I live in New York so I can tell you first-hand it's an expensive proposition - particularly in New York City, home of the $22 cheeseburger and the $2,000-a-month fifth-floor walk-up studio.
It ain't cheap.
We deal with it every day.
Still, when the story emerged last week that a passenger waiting for a flight out of LaGuardia Airport tweeted a photo of beer prices at an airport restaurant, it was nonetheless a surprise.
lol at all of this, including the additional 10% "COVID Recovery Fee" that doesn't go to workers pic.twitter.com/Bq9rHJqek7
- Cooper Lund (@cooperlund) July 7, 2021
But, still …. $28 for a Sam Adams Summer Ale? $28?! Really?!!?
Really.
Granted, it was for a 23-ounce pour. But…$28?!? For starters, I wouldn't pay that much money for anything Boston-related much less a brewski, but that's a whole other story.
But, leave it to the aviation industry to squeeze every last cent out of its customers, whether that's airfare or fees or parking or, apparently, a beer. The entire industry should adopt a new slogan. Aviation - Where We Just Can't Make Enough Money.
Put it this way: I will never again complain about spending $24 at Yankee Stadium because that gets me two hot dogs and two beers.
See, this is part of what I like to call the Captive Audience Theory (patent pending).
In essence, the Captive Audience Theory is that once you're trapped, you're trapped - like airports after you get through security, concerts, indoor movie theaters.
These are just a few examples of places where you can't bring food or beverage in, thus taking you captive to whatever pricing structure awaits you.
For its part, the company that operates the restaurant that sells the $28 beer, OTG - which also runs eateries and stores in all three New York City airports - claimed the price was incorrectly posted and was quickly corrected...to $18.
Now, thankfully - rightfully - the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airports, has ordered OTG to conduct a full audit of its pricing structure.
"The Port Authority is committed to enforcing that all terminal operators and concessionaires adhere to cost parity policies throughout our airports," a Port Authority spokesperson said in a statement to THE CITY, a great alternative New York City newspaper. "We know this market is expensive enough already, so we're committed to everything we can do to ensure reasonable prices for our customers."
But, did you really know that? Did you? Did it really take a passenger's tweet to spur an investigation? It didn't dawn on you that a $28 beer or a $5.99 half-can of Pringles is ridiculously overpriced?
I don't know what the upshot of this is going to be. The Port Authority already has a rule in place that airport pricing should not exceed 10 percent more than "street pricing." Obviously, 'street pricing' is a vague term; perhaps 'market value' is a better choice.
Either way, $28 for a beer is shameful. Add that to the continued rise of airline tickets as well as airport food and it just increases the chance fewer people will want to travel. Which of course is the absolute last thing airports and airlines need moving forward.
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