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Why does a plastic-wrapped turkey sandwich cost $15 at the NYC airport?

671 points by raybb 4y ago

cafard 4y ago
In the late 1980s, when I traveled a lot for work, I thought of airports as similar to the debtors' prisons depicted by Dickens: it was unpleasant, it was sort of your fault you were there, and you could purchase comforts, but at inordinate prices.
gretch 4y ago
Isn’t this very simple? It’s just basic supply and demand. Travelers are already exhausted from travel so they are willing to pay high prices for small comforts. Also, some travelers are business travelers and their company foots the bill. If all travelers collectively stopped buying these foods, the price would drop. But people keep buying them, understandably.
- Freak_NL 4y ago
  If you read the article (you should) you'll note that the shops with the concession do not have the freedom to arbitrarily set such high prices (which would make it that simple), and that the Port Authority who is supposed to ensure that prices adhere to the set guidelines, is apparently not doing its job and is withholding documents that can proof this despite these documents generally being considered open information for citizens to request.
- dafelst 4y ago
  The issue discussed in the article is that the NY Port Authority has regulations to clamp the prices of these items to comparable items in NYC (based on the average of the 3 lowest cost comparables), and they are not being transparent on which comparable items (if any) they are comparing to. So no, it is not just a simple issue of supply and demand, it is an issue of lack of governmental transparency.
- jtefera 4y ago
  The article mentions that according to the Port Authority rules, vendors can't charge more than 10% of the street price of the equivalent products. So no, you can't charge whatever you want just based on supply and demand. The article is trying to understand how they determine the base price.
djhope99 4y ago
In most cases (especially with food prices like this) paying for lounge access looks like a great option.
- tpmx 4y ago
  The handful of international business class lounges in the US that I've visited were comparatively quite stingy/basic with food items (compared to typical counterparts in e.g. Europe or Asia). Anyone got a recommendation for a JFK lounge that's a good deal when you're paying for access?
- ericpauley 4y ago
  The addition of restaurants to Priority Pass has been an especially nice addition here. After deductions (and plus tip) you can often get a nice sit-down meal for the price of plastic-wrapped garbage elsewhere in the airport.
- listenallyall 4y ago
  Lounges have jacked up pricing as well. Used to be a $25 add-on to a ticket... well worth it when traveling internationally. Recently I've seen $49 or $59 for entry. If you're willing to drop that coin, you can eat pretty well at airport restaurants.
switch007 4y ago
I’ve only flown through JFK once but still, my initial thought was “oh only $15?”
pwg 4y ago
> Why Does a Plastic-Wrapped Turkey Sandwich Cost $15 at the Airport? Despite the "port authority" rules on 'street pricing', the real reason is lack of competition. A single vendor receives the food contract for the airport, and they now have monopoly positioning and a captive audience. When business X is the only seller, and when the customers are held captive and unable to "go elsewhere" [1] then prices will naturally rise to the maximum the captive audience is willing to pay. [1] How many air travelers are willing to exit the security perimeter, to then need to take a cab to somewhere (most airports are not located near dense shopping/restaurant areas) to purchase food, to then have to go back through security to return to their flight? And what few even have enough time between flight legs to even consider that "go outside the airport for food" trip as even possible? Plus by the time the "cab fee" is factored in, even if they could find the identical sandwich for 5.50 on the outside, the $10 + tip or more cab fee there and back would make the sandwich $15 or more in the end anyway.
- pduan 4y ago
  It’s not about the lack of competition or the inconvenience to the traveler. It’s about the port authority not publicly revealing what the 3 market comparable prices are.
  - prepend 4y ago
    I expect they won’t reveal because the inspector just takes a bribe and there are no valid comparisons done.
    - smelendez 4y ago
      The only reason I could think of not to reveal would be the fear of collusion. If they know the comparison stores are Alice’s Deli and Bob's Bodega, they could either collude with those owners to raise prices on select items or simply go and look at prices and only offer copies of the most marked up items in those stores (which could be as simple as loading the sandwich with cheap toppings that would be extra at the comparison shops).
tpmx 4y ago
Just stating the obvious: JFK Airport is owned by the City of New York. From that, draw your own conclusions...
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  That would be too simple. It's owned by Port Authority of NY and NJ: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Authority_of_New_York_and_New_Jersey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Authority_of_New_York_and...
  - tpmx 4y ago
    So this ranks high on Google: https://airportllc.com/who-owns-jfk-airport/ https://airportllc.com/who-owns-jfk-airport/ > JFK Airport is owned by the City of New York and is managed and operated by the Port Authority which got the lease from New York City in 1947 to build an airport in Queens borough to serve the large NYC Metropolitan area
    - Scoundreller 4y ago
      Looks like NYC is now paid $150m/year for the land lease: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-extends-jfk-airport-lease-to-spur-development-11614029231 https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-extends-jfk-airpo...
- DerekL 4y ago
  No, it is not owned by the City of New York. It's owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is controlled by those two states.
okokwhatever 4y ago
"Bring your food" policy is becoming a thing
- singron 4y ago
  TSA will usually pull you aside and search your bag if you have food, so go ahead and take it out first.
  - xwdv 4y ago
    Not if you are TSA pre-check or better yet if you use Clear.
    - mynameisvlad 4y ago
      Clear does not change the screening, it only changes the identification check and puts you at the front of the line. At SeaTac, there’s separate lanes for Clear with and without Precheck.
      - xwdv 4y ago
        In some airports Clear with precheck raises the chances you’ll be directed into more favorable screening lanes where TSA are more relaxed, due to it being used exclusively by prechecks or crew. Sometimes with just precheck you’ll still get into general use lanes with annoying requests such as removing laptops from bags, no matter if you are precheck or not. This is because there is no Clear employee who can ensure you only end up in the best lane. Regardless, my airport experiences after subscribing to Clear have always been far better than simply only having precheck alone, especially if you’re the type who likes to arrive late to a flight to minimize waiting at the terminal. Really does feel like a pre-9/11 world.
        kyboren 4y ago
        > Really does feel like a pre-9/11 world. Says the person opting into a biometric surveillance dystopia. Are you for real?
rolph 4y ago
this is plain gougeing being hidden by a veil of we cant tell you why because we are obeying the law. this is becoming a plague, for a further recent example, i cant ask an alexa instance what it just said, it will quote HIPAA as a reason to deny the command
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
nikanj 4y ago
If I had to guess: because fuck you, that’s why. They don’t care, because they know you’ll be back regardless of the price
mwexler 4y ago
"Street prices" can also be surprisingly high in NYC. For example, https://gothamist.com/news/why-does-this-ham-and-cheese-cost-29-at-a-manhattan-shop-an-investigation https://gothamist.com/news/why-does-this-ham-and-cheese-cost... But when public groups restrict data even after an FOI request, it's hard not to wonder if something foul is going on.
- notjulianjaynes 4y ago
  Their argument that they don't want to disclose the names of individual vendors is flawed but somewhat logical. I've seen redactions, for example, on the breakdown of a town's tax revenue by industry when there was only one small business working in a specific industry. Disclosing the price charged for a sandwich seems far less sensitive however. My hunch is there is likely no record of the comparison sandwiches, and I hope the author of this article appeals their records request to find out if that's true or not.
canucker2016 4y ago
How about a ham & cheese sandwich that costs $29+tax ($31.57 total) in Upper East Side Manhattan? I thought the large pastrami sandwiches for almost $20 was crazy before the pandemic. But for a regular size ham & cheese? see https://nypost.com/2023/04/14/inflation-raises-price-of-ham-and-cheese-sandwich-in-nyc-to-29/ https://nypost.com/2023/04/14/inflation-raises-price-of-ham-...
- smelendez 4y ago
  But they don’t have a monopoly and that’s not normal Manhattan pricing. As the article mentions, you can go down the street to Panera or McDonald’s or anywhere else more easily than in the airport.
osnium123 4y ago
PDX in Oregon has reasonably priced food. I wonder what their secret is.
- rolph 4y ago
  perhaps they were done with seeing good food expire on the shelf, and paying to have it destroyed
- fisherjeff 4y ago
  Vendors aren’t allowed to charge higher prices than at their off-airport locations, for one. https://thepointsguy.com/news/pricey-airport-food/ https://thepointsguy.com/news/pricey-airport-food/
asah 4y ago
Palm grease is an experiment ingredient, and exempt from FDA labeling rules.
arnejenssen 4y ago
"The reason that X costs Y, is that (enough) people buy it". It has less to do with the actual price of making the goods or service
- dplgk 4y ago
  Doesn't really explain it. If X cost less, more people would buy it. Less people would plan around avoiding eating at the airport.
asah 4y ago
More subtly, why is Newark so much more reasonable? I had a perfectly decent shot down meal at Saison and the prices were high but not crazy.
x43b 4y ago
For the past five years, I have a no eating on travel days policy. Not only do I feel like I am avoiding these high costs, my stomach is less active which is great on travel days.
- tracker1 4y ago
  Yeah, if you get used to not snacking between meals, you begin to learn that typical hunger generally passes, especially if you stay busy/distracted. I usually only eat once or twice a day, and have fasted as long as a week.
  - bagacrap 4y ago
