4 ms·

I wonder if there are any airport located Taco Bells. Those kind of captive locations are notorious for crazy prices.

by tyingq 2y ago

seanmcdirmid 2y ago
I’ve never seen a Taco Bell in an airport. But Seattle SeaTac has a McDonald’s and its prices are pretty reasonable compared to other Seattle McDonald’s. Actually, at airport is about the only time we eat at McDonald’s these days.
jrm415 2y ago
There is no price I would pay to eat Taco Bell before boarding a flight though.
- teaearlgraycold 2y ago
  I don't get this joke. I eat Taco Bell occasionally and it's fine on my gut. I don't order the meat, though. Usually I'm getting a black bean crunch wrap with guac instead of nacho cheese.
  - raydev 2y ago
    I'm with you but it's a common enough sentiment that there's probably something to it, and I recall friends having issues over the years. For these people at best it's painful gas and at worst is [worse], so there is a large group of people who can't digest a particular common Taco Bell ingredient well. I've seen speculation about undiagnosed lactose intolerance but frankly Taco Bell doesn't use that much cheese on their cheesiest items compared to say, a pizza, which is another very common food in the US and has way more cheese.
    - nsxwolf 2y ago
      I wonder if it's undiagnosed gallbladder issues too.
    - dunham 2y ago
      I haven't had taco bell in a couple of decades, but I used to have issues with the beef shortly after eating there (so probably not bacteria) but no issues with chicken. I suspect my body was not used to the grease, and that taco bell had particularly greasy beef.
- hn72774 2y ago
  Taco bell plays nice for me. On the other hand, last time I took my family to Chipotle, my kid had liquid poo for 2 weeks with onset a couple hours after eating there. We have never been back since. That place scares the you know what out of me.
  - rendang 2y ago
    You're in a lot more danger of GI infection from fresh produce as in the Chipotle condiments than you are from highly processed, standardized, frozen & reheated fast food.
MichaelZuo 2y ago
They’re not crazy in terms of the cost structure, it’s like the $20 hot dogs in a billion dollar stadium that is half funded by taxes and half funded by loans/bonds. Someone has to pay back the loans and/or bonds plus interest… or a lot of someones chipping in with their hot dogs, tickets, drinks, etc...
onlyrealcuzzo 2y ago
IIUC, virtually all of the crazy airport prices come from management companies like HMS Host, Sodexo, etc - which manage most of the restaurants and stores in airports. Their business model is - they big up the price of all the available spots such that no one can make money unless they charge exorbitant prices. After they capture the majority of the market, they're free to charge a ton of money. How they haven't been charged for collusion and price fixing is beyond me. Anyway, typically, if you find a huge brand like Starbucks or McDonald's - or a brand that owns all its locations (not franchised) like Chipotle, the prices will not be extreme.
- sgerenser 2y ago
  The Starbucks in airports are usually still franchised (which otherwise is rare for Starbucks), and at least a few I’ve encountered are definitely operated by HMS Host.
  - onlyrealcuzzo 2y ago
    Yes, but if you're Starbucks, you'll make an agreement with HMS not to overcharge too much. It looks bad for you to be a >$100B company and trying to price gouge your loyal customers at the airport.
- mrgoldenbrown 2y ago
  I was pleasantly shocked to find a 7-11 in an airport that charged their normal price for coffee.
  - PaulHoule 2y ago
    Certain airports (Salt Lake City, NY metro airports) make a choice to enforce pricing that is representative of outside pricing because the perception of gouging is so bad.
    - seanmcdirmid 2y ago
      Portland (PDX) had really good prices last time I was there. Seatac is OK, they have affordable fast food options and their starbucks is only slightly more expensive than on the outside. European airports are worse. I never spent so much on a coffee than at Zurich's airport. It was swiss markup over the usual swiss markup.
jandrese 2y ago
I noted that the most expensive Taco Bell in the DC/MD/VA region is the one inside of Union Station near the Amtrak terminal.

