What the world’s richest travellers buy at the airport

Next to Pret A Manger, behind a discreet glass door, lies Terminal 5’s best-kept secret.

“This is one of our most exclusive handbags,” purrs the shop assistant, showing me a mini satchel in a glass enclosure. “It’s totally unique in the UK. See the placement of the logo? That’s almost unheard of for Prada. A real rarity.”

The pink leather, embossed in the style of crocodile skin, gleams under Terminal 5’s bright lights. It’s a bit Elle Woods from Legally Blonde, and for a moment it’s a little bit me, too. I ask how much it costs.

“Nineteen,” she smiles, without flinching. To be clear, that’s £19,000. It’s a ridiculous amount of money for me, but relatively small change to the kinds of travellers who routinely shop here, many of whom are passing through on first-class flights.

I’ve come to Heathrow not to fly, but to buy – or at least to put its personal shoppers to the test. Because, just like Selfridges, the airport offers a free personal shopping service, which guides its super-rich travellers around what is fast becoming Britain’s ritziest retail quarter. While most flyers nip into Boots for some last-minute factor 50, or to WH Smith for an expensive bottle of water, a wealthy subset will spend five figures on a handbag.

The airport enjoys footfall that most shopping centres could only dream of. This summer, up to 250,000 people are expected to pass through every day, and while Heathrow doesn’t split this figure into arrivals and departures, common sense says that around half, or 125,000, might be outbound, and therefore have time to visit the shops.

Flag carriers from Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia fly from Terminal 4, while the likes of China Airlines, Emirates and Japan Airlines are in T3. Their busy first- and business-class cabins bring an affluent demographic to these hubs, just as Bond Street and Knightsbridge attract a certain type of shopper. It’s no coincidence that Harrods has stores in every terminal.

In T2, Louis Vuitton will open a new store this month, joining Gucci, Burberry and Smythson. Over in T5, Cartier, Dior and Fendi rub shoulders with lower-cost, high-street staples like Kurt Geiger, JD Sports and Accessorize. T4 is quieter, more opulent; the likes of Bulgari, Rolex and Saint Laurent occupy its wide concourse. At the end of this month, it too will also open a new personal shopping lounge – the final terminal to do so.

Champagne in the dressing room

Terminal 5’s personal shopping lounge – available by prior appointment only – is an oasis of calm amid the airport’s turmoil. Outside, the masses dash to their gates juggling passports and overpriced lattes, but inside the lounge are complimentary glasses of champagne, relaxing decor and attentive staff.

On a plush pink velvet sofa (no plastic seats here), I’m introduced to Ruweyda Dool, who oversees the personal shoppers, each of whom consult with just three clients per day.

“There’s no typical brief,” says Dool. “A client might be heading home from university and wanting a gift for their family, or travelling to a meeting in need of a suit. We’ve been briefed to find wedding outfits, diamond jewellery – no request is ever the same.”

After booking the service online, clients are “paired” with a personal shopping assistant, and usually share their requirements via Whatsapp. Long before their flight, the assistant might send them photos of items of interest, or quiz the retailers on what will be in season when they travel.

“Some brands only make one or two [units] of a certain product, and a client might want to see it when they pass through,” explains Anneka Cheng, a personal shopper manager. “We’ll try to ensure it’s delivered to the airport in time for their visit – they’re only here for a few hours, so every moment is precious.”

You may scoff, but personal shopping is a serious business for Heathrow. Until 2021, overseas visitors enjoyed tax-free shopping in Britain, which effectively gave them a discount of 20 per cent off purchases – but when the agreement ended, they became far less inclined to part with their cash. This put pressure on the airport to ensure the needs of its wealthiest passengers were met.

“It has had a significant impact on [our] luxury and beauty business in particular,” Heathrow’s retail director Fraser Brown tells me. “Without this incentive, we are having to renew our focus on retail [and] to offer our passengers something they cannot get elsewhere.”

Dool’s team won’t divulge which nationalities spend the most, nor the value of a typical spree, but their T5 lounge holds some clues. In the two dressing rooms, the tables are adorned with oud-fragranced candles – a scent synonymous with the Middle East – and bottles of Penhaligon’s dusky AlUla perfume (RRP £110), named after the ancient Saudi Arabian city.

Diamond watches… and the bus

The personal shopping service itself is free of charge, with no minimum spend or obligation to buy, and the assistants don’t earn commission. But their knowledge is superb. My requirements are simple  – “Find me some of the most opulent goodies in Heathrow” – and, even though I have little intention of buying anything, they are perfectly met.

I’m shown a Dior wheelie suitcase for £3,300, a gold Cartier Baignoire watch for around £12,000, and a Gucci “Jackie” handbag in scarlet snakeskin – one of just two in Europe – for £21,970. Next is a diamond-encrusted Rolex Yacht-Master, price on application; at Heathrow, all Rolex clients must be pre-approved anyway, so you can’t just pitch up at the airport and buy one.

Airside, personal shopping isn’t always seamless, however. If those millionaire clients want to visit a shop that’s not in their departure terminal, they must take the ordinary transit bus to whichever terminal contains their desired retailer, and pass through security again. And it really is a bus – complete with plastic “stop” buttons and itchy fabric seats.

While flitting between boutiques, I lament the end of tax-free shopping to Dool. While a discount wouldn’t put Cartier within reach for me, it wouldn’t hurt on Orlebar Brown and Reiss. She smiles at my innocence.

“But you do know there’s dual pricing for high-street brands, don’t you? Most of them have exclusive discounts airside – up to 20 percent off.”

It’s quite a compelling reduction. Until now, airport retail wasn’t much more than a sideshow to me, but with guaranteed discounts, as well as champagne and assistants to help you find the right styles, it’s better than twiddling my thumbs at the gate.

When I fly for real next month, I’ll be booking another appointment – though that Prada bag, I suspect, will have long since departed.