    Staying busy and distracted is the hard part during travel, which is generally a lot of mind-numbing shuffling about.
davidkuennen 4y ago
Was able to enjoy the Business Class Lounge a few weeks back in JFK Airport. The lounge sounds almost like a steal in comparison when reading those prices.
yuppie_scum 4y ago
Don’t allow a monopoly in the airport.. boom, problem solved
subpixel 4y ago
Same reason you can’t buy anything but crap hotdogs in Central Park - vendors pay millions for the exclusive contract to sell and then they sell crap at high prices to cover their investment. No competition, no innovation, no reason to not gouge tbe punters.
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  It's not just a Central Park problem: a lot of north america basically forbids the sale of anything from a cart beyond pre-cooked hotdogs and burgers (putting it on the grill is mainly for show and to warm it up). Kinda makes sense because of lack of hand-washing facilities, but those aren't impossible to set up.
  - subpixel 4y ago
    Not in NYC. Central Park should by rights be a cart-and-truck culinary wonderland.
xwdv 4y ago
It’s really not difficult to build sandwiches that won’t require refrigeration and can be packed into a container for consumption on long trips, people just don’t really know how to make them. But it will vastly improve the quality of your life. Just stop buying these expensive sandwiches.
- ufo 4y ago
  What's your favorite such sandwich?
  - bluedino 4y ago
    Peanut better and jelly
  - thomasjb 4y ago
    Cheese and chorizo, with mayo, or a nutella sandwich. I don't get the point about not requiring refrigeration, aren't most sandwiches OK for a couple days out of the fridge? On my travels, a bag of chocolate brioches has always been good
SoftTalker 4y ago
This is why I just bring along a few protein bars when I travel. $15 for a shitty airport sandwich? Fuhgedaboudit!
beej71 4y ago
"Charge what the market will bear."
bastard_op 4y ago
>> "To protect the integrity of the fact-finding process, as well as agency deliberations, the Port Authority’s longstanding policy is to maintain the confidentiality of these types of Inspector General investigative reports." What requires protection here, other than the absurd consumer price gouging among a captive audience that occurs in EVERY airport across the country and those that let it occur? They are absolutely right in the article, this should be something easy to be transparent about, and shouldn't be a secret process run by lobbying restaurant companies, city management on the grift, and decrepit municipal process.
- thebiss 4y ago
  Exactly. Transparency protects integrity.
ncphil 4y ago
Because New York City is like deep space: fundamentally hostile to life, especially human life. Once people get past their sensory overloaded twenties (or luck into the kind of wealth that triggers syncophantic personalities to suck up to them), it becomes clear that everything you try to do in the City involves a fight (and I'm not just talking about the days when you get multiple parking tickets, or the late nights when the F Train seems like it's never coming, or the kid behind the Deli counter gives you a sour look when you're counting out singles to pay for that double-digit sandwich on Seventh Avenue). A titanic struggle for survival in a high rise hellscape. And everyone is on edge, ready to pop off at any moment because they've reached their limit of being beaten down. OK. The real answer is that The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that regulates vendors at its facilities is a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than Mos Eisley. Clearly George Lucas had experienced one too many visits to JFK. Or was it LaGuardia?
- sclarisse 4y ago
  > Or was it LaGurdia? The OTG managed hospitality experience at LGA is the worst crime against aviation in the last 21-and-a-half years. Try their $20 burger. I dare you. JFK at least has ShakeShack.
  - mildweed 4y ago
    LGA has ShakeShack now too
twelve40 4y ago
That's a feast! Laguardia happily shuts down at like 6 or so, after that if you have a connection you can look for food scraps on the floor or, you know, dive right into that intermittent fasting you always wanted to try.
- sdze 4y ago
  Or be an adult and bring your sandwich from home.
JPKab 4y ago
Former defense contractor here: This has similar econ dynamics to defense contracts. The market competition between companies is entirely limited to competing for the exclusive, government granted monopoly of winning the contract. This is known as rent seeking in economics terms. Once rent seekers win, the expectation is that the agency who governs the contract actually does their job and prevents price gouging. This can sometimes be done well, but usually, it isn't. My experience is that most govt regulators are complacent, mediocre, low energy desk jockies who default to doing as little as possible. This structure of management is why the US DoDs JSF (aka f35) program is such an absurdly horrific example of massive cost overruns and under performance. I have an econ background, and one did an internal presentation at Booz Allen about the pitfalls of BAHs rent seeking dynamics encouraging top engineers to get sucked out of real projects (causing them to under perform) to instead work full time on writing proposals in response to govt RFPs. After all that's how you get promoted at these companies because what they say they value isn't actually what they value.
- 4wsn 4y ago
  > My experience is that most govt regulators are complacent, mediocre, low energy desk jockies who default to doing as little as possible. Yep. But the upside is that they're often the only thing standing between you and more or less infinite profit; and they're hardly an obstacle if you have the right set of keys.
ElfinTrousers 4y ago
Not everything in this article is outrageous. $27.85 to drink a Sam Adams would be... ...wait, they want _me_ to pay to drink a Sam Adams? Sorry, my misunderstanding. No deal.
IndoorPatio 4y ago
Capitalism. This is the price that generates the highest profit to those responsible for setting the price.
- nayuki 4y ago
  Keep in mind that Profit = (Sale price − Production cost) × Quantity sold.
drewcoo 4y ago
Because, and this is obvious from the sign in the photo, they value us. Otherwise, the sandwiches would clearly cost more.
tomcam 4y ago
I never buy those sandwiches but if I were tempted I’d consider that for the price of two of those I could buy a 6.1” screen Android smartphone at Kroger’s, download some videos, and watch them instead of eating.
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  Only possible because NYC airports finally have free wifi as of 2018: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/new-york-airports-free-unlimited-high-speed-wi-fi https://www.cntraveler.com/story/new-york-airports-free-unli...
reactspa 4y ago
[dead]
hammyhavoc 4y ago
Because that's what the market will stand. Simple as that.
- prottog 4y ago
  Market failure is a thing, and it seems like in this case there may be a monopoly or oligopoly among the concessionaires, enabled by the corruption of the Port Authority.
logicallydurrrr 4y ago
[flagged]
casenmgreen 4y ago
I remember being in one of the NYC airports and needing a plug socket adapter for my laptop, for the flight. On Alibaba, 50 cents. On Amazon, maybe 1.5 USD. In the airport, 35 USD. This was back in about 2015. I did not buy it, and got by as best I could. Such extraordinary prices materially impact the experience of traveling. To my eye, they seem shortsighted. I also finally realised some years ago all the "duty free" shops are a giant con. Yes, they are duty free - but they're all charging about twice the high-street price. I never buy in airports, which can inconvenient, and it is always unpleasant to witness when I travel. If I were running an airport, I would look to make the experience of travelers as pleasant as possible, rather than actually making it unpleasant.
- ornornor 4y ago
  > Yes, they are duty free - but they're all charging about twice the high-street price. Same as ZERO COMMISSION EXCHANGE outfits that, yes, charge 0% commission on the receipt but have jacked up all exchange rates by 10% instead…
  - oriettaxx 4y ago
    and what about the planned maze to reach your gate? planned so you are forced to pass in front as many shops as possible? The gate may be 50 meters away if you turn left, but the sign says you have to turn right... and it will become 200 meters and many shops then, even worse, the fact that they "announce" your gate only 30 minutes before embarking! .... they do not want you to sit in a chair if front of your gate.. absolutely not! they want you to hang around and spend. but, the worst: when they heat the water in the toilets so you cannot drink it! In Greece they even put a fake "not potable" sign, so you sure buy the world's higher overpriced bottle of water.
    - lvkv 4y ago
      Do you mean “sinks” instead of “toilets”?
      - 4y ago
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
awinter-py 4y ago
Fascinating comparison to health pricing -- CMS has been trying for years to get hospitals to disclose their own prices (not even the methodology/formula deal from port authority), and they just haven't People spill a lot of ink about whether regulators should force industries to be markets. Feels like we don't focus enough on the downstream case where regulators try to impose markets and fail
riffic 4y ago
Corruption, plainly put in New York parlance, "f you, that's why."
Algemarin 4y ago
> Why does a plastic-wrapped turkey sandwich cost $15 Because people keep paying for them. The fault of price gouging lies firmly with consumers. If consumers are willing to tolerate ridiculous prices, then guess what, vendors are going to keep charging ever-higher ridiculous prices. Why in the world would they not? If no one, or at least much fewer, people were willing to shell out $15 for a sandwich, then that sandwich would not cost $15. If you're going to be hungry, bring food with you to the airport. If you don't want to deal with being hassled while going through security about it, then eat it before you go through security. It's very simple. Sure there are always going to be exceptions--flight delays, you're running late, your kids' blood sugar is dipping, etc, but if you adhere to this very basic principle more often than not, sandwich prices will go down.
- prottog 4y ago
  I agree with all of your points, but in cases of monopoly or oligopoly you can't place all of the blame on the consumer. It seems like a simple way for this problem to fix itself is for the Port Authority to allow more competition among concessionaires in the terminals; the article doesn't make it clear how much competition there really is. As noted elsewhere in this thread, the Port Authority is one of the most corrupt government organizations you could find, so it would be unsurprising if it ended up being that there were two or three parent companies behind all the concessionaires.
