Upon reading the opinion of Laura Samuels, director of corporate communications for a transportation retailer, I almost forwarded the article to GiggleSugar because here's what Laura wrote in an email to CNN Money.
Airport prices reflect the local street prices where the airport is located, in some cases allowing a small percentage above to allow for additional handing/freight costs to airports. We feel that though customers may be somewhat 'captive' during their wait times at airports, they are also very savvy consumers who know the cost of goods.
Is Laura living in a bizarro world, or am I hallucinating the $4 bottled waters sold in airport newsstands? Summer for many of us means more time in the airport than we care to spend. If you're stuck buying something from the airport, send me a message and let me know if your items were comparable to what you'd see outside the big sliding glass doors. I'll be saving my receipts from my travels, too, and report back to all of you.
Maison Martin Margiela
Homebase
Bottega Veneta
Is a 200% mark-up what Laura considers a "small percentage"?
I'm in. I'm going on three trip in the next 2 months via air...I'll save receipts and report back.
1Yeah, I don't think $2.00 packets of M & Ms reflect "local street prices."
2Thanks, TsuKata! Let's get to the bottom of this
3Where does Laura live? Remind me never to go there!
4I think that what she might mean is the price that you would buy at a shop that isn't the supermarket or convenience store. I bought a small bottle of water for $2.25 yesterday from a cafe, cause nothing else was nearby...not that I think it is ok, but in my normal settings, I know where to go and buy things, when I am out of my range, I always end up spending more.
5Savvy, you're TOTALLY hallucinating those prices! Time to get off the crack, dude!
kidding, of course!
6I swear I've bought magazines that were marked up from their cover price airside before now. Maybe I'm also hallucinating, but I'm pretty sure!
7Oh my gosh. I only fly in the western part of the country, but... yeah, things are just about what they'd cost outside of the airport. Most recently, I flew out of Sky Harbor in Phoenix. My flight was about lunch time, so I went to paradise bakery, got a sandwhich, salad, and a drink for $8. I think the same deal is $7.50 at the malls in Phoenix? Then I wanted to grab a bottle of water to take on the plane. I opted for vitamin water, which was $1.29. I buy it on sale for $1.00 at the grocery store. I realized I'd read through my books and magazines, but didn't want anything too heavy, so I bought a gossip magazine for $3.99, the price listed on the cover. It was all a little more than I'd pay normally, but travel is expensive. It doesn't strike me as out of the ordinary.
8I'm curious to see how the experiment turns out. Honestly, I don't think airport stores should be allowed to mark up anything that you can't bring through security, like water. We don't have the option to buy those items anywhere else, so that's not a valid market price, it's price gouging. In any other situation it would be illegal.
9I believe some airports (like Portland) don't let their vendor mark up the price. All of the shops and eateries in the airport have to agree to sell their stuff for the same price that their stores in town sell them for. I really respect airports like that.
10I remember paying about $1.50 for a pack of gum that is usually $1
11Most things are much more expensive. Candy and snacks are all marked up.
12Magazines usually aren't marked up, but, yeah....water, candy (slightly), and especially food is way marked up. Especially in places like JFK and LaGuardia.
13We ate in a chain restaurant in the airport before our flight in December. Each entree was about $2 more than in a "normal" location.
I don't have any flights booked in the near future, but I'm really interested in this.
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