high street as well as designer at the airport? Will prices be the same as high street or will they be cheaper?’

MC: On the flight side you’re still gonna save fifteen percent and differently like FCUK, REISS, LK BENNETTE, so top high street brands represented that the airport as well.

JR: As well as they’re Armani and Gucci and stuff I think it’s fair enough to say, if you can find it at the high street, then you’re gonna find it at the airport and it’s not the quality of the product it’s the difference in the cash in ya wallet I just don’t wanna spend money if I haven’t got to.