- bluedino 4y ago
  They are $4 in the vending machine at the office
  - seb1204 4y ago
    Make it a home for even less I guess
ornornor 4y ago
FWIW most airports I’ve visited have a staff canteen that’s actually open to everyone, albeit hidden. If you ask airport staff, they’ll know where it is. There aren’t a ton of options there and it’s often in the basement but you can choose between a few options and get a decent meal (considering) without getting fleeced. That’s where ground staff, baggage handlers, etc eat every work day.
- Algemarin 4y ago
  > FWIW most airports I’ve visited have a staff canteen that’s actually open to everyone, albeit hidden. Could you please list which airports you've been to have this, and where it is located in them? It's not that I doubt airports have staff canteens, it's more that I have trouble believing anyone can just waltz into them. And a casual web search brings up only results about one airport actually having one open to the public.
  - ornornor 4y ago
    I’ve avoided flying like the plague for several years now. But I don’t remember having trouble doing this in Europe or Canada. It’s not publicly advertised because airports prefer you go to the overpriced airside concessions they can charge obscene rents for, and airport workers just know where it is; they don’t look it up. Next time you fly, ask a janitor or other airport employee (the ones in the shops don’t always know and/or eat at the concessions because they have discounts) and see for yourself. It was typically ground staff, janitors, security guards, baggage throwers, public transit employees eating there.
    - mcv 4y ago
      But I guess this is outside the check-in area, isn't it? Beyond the whole check-in, passport check etc point, everything is pretty thoroughly locked in and regulated. The only place I could accidentally leave that area was in Casablanca. I doubt it'd work at Schiphol or Frankfurt.
      - 4y ago
yusufnb 4y ago
That's capitalism. The optimization function works towards maximizing profit over value. For a $2 sandwich, I would need to sell 100 at $3 to make a $100 profit and just 10 at $12 to make the same.
- starbugs 4y ago
  That only works if there isn't any competition.
taeric 4y ago
Is a silly question if we don't know inventory levels and turnover. At face value, the answer is trivially because that is the best price for the seller to use that they have found. Lower could maybe sell more, but could also just clear the same inventory faster. Such that you need more information to answer. Could they be gouging customers? I mean, maybe? Gouging usually requires duress on the buyer, though. So probably not.
crazygringo 4y ago
This is a perfect example of an airport trying to have their cake and eat it too, and it's kind of diabolically clever. On the one hand, airports need to make money, and with people buying cheap airline tickets, airports have found a solution by turning themselves halfway into malls, and charging businesses extremely high levels of rent, which the airport justifies because it's a captive audience that can't go anywhere else. Most of the $15 sandwich is ultimately going to the airport as rent, not to the CIBO food vendor as profit. But at the same time, there's public outcry over the absurd pricing, so the airport has to mollify lawmakers by insisting it'll come up with a policy where they won't charge more than 10% for what would be comparable in Midtown. The airport is trying to blame those greedy vendors! But this is a trick. Who could ever define that? Sure you can compare Starbucks with Starbucks... but you can't compare a CIBO sandwich because it doesn't exist outside of airports, which is by design. That's the whole point, that easy comparables don't exist, and when a journalist tries to use a FOIA request to get at the comparables, they're stonewalled. The airport is trying to insist it's preventing jacked-up prices, when in reality it's the airport charging rent that generates those jacked-up prices in the first place, and it tries to pretend like it plays no part. Evil, but clever.
- simonebrunozzi 4y ago
  You are spot on and correct. Airports make about 2/3rds of their money with rent, and only 1/3rd with flights.
  - andsoitis 4y ago
    Where is that information from?
  - danenania 4y ago
    Aren’t airports also heavily subsidized? How much does that account for? There’s a special place in hell for the executives of taxpayer subsidized services that turn around and gouge their customers.
    - kevviiinn 4y ago
trafnar 4y ago
This article is not asking "Why would a store at the airport charge extra?" (pretty obvious), it's asking "Exactly how did these stores arrive at their prices given the pricing rules that are supposedly imposed on them by the government?"
hm-nah 4y ago
Why does a double mezcal at Slims Last Chance cost $24.50 before the tip?!
lifeisstillgood 4y ago
It's rent. The airport knows how much foot traffic there is, how much spend per person and can therefore adjust rent to gouge everything except 10%. But on a square foot revenue basis that's store is the best performing of whatever chain we talk about - and it has a guaranteed yearly revenue which makes nice for the bank loan and the volume deal for the suplliers and ... it's a win win for everyone apart from the customer
jononomo 4y ago
On my last trip, I noticed that a cup of coffee in an airport is now $4. And that's just for a paper cup with black coffee in it -- not any kind of special latte, etc.
spacemannoslen 4y ago
I can offer some insight onto this, as I used to be in close proximity to a friend who worked in the concession group at the LAX version monitoring this policy. It was called the 18% price protection policy program where concessionaires had to quarterly list 3 comparable vendors for each item sold showing how their item offered was only less than 18% above that of those found within a 10 mile radius of the airport. In reality, it was too much asked of low skilled and low margin vendors with power to enforce not being exercised due to managements prioritization of more pressing matters. In reality, there was little by way of enforcement, it was too much regulation to pass down to those vendors even, with that being only 1 of 5-10 policies an excel sheets they had to provide quarterly data on, entered manually. They vendors had so much turnover themselves and employees who didn't specialize in providing that sort of data, they would always fall behind with all the policies and regulation they had to comply with that enforcing it on them was hollow and without power. And when they did provide data, it was poorly formatted, required man hours to read and research and in the end might not even have been a valid "comparable" data that was provided, but, to verify their data provided would require manual audits of physically inspecting 10-100 individual comparables that were given that it was a nightmare, and thus, never got done. There wasn't enough staff at either the vendor nor the airport authority to properly see the implementation of the price protection policy. The city could technically use its power to make it a priority, but, there were always much more urgent matters at same position that it was a on the back burner, it seemed.
- listenallyall 4y ago
  What does "used to be in close proximity to a friend" mean? I mean your comment is pretty detailed, down to the formatting of Excel documents and the internal workings of the regulators. People have conversations with friends, but rarely to this degree of detail, kind of makes it sound like you're just making shit up. Or, that you yourself are the "friend."
  - bckygldstn 4y ago
    I’ve had plenty of conversations like this with friends over a beer or coffee, incredulously diving into some bizarre aspect of their work or life!
Havoc 4y ago
Sounds like a bunch of bollocks. They clearly charge whatever the market will bear, which given captive audience is a lot.
DerekL 4y ago
The title is incorrect. As the article states, there is more than one airport for New York City, so the phrase “the NYC airport” is misleading.
m3kw9 4y ago
It’s a monopoly in there or an ogligopoly. You are stuck inside and hungry, they will happily fleece you worse than most places on earth
spacemule 4y ago
It's pretty obvious why the one in the picture at the top is $14.99. It's from the kosher stand that has a small selection and higher prices because kosher meat is generally pretty expensive in America. Mind you, I wouldn't normally buy that sandwich for $15, but the last time I traveled through Newark, I gladly payed that much for something kosher to eat. It's about the same as I'd pay outside the airport for something similar if freshly made. I can't say much about the other products listed, as I'm not the target demographic.
andrewstuart 4y ago
Melbourne airport makes more money from car parking than anything.
- oriettaxx 4y ago
  Ah, yes, another big scam is parking :) In Venice, relatives often wait in the car on the side of the road. Meanwhile, at the airport, the town has declared (and pays traffic police for) a strange 'no stopping' rule on the roads leading to the airport.
SMAAART 4y ago
It's $29 in Manhattan https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq_FJyDMYoU/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%3D https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq_FJyDMYoU/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%...
t-3 4y ago
That's... Not even really unreasonable compared to restaurant prices. I've seen eggs and toast for $20 at a diner in Minneapolis, and that place had a line out the door with a 30 minute wait to get in. Wasn't even as good as the $5 or less Coney Island breakfast available pretty much everywhere in Metro Detroit.
jonplackett 4y ago
I noticed a massive change in cost the last time flying in the UK too. Pret used to charge pretty much the same as a regular store. It would be the only place you could get a bottle of water for £1. I flew over Easter and It’s all fine up massively. £3.50 for a bottle of water. Nearly £6 for a (very average) coffee. Almost a doubling of prices. Especially great when the flight was delayed 3 hours - but we got out £3 voucher from easyJet…
atleastoptimal 4y ago
They would charge 400 dollars if they could. There is no principle to markets with artificial scarcity. They can do whatever they want when you're trapped there.
wolverine876 4y ago
I've seen these prices at many airports - I'd say every airport, IIRC. It's not new and it's not local to NY. It's not only in airports, but anywhere there is a captive audience, such as sporting events, museums, etc. Can anyone name airports where these aren't standard prices?