I wonder if there are any airport located Taco Bells. Those kind of captive locations are notorious for crazy prices.

by tyingq 2y ago

I wonder if there are any airport located Taco Bells. Those kind of captive locations are notorious for crazy prices.

I’ve never seen a Taco Bell in an airport. But Seattle SeaTac has a McDonald’s and its prices are pretty reasonable compared to other Seattle McDonald’s. Actually, at airport is about the only time we eat at McDonald’s these days.

jrm415 2y ago

There is no price I would pay to eat Taco Bell before boarding a flight though.

teaearlgraycold 2y ago
I don't get this joke. I eat Taco Bell occasionally and it's fine on my gut. I don't order the meat, though. Usually I'm getting a black bean crunch wrap with guac instead of nacho cheese.
- raydev 2y ago
  I'm with you but it's a common enough sentiment that there's probably something to it, and I recall friends having issues over the years. For these people at best it's painful gas and at worst is [worse], so there is a large group of people who can't digest a particular common Taco Bell ingredient well. I've seen speculation about undiagnosed lactose intolerance but frankly Taco Bell doesn't use that much cheese on their cheesiest items compared to say, a pizza, which is another very common food in the US and has way more cheese.
  - nsxwolf 2y ago
    I wonder if it's undiagnosed gallbladder issues too.
  - dunham 2y ago
    I haven't had taco bell in a couple of decades, but I used to have issues with the beef shortly after eating there (so probably not bacteria) but no issues with chicken. I suspect my body was not used to the grease, and that taco bell had particularly greasy beef.
hn72774 2y ago
Taco bell plays nice for me. On the other hand, last time I took my family to Chipotle, my kid had liquid poo for 2 weeks with onset a couple hours after eating there. We have never been back since. That place scares the you know what out of me.
- rendang 2y ago
  You're in a lot more danger of GI infection from fresh produce as in the Chipotle condiments than you are from highly processed, standardized, frozen & reheated fast food.

MichaelZuo 2y ago

They’re not crazy in terms of the cost structure, it’s like the $20 hot dogs in a billion dollar stadium that is half funded by taxes and half funded by loans/bonds. Someone has to pay back the loans and/or bonds plus interest… or a lot of someones chipping in with their hot dogs, tickets, drinks, etc...

onlyrealcuzzo 2y ago

IIUC, virtually all of the crazy airport prices come from management companies like HMS Host, Sodexo, etc - which manage most of the restaurants and stores in airports. Their business model is - they big up the price of all the available spots such that no one can make money unless they charge exorbitant prices. After they capture the majority of the market, they're free to charge a ton of money. How they haven't been charged for collusion and price fixing is beyond me. Anyway, typically, if you find a huge brand like Starbucks or McDonald's - or a brand that owns all its locations (not franchised) like Chipotle, the prices will not be extreme.

sgerenser 2y ago
The Starbucks in airports are usually still franchised (which otherwise is rare for Starbucks), and at least a few I’ve encountered are definitely operated by HMS Host.
- onlyrealcuzzo 2y ago
  Yes, but if you're Starbucks, you'll make an agreement with HMS not to overcharge too much. It looks bad for you to be a >$100B company and trying to price gouge your loyal customers at the airport.
mrgoldenbrown 2y ago
I was pleasantly shocked to find a 7-11 in an airport that charged their normal price for coffee.
- PaulHoule 2y ago
  Certain airports (Salt Lake City, NY metro airports) make a choice to enforce pricing that is representative of outside pricing because the perception of gouging is so bad.
  - seanmcdirmid 2y ago
    Portland (PDX) had really good prices last time I was there. Seatac is OK, they have affordable fast food options and their starbucks is only slightly more expensive than on the outside. European airports are worse. I never spent so much on a coffee than at Zurich's airport. It was swiss markup over the usual swiss markup.

jandrese 2y ago

I noted that the most expensive Taco Bell in the DC/MD/VA region is the one inside of Union Station near the Amtrak terminal.