RSD Travel
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Be aware of reduced ‘Duty Free’ allowances for Greece
We have just returned from a trip to Rhodes which comprises of a catamaran trip to Turkey for a few days. The trip was enjoyable but was spoiled on our return to Turkey. On the coach on the way to the catamaran our guide Gulcin said several times if we wanted to buy any duty free we should visit the shop at the Turkey side as there isn’t one at the Greek end. My wife and I bought a pack of 250g of tobacco each to take home for our son. When we arrives at Rhodes I was detained by customs an made to wait till everyone else had gone through and then taken to an office to be interviewed, fined €59 and subjected to a lecture before being released to the coach which I had delayed causing much embarrassment. Apparently the duty free allowance for entry to Greece by land or sea is reduced to a mere 50g of tobacco or 40 cigarettes. I know many other people also unwittingly bought excess tobacco but fortunately most people put their goods in their luggage so got away without being stopped. Unfortunately I carried mine through in plain sight in a duty free bag, making it obvious I was carrying ‘contraband’! After the incident I did some research. Apparently the duty free allowance for Greece if the border crossing is by land or sea is reduced to a mere 50g of tobacco or 40 cigarettes each although it is the usual 250g or 200 cigarettes if the entry is made by air. As the shop only sells tobacco in packs of 250g it would take a party of 5 to legally bring one through! If the guide Gulcin hadn’t suggested using the Turkish duty free shop I would have just bought the tobacco at the airport which would have avoided the issue. I emailed RSD to request that they simply tell the guides to mention the reduced limits for tobacco and to specifically mention it in the pre holiday information to avoid this happening to anyone else. They simply said it’s the customers responsibility to check these things before travelling. I feel really disappointed by RSD by their attitude to this avoidable situation and am sure others will become victims to this if it’s not made clear but they really do not care.