- genocidicbunny 4y ago
  Portland International (PDX) Many/most of the restaurants are ones that you could also find locations for outside the airport, and their prices are the same as outside the airport.
- manual89 4y ago
  When I was flying out of Narita Airport, the vending machines within were the exact same prices as those on any street corner in Japan: very reasonable.
kingcharles 4y ago
As a serial FOIA litigator you have to sue. It's not too hard. Having battled jails and prisons on similarly vague local comparison pricing for their commissary items, my bet is that none of the comparison procedures are being followed. They probably just expected the stores to be good and regulate themselves. Which never happens.
aj7 4y ago
You pack your luggage, carryons, etc. So pack food.
throwaway4736 4y ago
OTG is fucking garbage. There’s more to it than that, but not much.
nemo44x 4y ago
I figured it’s because so many travelers are business travelers that expense things like meals. The prices are very high but not enough to raise the alarm on whoever approves expense reports.
- pcurve 4y ago
  You're partly right, but most companies have daily limits on meal expenses. Something like $20 for lunch and $40 for dinner. If I can help it, I'm not burning my daily limit on a disgusting overpriced sandwich!
bradleyjg 4y ago
They rebuilt LGA. Now it’s pretty but it takes four times longer to get to your gate as you have to walk past all the stores whose rent is paying off the bonds used to renovate. I preferred ugly.
larodi 4y ago
Because u can’t help urself out of travel anxiety and event buy it to calm down.
bagacrap 4y ago
As frustrating as it is to be stonewalled like this, I sincerely hope they don't waste taxpayer dollars by suing over it. Airport food is bad and expensive, get over it. Pack your own lunch if you care, especially if what you're going to eat is a prepackaged sandwich anyway.
- wombatpm 4y ago
  I hope they do. It’s the only way to hold government accountable. If they don’t follow the rules, they need to be sued. That will force the governors in two states to call up the Port Authority and say knock this shit off. Unless someone makes a stink, nothing will be fixed.
nla 4y ago
Because they are corrupt.
tbrock 4y ago
The bacon egg and cheese at Beecher’s handmade cheese in the same terminal is $16.50 for some decent bread with a microwave egg. It’s ridiculous, shake shack has a breakfast bacon egg and cheese in the $5-6 range right down the way.
Overtonwindow 4y ago
You're captive to the airport. If you want something to eat you have to pay airport prices, there's not a lot you can do about it other than bringing in your own food. Airport vendors know this so they charge accordingly.
hnburnsy 4y ago
Maybe others have mentioned it but airports typically get 10-18% of sales (after the minimum rent guarantee is met), so it is in their interest for prices to be high.
black_13 4y ago
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scarface74 4y ago
The answer is simple: If you fly a lot, you’re probably a business traveler spending “someone else’s money” and you’re going to get reimbursed. If you fly a little like most people, you’re probably in “vacation mode” and aren’t really thinking as carefully about money. If you’re a really frequent traveler, you might even have airport lounge access and taking advantage of free “well liquor” and food. Of course the whole captive audience thing is true. But as my southern momma would say “we got food at home”. Eat before you leave home if you are concerned.
devy 4y ago
In my anecdotal experience Indianapolis International Airport (IND) is the best in terms of reasonable food pricing / affordability as well as comfortability in waiting area / seats and newness of the facility. https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/articles/indy-airport-names-best-in-north-america https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/articles/indy-airport-... Even though IND doesn't nearly have the traffic like 3 NYC airports, it's still 24/7 airport and the self-served Farm Fridge food kiosk was super great in terms of prepackaged meals and pricing (half of the selections were under $10 - I flew to IND last month.) The Soda machine also charges $2 / bottle of Coca-Cola like other non-airport retailers instead of price gauging.
komain7 4y ago
Because the world has too many losers to support anymore. A simple chicken sandwich has to pass through 16 different losers who all need their little bit. They can't make their own money so they take everybody else's money. Adding another 5 cents won't hurt anything, says the loser. Then loser starts complaining because sandwich cost $15 when they have to rebuy it at their ride.
alberth 4y ago
I’m surprised the article never mentioned how airports are just commercial real estate companies (like a mall). They are literally in the business of just leasing space to other companies.
- oriettaxx 4y ago
  exactly! with all the typical tricks
77pt77 4y ago
$15 for NYC. Sounds like a bargain.
robomartin 4y ago
For that matter, it's about time abusive pricing policies get some scrutiny at amusement parks, theaters, sports venues, convention centers, etc. It is hard to understand why politicians or the very agencies we pay to protect consumers do nothing about this. A $5 bottle of water is abusive. Oh, yes, and in a lot of these venues you are not allowed to bring in your own food and drinks. Let's thrown in a place like Disney World in FL scanning everyone's ID's and fingerprints on entry. Not the same thing, of course, yet one of those "What the fuck???" things that you never hear media, politicians or consumer protection groups/agencies talk about. Ever.
Robotbeat 4y ago
Why does housing cost 10x as much in San Francisco than in my current city when I bought 9 years ago? 2-3x price inflation at an airport makes a lot more sense than that.
rr808 4y ago
Prices in Manhattan are so expensive now, honestly $15 doesn't sound crazy to me.
aczerepinski 4y ago
The Boston airport has fair pricing. It can be done, keep fighting!
predogger 4y ago
I just can't eat that sandwich normally so $1 is too much.
jannes 4y ago
> $13.50 plus 10 percent = $14.99 That math doesn't check out at all.
darod 4y ago
thankfully TSA can only take your liquids and not your solids at the checkpoint, so you can theoretically buy/make a sandwich before you go to the airport.
throwawaaarrgh 4y ago
You are allowed to bring a turkey sandwich through security. No need to spend $15 there. If you bring a jar of peanut butter they won't let you bring it through, but if you spread it (all) on bread, they will.
stackedinserter 4y ago
All airports do this. A bottle of water is 3.75 at Dominican Republic airports, presumably not controlled by NYC port authority.
Hippocrates 4y ago
My favorite pre-flight ritual as of recent is to go out and get a bomb ass sandwich and pack it for the flight. I’m talkin’ gourmet Italian, fresh mozz, crunchy bread with the waxed paper wrapping. Sometimes I’ll get it dry and pack the oil+vinegar in a small baggie.
- throwawaaarrgh 4y ago
  In addition to this: you can't drink your own alcohol on the flight, but I know of no FAA regulation that says you can't bring a bunch of mini bottles, simple syrup, cherry, and bitters and make yourself an old fashioned at the gate while you wait to board. Pack a rocks glass and a tiny shaker and everyone will think you are simultaneously the weirdest and most baller person in Group 5. And technically ice isn't a liquid.
  - Hippocrates 4y ago
    Heh that’s a good call. I also take the “rule” about not bringing your own alcohol on the plane with a pile of salt. In practice, it’s easy to dump nips into a soda during a flight without being caught.
yieldcrv 4y ago
Lounges fix this
xbmcuser 4y ago
This is how most large corporation/Companies in the US work. Identify a market capture it then put shutters up so that you have no competition in that space. That is how free market capitalism works and results in use your capital or tech to capture the market then jack the prices.
deleted 4y ago
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pugworthy 4y ago
Logic and reason does not exist in the cheap/convenience/self serve food world. That or a database is configured wrong. At work, we have self-checkout kiosks for food. There is a "Triple Meat" breakfast burrito with eggs, potatoes, onions, bacon, ham, and sausage. It weighs 10 ounces. There is a "Vegetarian" breakfast burrito, with eggs, potatoes, and onions. It weighs 7 ounces. The vegetarian one costs OVER $1 MORE than the heavier, and more ingredient meat version. Go figure, but my personal theory is bad data, not bad thinking.
725686 4y ago
Seinfeld uncovered this many years ago. The huge airport, airline complex is just a scam to sell you the tuna sandwich: https://youtu.be/kxGzClxVx9Q https://youtu.be/kxGzClxVx9Q
Scoundreller 4y ago
I think in protest I'm going to start packing 100g Herring fish tins and eating those wherever I can. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Brunswick-Boneless-Kippered-Herring-Fillets-3-53-oz-can/10308625?from=searchResults https://www.walmart.com/ip/Brunswick-Boneless-Kippered-Herri... Can I bring Durian fruit past security?
danielovichdk 4y ago
As a European and coming to America this year. SF and NYC, the prices has explooooded in the cities. And the amount of homeless people are also on an upper trajectory. Doesn't feel good for the land of the free.
RickJWagner 4y ago
$15 for a turkey sandwich? Disney: Hold my beer.
ongytenes 4y ago
Like theaters charging outrageous prices. Comes down to control. They block people from bringing their own snacks so they got people over the barrel. If your sugar is dropping, and you need a bite, you've got to pay the price. It is a type of extortion.
ongytenes 4y ago
Same as how theatres were able to charge outrageous prices. Comes down to control. If people are unable to bring their own food, and their sugar drops, then they got to pay the price. It is a type of extortion.
rmk 4y ago
Corruption. There is no need to write further.
AlwaysRock 4y ago
Frankly if you are eating anywhere other than McDonalds at an airport you are paying fine dining prices for the absolute bottom tier food. It's so frustrating when a day of flying means either carting along meals for a day or spending $80-$120 for two people.
greghinch 4y ago
American living in the UK. Go back to visit family in Northern California ever year or two. On the way out (Heathrow) we can get a Pret or similar for more or less the same price as in central London, say £5-7 per person for a medium sized meal. And there are well over a dozen options of similar restaurants. On the way back (SFO), it’s basically Burger King or one of the airport sandwich shops, and $20+ per person. I don’t know the details of why it’s one way or the other, but clearly it doesn’t have to be like this!

