5 ms·

Airport prices in the UK for recreational travel work like so: Flight from London to Barcelona: £16 Bottle of water past security: £5 Train to airport: £26

Airport prices in the UK for recreational travel work like so: Flight from London to Barcelona: £16 Bottle of water past security: £5 Train to airport: £26 Taxi enters drop-off area for 30 seconds: £7 A person who wants to get the advertised flight at the advertised price has to be very careful.

gizajob 9mo ago
Yeah it’s got out and out criminal at this point. Not sure why we should accept a £6.40 charge to drop someone or collect someone from an airport when that’s the actual function and necessity of using an airport. I got charged £100 at COUNCIL OWNED Manchester airport for picking up a friend who accidentally had put themselves in the drop off zone rather than the collect zone. Just completely vile and disgusting corporatism at every single level.
- fc417fc802 9mo ago
  Are you saying they fined you for picking someone up in the drop off area? If so that's pretty wild. It's all just traffic at the end of the day.
  - gizajob 9mo ago
    Yes. They have paid sneaks standing around and the second you do something like that they radio to the people who control the barriers so you can’t get out without paying it. Just completely f*cked state of affairs. https://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/drop-off-zone-terms-and-conditions/ https://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/dro... “ 1.3 Breach of these terms and conditions may result in Parking Charges up to £100. An additional fee of up to £70 may be applied for the costs of debt recovery. 9.1 Drop-off only: The Drop Off Zone may only be used to drop-off passengers and not for pick-up. There are separate designated areas for the pick-up of passengers. Use of the Drop Off Zone for any other purpose will result in the issuance of a Parking Charge.
  - mlrtime 9mo ago
    I do that all the time in certain airports when the drop off is essentially empty with 0 line but pickup is a half mile row of cars.
    - Scoundreller 9mo ago
      Shhhhh
    - account42 9mo ago
      Kinda antisocial. If everyone acted like you the drop off would be clogged as well and some people would miss their flights.
      - fc417fc802 9mo ago
        The drop off is frequently clogged anyway so you have to plan for that. Where I'm at the airport will advise the use of the opposite one if things back up. Early in the morning the departures sign will suggest using arrivals if you see traffic backing up and vice versa in the evening.
kakacik 9mo ago
Price of water from water fountain (to be found on basically any western airport and most non-western I've ever been to) - 0. I get your approach, but say where we live (Switzerland) if you have something not tightly around your body like a fleece jacket, you have to take it off and put it through scanner, this is default. Sometimes they still ask me to go down to t-shirt even if its obvious I don't have anything in pockets. Not worth the hassle for something that is mostly free and probably healthier compared to plastic bottles stored god knows where and how long. I'd imagine if they catch you, you are going for more detailed inspection since its obvious you didn't forget 1kg bottle in clothing you wear by accident.
jeffwass 9mo ago
Even in your own car dropping off your friends or family at a UK airport (at least the London ones) requires paying a £6 fee now. Just to get to the dropoff area, even for 30 seconds as you say. But hey, at least the luggage carts are free…
- gampleman 9mo ago
  In Edinburgh the (small, we often need 2) luggage carts are now £2.
- 0x3f 9mo ago
  Right, but what do you think the alternative is? There is limited space close to the entrance of the terminal, it has to be rationed somehow. Also what happens in practice is people take advantage. A trust-based 30s wouldn't work. Even with the current fees you can hang around Heathrow drop off and see the police having to move people along, check unatended cars, etc.
  - direwolf20 9mo ago
    There's limited space everywhere. It is rationed by people not wanting to be there. There's limited space at the baggage claim but nobody is charging you to be at the baggage claim.
    - 0x3f 9mo ago
      You think people don't want to drop off at the airport? There's literally a multi storey full of short term parking at every Heathrow terminal. They wouldn't fit in the drop off area at all. You are charged to be at the baggage claim. The airline pays it on your behalf, from your fare.
      - direwolf20 9mo ago
        you are not charged to be at the baggage claim
flakeoil 9mo ago
On the other hand, one can also question if the £16 cost for the flight makes any sense. A more correct price would be £500. It's about time that the airlines pay the same taxes for fuel as everyone else.