671 points by raybb 4y ago

In the late 1980s, when I traveled a lot for work, I thought of airports as similar to the debtors' prisons depicted by Dickens: it was unpleasant, it was sort of your fault you were there, and you could purchase comforts, but at inordinate prices.

gretch 4y ago

Isn’t this very simple? It’s just basic supply and demand. Travelers are already exhausted from travel so they are willing to pay high prices for small comforts. Also, some travelers are business travelers and their company foots the bill. If all travelers collectively stopped buying these foods, the price would drop. But people keep buying them, understandably.

Freak_NL 4y ago
If you read the article (you should) you'll note that the shops with the concession do not have the freedom to arbitrarily set such high prices (which would make it that simple), and that the Port Authority who is supposed to ensure that prices adhere to the set guidelines, is apparently not doing its job and is withholding documents that can proof this despite these documents generally being considered open information for citizens to request.
dafelst 4y ago
The issue discussed in the article is that the NY Port Authority has regulations to clamp the prices of these items to comparable items in NYC (based on the average of the 3 lowest cost comparables), and they are not being transparent on which comparable items (if any) they are comparing to. So no, it is not just a simple issue of supply and demand, it is an issue of lack of governmental transparency.
jtefera 4y ago
The article mentions that according to the Port Authority rules, vendors can't charge more than 10% of the street price of the equivalent products. So no, you can't charge whatever you want just based on supply and demand. The article is trying to understand how they determine the base price.

djhope99 4y ago

In most cases (especially with food prices like this) paying for lounge access looks like a great option.

tpmx 4y ago
The handful of international business class lounges in the US that I've visited were comparatively quite stingy/basic with food items (compared to typical counterparts in e.g. Europe or Asia). Anyone got a recommendation for a JFK lounge that's a good deal when you're paying for access?
ericpauley 4y ago
The addition of restaurants to Priority Pass has been an especially nice addition here. After deductions (and plus tip) you can often get a nice sit-down meal for the price of plastic-wrapped garbage elsewhere in the airport.
listenallyall 4y ago
Lounges have jacked up pricing as well. Used to be a $25 add-on to a ticket... well worth it when traveling internationally. Recently I've seen $49 or $59 for entry. If you're willing to drop that coin, you can eat pretty well at airport restaurants.

switch007 4y ago

I’ve only flown through JFK once but still, my initial thought was “oh only $15?”

pwg 4y ago

> Why Does a Plastic-Wrapped Turkey Sandwich Cost $15 at the Airport? Despite the "port authority" rules on 'street pricing', the real reason is lack of competition. A single vendor receives the food contract for the airport, and they now have monopoly positioning and a captive audience. When business X is the only seller, and when the customers are held captive and unable to "go elsewhere" [1] then prices will naturally rise to the maximum the captive audience is willing to pay. [1] How many air travelers are willing to exit the security perimeter, to then need to take a cab to somewhere (most airports are not located near dense shopping/restaurant areas) to purchase food, to then have to go back through security to return to their flight? And what few even have enough time between flight legs to even consider that "go outside the airport for food" trip as even possible? Plus by the time the "cab fee" is factored in, even if they could find the identical sandwich for 5.50 on the outside, the $10 + tip or more cab fee there and back would make the sandwich $15 or more in the end anyway.

pduan 4y ago
It’s not about the lack of competition or the inconvenience to the traveler. It’s about the port authority not publicly revealing what the 3 market comparable prices are.
- prepend 4y ago
  I expect they won’t reveal because the inspector just takes a bribe and there are no valid comparisons done.
  - smelendez 4y ago
    The only reason I could think of not to reveal would be the fear of collusion. If they know the comparison stores are Alice’s Deli and Bob's Bodega, they could either collude with those owners to raise prices on select items or simply go and look at prices and only offer copies of the most marked up items in those stores (which could be as simple as loading the sandwich with cheap toppings that would be extra at the comparison shops).

tpmx 4y ago

Just stating the obvious: JFK Airport is owned by the City of New York. From that, draw your own conclusions...

Scoundreller 4y ago
That would be too simple. It's owned by Port Authority of NY and NJ: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Authority_of_New_York_and_New_Jersey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Authority_of_New_York_and...
- tpmx 4y ago
  So this ranks high on Google: https://airportllc.com/who-owns-jfk-airport/ https://airportllc.com/who-owns-jfk-airport/ > JFK Airport is owned by the City of New York and is managed and operated by the Port Authority which got the lease from New York City in 1947 to build an airport in Queens borough to serve the large NYC Metropolitan area
  - Scoundreller 4y ago
    Looks like NYC is now paid $150m/year for the land lease: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-extends-jfk-airport-lease-to-spur-development-11614029231 https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-extends-jfk-airpo...
DerekL 4y ago
No, it is not owned by the City of New York. It's owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is controlled by those two states.

okokwhatever 4y ago

"Bring your food" policy is becoming a thing

singron 4y ago
TSA will usually pull you aside and search your bag if you have food, so go ahead and take it out first.
- xwdv 4y ago
  Not if you are TSA pre-check or better yet if you use Clear.
  - mynameisvlad 4y ago
    Clear does not change the screening, it only changes the identification check and puts you at the front of the line. At SeaTac, there’s separate lanes for Clear with and without Precheck.
    - xwdv 4y ago
      In some airports Clear with precheck raises the chances you’ll be directed into more favorable screening lanes where TSA are more relaxed, due to it being used exclusively by prechecks or crew. Sometimes with just precheck you’ll still get into general use lanes with annoying requests such as removing laptops from bags, no matter if you are precheck or not. This is because there is no Clear employee who can ensure you only end up in the best lane. Regardless, my airport experiences after subscribing to Clear have always been far better than simply only having precheck alone, especially if you’re the type who likes to arrive late to a flight to minimize waiting at the terminal. Really does feel like a pre-9/11 world.
      - kyboren 4y ago
        > Really does feel like a pre-9/11 world. Says the person opting into a biometric surveillance dystopia. Are you for real?

rolph 4y ago

this is plain gougeing being hidden by a veil of we cant tell you why because we are obeying the law. this is becoming a plague, for a further recent example, i cant ask an alexa instance what it just said, it will quote HIPAA as a reason to deny the command

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

nikanj 4y ago

If I had to guess: because fuck you, that’s why. They don’t care, because they know you’ll be back regardless of the price

mwexler 4y ago

"Street prices" can also be surprisingly high in NYC. For example, https://gothamist.com/news/why-does-this-ham-and-cheese-cost-29-at-a-manhattan-shop-an-investigation https://gothamist.com/news/why-does-this-ham-and-cheese-cost... But when public groups restrict data even after an FOI request, it's hard not to wonder if something foul is going on.

notjulianjaynes 4y ago
Their argument that they don't want to disclose the names of individual vendors is flawed but somewhat logical. I've seen redactions, for example, on the breakdown of a town's tax revenue by industry when there was only one small business working in a specific industry. Disclosing the price charged for a sandwich seems far less sensitive however. My hunch is there is likely no record of the comparison sandwiches, and I hope the author of this article appeals their records request to find out if that's true or not.

canucker2016 4y ago

How about a ham & cheese sandwich that costs $29+tax ($31.57 total) in Upper East Side Manhattan? I thought the large pastrami sandwiches for almost $20 was crazy before the pandemic. But for a regular size ham & cheese? see https://nypost.com/2023/04/14/inflation-raises-price-of-ham-and-cheese-sandwich-in-nyc-to-29/ https://nypost.com/2023/04/14/inflation-raises-price-of-ham-...

smelendez 4y ago
But they don’t have a monopoly and that’s not normal Manhattan pricing. As the article mentions, you can go down the street to Panera or McDonald’s or anywhere else more easily than in the airport.

osnium123 4y ago

PDX in Oregon has reasonably priced food. I wonder what their secret is.

rolph 4y ago
perhaps they were done with seeing good food expire on the shelf, and paying to have it destroyed
fisherjeff 4y ago
Vendors aren’t allowed to charge higher prices than at their off-airport locations, for one. https://thepointsguy.com/news/pricey-airport-food/ https://thepointsguy.com/news/pricey-airport-food/

asah 4y ago

Palm grease is an experiment ingredient, and exempt from FDA labeling rules.

arnejenssen 4y ago

"The reason that X costs Y, is that (enough) people buy it". It has less to do with the actual price of making the goods or service

dplgk 4y ago
Doesn't really explain it. If X cost less, more people would buy it. Less people would plan around avoiding eating at the airport.

asah 4y ago

More subtly, why is Newark so much more reasonable? I had a perfectly decent shot down meal at Saison and the prices were high but not crazy.

x43b 4y ago

For the past five years, I have a no eating on travel days policy. Not only do I feel like I am avoiding these high costs, my stomach is less active which is great on travel days.

tracker1 4y ago
Yeah, if you get used to not snacking between meals, you begin to learn that typical hunger generally passes, especially if you stay busy/distracted. I usually only eat once or twice a day, and have fasted as long as a week.
- bagacrap 4y ago
  Staying busy and distracted is the hard part during travel, which is generally a lot of mind-numbing shuffling about.

davidkuennen 4y ago

Was able to enjoy the Business Class Lounge a few weeks back in JFK Airport. The lounge sounds almost like a steal in comparison when reading those prices.

yuppie_scum 4y ago

Don’t allow a monopoly in the airport.. boom, problem solved

subpixel 4y ago

Same reason you can’t buy anything but crap hotdogs in Central Park - vendors pay millions for the exclusive contract to sell and then they sell crap at high prices to cover their investment. No competition, no innovation, no reason to not gouge tbe punters.

Scoundreller 4y ago
It's not just a Central Park problem: a lot of north america basically forbids the sale of anything from a cart beyond pre-cooked hotdogs and burgers (putting it on the grill is mainly for show and to warm it up). Kinda makes sense because of lack of hand-washing facilities, but those aren't impossible to set up.
- subpixel 4y ago
  Not in NYC. Central Park should by rights be a cart-and-truck culinary wonderland.

xwdv 4y ago

It’s really not difficult to build sandwiches that won’t require refrigeration and can be packed into a container for consumption on long trips, people just don’t really know how to make them. But it will vastly improve the quality of your life. Just stop buying these expensive sandwiches.

ufo 4y ago
What's your favorite such sandwich?
- bluedino 4y ago
  Peanut better and jelly
- thomasjb 4y ago
  Cheese and chorizo, with mayo, or a nutella sandwich. I don't get the point about not requiring refrigeration, aren't most sandwiches OK for a couple days out of the fridge? On my travels, a bag of chocolate brioches has always been good

SoftTalker 4y ago

This is why I just bring along a few protein bars when I travel. $15 for a shitty airport sandwich? Fuhgedaboudit!

beej71 4y ago

"Charge what the market will bear."

bastard_op 4y ago

>> "To protect the integrity of the fact-finding process, as well as agency deliberations, the Port Authority’s longstanding policy is to maintain the confidentiality of these types of Inspector General investigative reports." What requires protection here, other than the absurd consumer price gouging among a captive audience that occurs in EVERY airport across the country and those that let it occur? They are absolutely right in the article, this should be something easy to be transparent about, and shouldn't be a secret process run by lobbying restaurant companies, city management on the grift, and decrepit municipal process.

thebiss 4y ago
Exactly. Transparency protects integrity.

ncphil 4y ago

Because New York City is like deep space: fundamentally hostile to life, especially human life. Once people get past their sensory overloaded twenties (or luck into the kind of wealth that triggers syncophantic personalities to suck up to them), it becomes clear that everything you try to do in the City involves a fight (and I'm not just talking about the days when you get multiple parking tickets, or the late nights when the F Train seems like it's never coming, or the kid behind the Deli counter gives you a sour look when you're counting out singles to pay for that double-digit sandwich on Seventh Avenue). A titanic struggle for survival in a high rise hellscape. And everyone is on edge, ready to pop off at any moment because they've reached their limit of being beaten down. OK. The real answer is that The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that regulates vendors at its facilities is a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than Mos Eisley. Clearly George Lucas had experienced one too many visits to JFK. Or was it LaGuardia?

sclarisse 4y ago
> Or was it LaGurdia? The OTG managed hospitality experience at LGA is the worst crime against aviation in the last 21-and-a-half years. Try their $20 burger. I dare you. JFK at least has ShakeShack.
- mildweed 4y ago
  LGA has ShakeShack now too

twelve40 4y ago

That's a feast! Laguardia happily shuts down at like 6 or so, after that if you have a connection you can look for food scraps on the floor or, you know, dive right into that intermittent fasting you always wanted to try.

sdze 4y ago
Or be an adult and bring your sandwich from home.

JPKab 4y ago

Former defense contractor here: This has similar econ dynamics to defense contracts. The market competition between companies is entirely limited to competing for the exclusive, government granted monopoly of winning the contract. This is known as rent seeking in economics terms. Once rent seekers win, the expectation is that the agency who governs the contract actually does their job and prevents price gouging. This can sometimes be done well, but usually, it isn't. My experience is that most govt regulators are complacent, mediocre, low energy desk jockies who default to doing as little as possible. This structure of management is why the US DoDs JSF (aka f35) program is such an absurdly horrific example of massive cost overruns and under performance. I have an econ background, and one did an internal presentation at Booz Allen about the pitfalls of BAHs rent seeking dynamics encouraging top engineers to get sucked out of real projects (causing them to under perform) to instead work full time on writing proposals in response to govt RFPs. After all that's how you get promoted at these companies because what they say they value isn't actually what they value.

4wsn 4y ago
> My experience is that most govt regulators are complacent, mediocre, low energy desk jockies who default to doing as little as possible. Yep. But the upside is that they're often the only thing standing between you and more or less infinite profit; and they're hardly an obstacle if you have the right set of keys.

ElfinTrousers 4y ago

Not everything in this article is outrageous. $27.85 to drink a Sam Adams would be... ...wait, they want _me_ to pay to drink a Sam Adams? Sorry, my misunderstanding. No deal.

IndoorPatio 4y ago

Capitalism. This is the price that generates the highest profit to those responsible for setting the price.

nayuki 4y ago
Keep in mind that Profit = (Sale price − Production cost) × Quantity sold.

drewcoo 4y ago

Because, and this is obvious from the sign in the photo, they value us. Otherwise, the sandwiches would clearly cost more.

tomcam 4y ago

I never buy those sandwiches but if I were tempted I’d consider that for the price of two of those I could buy a 6.1” screen Android smartphone at Kroger’s, download some videos, and watch them instead of eating.

Scoundreller 4y ago
Only possible because NYC airports finally have free wifi as of 2018: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/new-york-airports-free-unlimited-high-speed-wi-fi https://www.cntraveler.com/story/new-york-airports-free-unli...

reactspa 4y ago

[dead]

hammyhavoc 4y ago

Because that's what the market will stand. Simple as that.

prottog 4y ago
Market failure is a thing, and it seems like in this case there may be a monopoly or oligopoly among the concessionaires, enabled by the corruption of the Port Authority.

logicallydurrrr 4y ago

[flagged]

casenmgreen 4y ago

I remember being in one of the NYC airports and needing a plug socket adapter for my laptop, for the flight. On Alibaba, 50 cents. On Amazon, maybe 1.5 USD. In the airport, 35 USD. This was back in about 2015. I did not buy it, and got by as best I could. Such extraordinary prices materially impact the experience of traveling. To my eye, they seem shortsighted. I also finally realised some years ago all the "duty free" shops are a giant con. Yes, they are duty free - but they're all charging about twice the high-street price. I never buy in airports, which can inconvenient, and it is always unpleasant to witness when I travel. If I were running an airport, I would look to make the experience of travelers as pleasant as possible, rather than actually making it unpleasant.

ornornor 4y ago
> Yes, they are duty free - but they're all charging about twice the high-street price. Same as ZERO COMMISSION EXCHANGE outfits that, yes, charge 0% commission on the receipt but have jacked up all exchange rates by 10% instead…
- oriettaxx 4y ago
  and what about the planned maze to reach your gate? planned so you are forced to pass in front as many shops as possible? The gate may be 50 meters away if you turn left, but the sign says you have to turn right... and it will become 200 meters and many shops then, even worse, the fact that they "announce" your gate only 30 minutes before embarking! .... they do not want you to sit in a chair if front of your gate.. absolutely not! they want you to hang around and spend. but, the worst: when they heat the water in the toilets so you cannot drink it! In Greece they even put a fake "not potable" sign, so you sure buy the world's higher overpriced bottle of water.
  - lvkv 4y ago
    Do you mean “sinks” instead of “toilets”?
    - 4y ago

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

awinter-py 4y ago

Fascinating comparison to health pricing -- CMS has been trying for years to get hospitals to disclose their own prices (not even the methodology/formula deal from port authority), and they just haven't People spill a lot of ink about whether regulators should force industries to be markets. Feels like we don't focus enough on the downstream case where regulators try to impose markets and fail

riffic 4y ago

Corruption, plainly put in New York parlance, "f you, that's why."

Algemarin 4y ago

> Why does a plastic-wrapped turkey sandwich cost $15 Because people keep paying for them. The fault of price gouging lies firmly with consumers. If consumers are willing to tolerate ridiculous prices, then guess what, vendors are going to keep charging ever-higher ridiculous prices. Why in the world would they not? If no one, or at least much fewer, people were willing to shell out $15 for a sandwich, then that sandwich would not cost $15. If you're going to be hungry, bring food with you to the airport. If you don't want to deal with being hassled while going through security about it, then eat it before you go through security. It's very simple. Sure there are always going to be exceptions--flight delays, you're running late, your kids' blood sugar is dipping, etc, but if you adhere to this very basic principle more often than not, sandwich prices will go down.

prottog 4y ago
I agree with all of your points, but in cases of monopoly or oligopoly you can't place all of the blame on the consumer. It seems like a simple way for this problem to fix itself is for the Port Authority to allow more competition among concessionaires in the terminals; the article doesn't make it clear how much competition there really is. As noted elsewhere in this thread, the Port Authority is one of the most corrupt government organizations you could find, so it would be unsurprising if it ended up being that there were two or three parent companies behind all the concessionaires.
bluedino 4y ago
They are $4 in the vending machine at the office
- seb1204 4y ago
  Make it a home for even less I guess

ornornor 4y ago

FWIW most airports I’ve visited have a staff canteen that’s actually open to everyone, albeit hidden. If you ask airport staff, they’ll know where it is. There aren’t a ton of options there and it’s often in the basement but you can choose between a few options and get a decent meal (considering) without getting fleeced. That’s where ground staff, baggage handlers, etc eat every work day.

Algemarin 4y ago
> FWIW most airports I’ve visited have a staff canteen that’s actually open to everyone, albeit hidden. Could you please list which airports you've been to have this, and where it is located in them? It's not that I doubt airports have staff canteens, it's more that I have trouble believing anyone can just waltz into them. And a casual web search brings up only results about one airport actually having one open to the public.
- ornornor 4y ago
  I’ve avoided flying like the plague for several years now. But I don’t remember having trouble doing this in Europe or Canada. It’s not publicly advertised because airports prefer you go to the overpriced airside concessions they can charge obscene rents for, and airport workers just know where it is; they don’t look it up. Next time you fly, ask a janitor or other airport employee (the ones in the shops don’t always know and/or eat at the concessions because they have discounts) and see for yourself. It was typically ground staff, janitors, security guards, baggage throwers, public transit employees eating there.
  - mcv 4y ago
    But I guess this is outside the check-in area, isn't it? Beyond the whole check-in, passport check etc point, everything is pretty thoroughly locked in and regulated. The only place I could accidentally leave that area was in Casablanca. I doubt it'd work at Schiphol or Frankfurt.
    - 4y ago

yusufnb 4y ago

That's capitalism. The optimization function works towards maximizing profit over value. For a $2 sandwich, I would need to sell 100 at $3 to make a $100 profit and just 10 at $12 to make the same.

starbugs 4y ago
That only works if there isn't any competition.

taeric 4y ago

Is a silly question if we don't know inventory levels and turnover. At face value, the answer is trivially because that is the best price for the seller to use that they have found. Lower could maybe sell more, but could also just clear the same inventory faster. Such that you need more information to answer. Could they be gouging customers? I mean, maybe? Gouging usually requires duress on the buyer, though. So probably not.

crazygringo 4y ago

This is a perfect example of an airport trying to have their cake and eat it too, and it's kind of diabolically clever. On the one hand, airports need to make money, and with people buying cheap airline tickets, airports have found a solution by turning themselves halfway into malls, and charging businesses extremely high levels of rent, which the airport justifies because it's a captive audience that can't go anywhere else. Most of the $15 sandwich is ultimately going to the airport as rent, not to the CIBO food vendor as profit. But at the same time, there's public outcry over the absurd pricing, so the airport has to mollify lawmakers by insisting it'll come up with a policy where they won't charge more than 10% for what would be comparable in Midtown. The airport is trying to blame those greedy vendors! But this is a trick. Who could ever define that? Sure you can compare Starbucks with Starbucks... but you can't compare a CIBO sandwich because it doesn't exist outside of airports, which is by design. That's the whole point, that easy comparables don't exist, and when a journalist tries to use a FOIA request to get at the comparables, they're stonewalled. The airport is trying to insist it's preventing jacked-up prices, when in reality it's the airport charging rent that generates those jacked-up prices in the first place, and it tries to pretend like it plays no part. Evil, but clever.

simonebrunozzi 4y ago
You are spot on and correct. Airports make about 2/3rds of their money with rent, and only 1/3rd with flights.
- andsoitis 4y ago
  Where is that information from?
- danenania 4y ago
  Aren’t airports also heavily subsidized? How much does that account for? There’s a special place in hell for the executives of taxpayer subsidized services that turn around and gouge their customers.
  - kevviiinn 4y ago

trafnar 4y ago

This article is not asking "Why would a store at the airport charge extra?" (pretty obvious), it's asking "Exactly how did these stores arrive at their prices given the pricing rules that are supposedly imposed on them by the government?"

hm-nah 4y ago

Why does a double mezcal at Slims Last Chance cost $24.50 before the tip?!

lifeisstillgood 4y ago

It's rent. The airport knows how much foot traffic there is, how much spend per person and can therefore adjust rent to gouge everything except 10%. But on a square foot revenue basis that's store is the best performing of whatever chain we talk about - and it has a guaranteed yearly revenue which makes nice for the bank loan and the volume deal for the suplliers and ... it's a win win for everyone apart from the customer

jononomo 4y ago

On my last trip, I noticed that a cup of coffee in an airport is now $4. And that's just for a paper cup with black coffee in it -- not any kind of special latte, etc.

spacemannoslen 4y ago

I can offer some insight onto this, as I used to be in close proximity to a friend who worked in the concession group at the LAX version monitoring this policy. It was called the 18% price protection policy program where concessionaires had to quarterly list 3 comparable vendors for each item sold showing how their item offered was only less than 18% above that of those found within a 10 mile radius of the airport. In reality, it was too much asked of low skilled and low margin vendors with power to enforce not being exercised due to managements prioritization of more pressing matters. In reality, there was little by way of enforcement, it was too much regulation to pass down to those vendors even, with that being only 1 of 5-10 policies an excel sheets they had to provide quarterly data on, entered manually. They vendors had so much turnover themselves and employees who didn't specialize in providing that sort of data, they would always fall behind with all the policies and regulation they had to comply with that enforcing it on them was hollow and without power. And when they did provide data, it was poorly formatted, required man hours to read and research and in the end might not even have been a valid "comparable" data that was provided, but, to verify their data provided would require manual audits of physically inspecting 10-100 individual comparables that were given that it was a nightmare, and thus, never got done. There wasn't enough staff at either the vendor nor the airport authority to properly see the implementation of the price protection policy. The city could technically use its power to make it a priority, but, there were always much more urgent matters at same position that it was a on the back burner, it seemed.

listenallyall 4y ago
What does "used to be in close proximity to a friend" mean? I mean your comment is pretty detailed, down to the formatting of Excel documents and the internal workings of the regulators. People have conversations with friends, but rarely to this degree of detail, kind of makes it sound like you're just making shit up. Or, that you yourself are the "friend."
- bckygldstn 4y ago
  I’ve had plenty of conversations like this with friends over a beer or coffee, incredulously diving into some bizarre aspect of their work or life!

Havoc 4y ago

Sounds like a bunch of bollocks. They clearly charge whatever the market will bear, which given captive audience is a lot.

DerekL 4y ago

The title is incorrect. As the article states, there is more than one airport for New York City, so the phrase “the NYC airport” is misleading.

m3kw9 4y ago

It’s a monopoly in there or an ogligopoly. You are stuck inside and hungry, they will happily fleece you worse than most places on earth

spacemule 4y ago

It's pretty obvious why the one in the picture at the top is $14.99. It's from the kosher stand that has a small selection and higher prices because kosher meat is generally pretty expensive in America. Mind you, I wouldn't normally buy that sandwich for $15, but the last time I traveled through Newark, I gladly payed that much for something kosher to eat. It's about the same as I'd pay outside the airport for something similar if freshly made. I can't say much about the other products listed, as I'm not the target demographic.

andrewstuart 4y ago

Melbourne airport makes more money from car parking than anything.

oriettaxx 4y ago
Ah, yes, another big scam is parking :) In Venice, relatives often wait in the car on the side of the road. Meanwhile, at the airport, the town has declared (and pays traffic police for) a strange 'no stopping' rule on the roads leading to the airport.

SMAAART 4y ago

It's $29 in Manhattan https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq_FJyDMYoU/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%3D https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq_FJyDMYoU/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%...

t-3 4y ago

That's... Not even really unreasonable compared to restaurant prices. I've seen eggs and toast for $20 at a diner in Minneapolis, and that place had a line out the door with a 30 minute wait to get in. Wasn't even as good as the $5 or less Coney Island breakfast available pretty much everywhere in Metro Detroit.

jonplackett 4y ago

I noticed a massive change in cost the last time flying in the UK too. Pret used to charge pretty much the same as a regular store. It would be the only place you could get a bottle of water for £1. I flew over Easter and It’s all fine up massively. £3.50 for a bottle of water. Nearly £6 for a (very average) coffee. Almost a doubling of prices. Especially great when the flight was delayed 3 hours - but we got out £3 voucher from easyJet…

atleastoptimal 4y ago

They would charge 400 dollars if they could. There is no principle to markets with artificial scarcity. They can do whatever they want when you're trapped there.

wolverine876 4y ago

I've seen these prices at many airports - I'd say every airport, IIRC. It's not new and it's not local to NY. It's not only in airports, but anywhere there is a captive audience, such as sporting events, museums, etc. Can anyone name airports where these aren't standard prices?

genocidicbunny 4y ago
Portland International (PDX) Many/most of the restaurants are ones that you could also find locations for outside the airport, and their prices are the same as outside the airport.
manual89 4y ago
When I was flying out of Narita Airport, the vending machines within were the exact same prices as those on any street corner in Japan: very reasonable.

kingcharles 4y ago

As a serial FOIA litigator you have to sue. It's not too hard. Having battled jails and prisons on similarly vague local comparison pricing for their commissary items, my bet is that none of the comparison procedures are being followed. They probably just expected the stores to be good and regulate themselves. Which never happens.

aj7 4y ago

You pack your luggage, carryons, etc. So pack food.

throwaway4736 4y ago

OTG is fucking garbage. There’s more to it than that, but not much.

nemo44x 4y ago

I figured it’s because so many travelers are business travelers that expense things like meals. The prices are very high but not enough to raise the alarm on whoever approves expense reports.

pcurve 4y ago
You're partly right, but most companies have daily limits on meal expenses. Something like $20 for lunch and $40 for dinner. If I can help it, I'm not burning my daily limit on a disgusting overpriced sandwich!

bradleyjg 4y ago

They rebuilt LGA. Now it’s pretty but it takes four times longer to get to your gate as you have to walk past all the stores whose rent is paying off the bonds used to renovate. I preferred ugly.

larodi 4y ago

Because u can’t help urself out of travel anxiety and event buy it to calm down.

bagacrap 4y ago

As frustrating as it is to be stonewalled like this, I sincerely hope they don't waste taxpayer dollars by suing over it. Airport food is bad and expensive, get over it. Pack your own lunch if you care, especially if what you're going to eat is a prepackaged sandwich anyway.

wombatpm 4y ago
I hope they do. It’s the only way to hold government accountable. If they don’t follow the rules, they need to be sued. That will force the governors in two states to call up the Port Authority and say knock this shit off. Unless someone makes a stink, nothing will be fixed.

nla 4y ago

Because they are corrupt.

tbrock 4y ago

The bacon egg and cheese at Beecher’s handmade cheese in the same terminal is $16.50 for some decent bread with a microwave egg. It’s ridiculous, shake shack has a breakfast bacon egg and cheese in the $5-6 range right down the way.

Overtonwindow 4y ago

You're captive to the airport. If you want something to eat you have to pay airport prices, there's not a lot you can do about it other than bringing in your own food. Airport vendors know this so they charge accordingly.

hnburnsy 4y ago

Maybe others have mentioned it but airports typically get 10-18% of sales (after the minimum rent guarantee is met), so it is in their interest for prices to be high.

black_13 4y ago

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scarface74 4y ago

The answer is simple: If you fly a lot, you’re probably a business traveler spending “someone else’s money” and you’re going to get reimbursed. If you fly a little like most people, you’re probably in “vacation mode” and aren’t really thinking as carefully about money. If you’re a really frequent traveler, you might even have airport lounge access and taking advantage of free “well liquor” and food. Of course the whole captive audience thing is true. But as my southern momma would say “we got food at home”. Eat before you leave home if you are concerned.

devy 4y ago

In my anecdotal experience Indianapolis International Airport (IND) is the best in terms of reasonable food pricing / affordability as well as comfortability in waiting area / seats and newness of the facility. https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/articles/indy-airport-names-best-in-north-america https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/articles/indy-airport-... Even though IND doesn't nearly have the traffic like 3 NYC airports, it's still 24/7 airport and the self-served Farm Fridge food kiosk was super great in terms of prepackaged meals and pricing (half of the selections were under $10 - I flew to IND last month.) The Soda machine also charges $2 / bottle of Coca-Cola like other non-airport retailers instead of price gauging.

komain7 4y ago

Because the world has too many losers to support anymore. A simple chicken sandwich has to pass through 16 different losers who all need their little bit. They can't make their own money so they take everybody else's money. Adding another 5 cents won't hurt anything, says the loser. Then loser starts complaining because sandwich cost $15 when they have to rebuy it at their ride.

alberth 4y ago

I’m surprised the article never mentioned how airports are just commercial real estate companies (like a mall). They are literally in the business of just leasing space to other companies.

oriettaxx 4y ago
exactly! with all the typical tricks

77pt77 4y ago

$15 for NYC. Sounds like a bargain.

robomartin 4y ago

For that matter, it's about time abusive pricing policies get some scrutiny at amusement parks, theaters, sports venues, convention centers, etc. It is hard to understand why politicians or the very agencies we pay to protect consumers do nothing about this. A $5 bottle of water is abusive. Oh, yes, and in a lot of these venues you are not allowed to bring in your own food and drinks. Let's thrown in a place like Disney World in FL scanning everyone's ID's and fingerprints on entry. Not the same thing, of course, yet one of those "What the fuck???" things that you never hear media, politicians or consumer protection groups/agencies talk about. Ever.

Robotbeat 4y ago

Why does housing cost 10x as much in San Francisco than in my current city when I bought 9 years ago? 2-3x price inflation at an airport makes a lot more sense than that.

rr808 4y ago

Prices in Manhattan are so expensive now, honestly $15 doesn't sound crazy to me.

aczerepinski 4y ago

The Boston airport has fair pricing. It can be done, keep fighting!

predogger 4y ago

I just can't eat that sandwich normally so $1 is too much.

jannes 4y ago

> $13.50 plus 10 percent = $14.99 That math doesn't check out at all.

darod 4y ago

thankfully TSA can only take your liquids and not your solids at the checkpoint, so you can theoretically buy/make a sandwich before you go to the airport.

throwawaaarrgh 4y ago

You are allowed to bring a turkey sandwich through security. No need to spend $15 there. If you bring a jar of peanut butter they won't let you bring it through, but if you spread it (all) on bread, they will.

stackedinserter 4y ago

All airports do this. A bottle of water is 3.75 at Dominican Republic airports, presumably not controlled by NYC port authority.

Hippocrates 4y ago

My favorite pre-flight ritual as of recent is to go out and get a bomb ass sandwich and pack it for the flight. I’m talkin’ gourmet Italian, fresh mozz, crunchy bread with the waxed paper wrapping. Sometimes I’ll get it dry and pack the oil+vinegar in a small baggie.

throwawaaarrgh 4y ago
In addition to this: you can't drink your own alcohol on the flight, but I know of no FAA regulation that says you can't bring a bunch of mini bottles, simple syrup, cherry, and bitters and make yourself an old fashioned at the gate while you wait to board. Pack a rocks glass and a tiny shaker and everyone will think you are simultaneously the weirdest and most baller person in Group 5. And technically ice isn't a liquid.
- Hippocrates 4y ago
  Heh that’s a good call. I also take the “rule” about not bringing your own alcohol on the plane with a pile of salt. In practice, it’s easy to dump nips into a soda during a flight without being caught.

yieldcrv 4y ago

Lounges fix this

xbmcuser 4y ago

This is how most large corporation/Companies in the US work. Identify a market capture it then put shutters up so that you have no competition in that space. That is how free market capitalism works and results in use your capital or tech to capture the market then jack the prices.

deleted 4y ago

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pugworthy 4y ago

Logic and reason does not exist in the cheap/convenience/self serve food world. That or a database is configured wrong. At work, we have self-checkout kiosks for food. There is a "Triple Meat" breakfast burrito with eggs, potatoes, onions, bacon, ham, and sausage. It weighs 10 ounces. There is a "Vegetarian" breakfast burrito, with eggs, potatoes, and onions. It weighs 7 ounces. The vegetarian one costs OVER $1 MORE than the heavier, and more ingredient meat version. Go figure, but my personal theory is bad data, not bad thinking.

725686 4y ago

Seinfeld uncovered this many years ago. The huge airport, airline complex is just a scam to sell you the tuna sandwich: https://youtu.be/kxGzClxVx9Q https://youtu.be/kxGzClxVx9Q

Scoundreller 4y ago

I think in protest I'm going to start packing 100g Herring fish tins and eating those wherever I can. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Brunswick-Boneless-Kippered-Herring-Fillets-3-53-oz-can/10308625?from=searchResults https://www.walmart.com/ip/Brunswick-Boneless-Kippered-Herri... Can I bring Durian fruit past security?

danielovichdk 4y ago

As a European and coming to America this year. SF and NYC, the prices has explooooded in the cities. And the amount of homeless people are also on an upper trajectory. Doesn't feel good for the land of the free.

RickJWagner 4y ago

$15 for a turkey sandwich? Disney: Hold my beer.

ongytenes 4y ago

Like theaters charging outrageous prices. Comes down to control. They block people from bringing their own snacks so they got people over the barrel. If your sugar is dropping, and you need a bite, you've got to pay the price. It is a type of extortion.

ongytenes 4y ago

Same as how theatres were able to charge outrageous prices. Comes down to control. If people are unable to bring their own food, and their sugar drops, then they got to pay the price. It is a type of extortion.

rmk 4y ago

Corruption. There is no need to write further.

AlwaysRock 4y ago

Frankly if you are eating anywhere other than McDonalds at an airport you are paying fine dining prices for the absolute bottom tier food. It's so frustrating when a day of flying means either carting along meals for a day or spending $80-$120 for two people.

greghinch 4y ago

American living in the UK. Go back to visit family in Northern California ever year or two. On the way out (Heathrow) we can get a Pret or similar for more or less the same price as in central London, say £5-7 per person for a medium sized meal. And there are well over a dozen options of similar restaurants. On the way back (SFO), it’s basically Burger King or one of the airport sandwich shops, and $20+ per person. I don’t know the details of why it’s one way or the other, but clearly it doesn’t have to be like this!