- yread 9mo ago
  I agree. A mandated minimal price per km.
- HWR_14 9mo ago
  What is the correct cost for a flight leaving in 3 hours with an empty seat? What is the correct cost for a scheduled flight leaving in 2 months with no seats sold yet? Tickets aren't the same price for everyone, and planes fill to variable levels. Plus there are addons like luggage fees and beverages that have a huge markup. What is the best way to solve for that? Besides, it averages something like 53L of fuel/passenger to make that trip. Hardly necessitating £500.
  - flakeoil 9mo ago
    You can do whatever calculations and speculations you want, but the fact is that airlines do not pay any tax on fuel and no VAT on fuel. Not sure why they should not. Another thing with flying is that it is so easy to go long distances as it takes limited time. A trip London-Barcelona is a 1.5-2 day trip one-way by car. You think twice before doing that. An intercontinental trip London-Bangkok is impossible by car, but creates more CO2 than all energy one person uses in a year (heating, cooking, going by car to work etc). Dirt cheap and in the blink of an eye.
    - HWR_14 9mo ago
      > that airlines do not pay any tax on fuel and no VAT on fuel. Not sure why they should not. What a weird rule. In the US they do. Although some of that might go back to attempts made early in aviation to handle the import taxes of airplanes landing with a half full gas tank.
phgn 9mo ago
Take an empty, open water bottle through security and then fill it up at the free water fountains!
- angry_octet 9mo ago
  There is often no free water.
  - smugma 9mo ago
    Which airports?
  - weberer 9mo ago
    I've been all over the USA, continental Europe, and Japan, and there have always been water fountains. Granted, I've never been to one of the "don't drink the tap water" countries.
    - angry_octet 9mo ago
      I just had this experience at CDG, at the AA gate. I really don't know why people seem to think this is a made up problem. You may have found drinkable water at your gate, but airports are big, and your experience is not universal.
  - CGMthrowaway 9mo ago
    Correct, I pay for it for you, every April 15th.
bluebarbet 9mo ago
Tangential, but given the myriad externalities of air transport, such low fares for flying are deeply unethical and a perverse incentive that we are going to need to address one day.
traceroute66 9mo ago
> Taxi enters drop-off area for 30 seconds: £7 To be fair, I entirely understand the absolute necessity for this. The reason for its introduction is before hand the PHVs (Uber etc.) of this world would, instead of using the car parks, go up to the drop-off area and wait there. Because there was no charge and no penalty, what they would do is drop off a passenger and then sit there waiting for their next job to ping on their screen. This became a particular problem at Heathrow T5 where the drop off area is relatively tiny. The result would be that at busy hours, private individuals attempting to drop off their friends and family would be unable to find space and end-up double-parking and causing safety hazards. For a while they tried to use airport Police to enforce it, but the volume of PHVs was just far too great. Hence the cameras, charges and penalties were introduced. It should also be noted that at Heathrow, if you do not want to pay the £7, you can instead drop people off for free at the Long Term Car park and they can get the shuttle bus back to the terminal.
- pc86 9mo ago
  Rather than charge everyone £7 or more for a drop off, wouldn't it make more sense to charge the people abusing it an absurd amount? I'd much rather see a £25 fee after 90 seconds and an additional £125 fee after 5 minutes than £7 for 30 seconds. It seems less about making things more efficient and more about just squeezing a little bit out of money out of everyone.
  - cess11 9mo ago
    That'd be a lot of surveillance and bookkeeping.
    - xp84 9mo ago
      In San Francisco we have toll tags called FasTrak. You can pay for parking at the airport with it. Of course, there, it's just the normal, pretty high airport parking rates, but there's no reason you couldn't use such a tag for enforcing quick free drop offs and pickups with exactly that much precision. Enter the drop/pickup area with your toll tag, if you're out in 3 minutes, no charge. 5 minutes, $4, and if longer than that, $20/hour or whatever. It's not like computers mind doing that math.

gizajob 9mo ago

Yeah it’s got out and out criminal at this point. Not sure why we should accept a £6.40 charge to drop someone or collect someone from an airport when that’s the actual function and necessity of using an airport. I got charged £100 at COUNCIL OWNED Manchester airport for picking up a friend who accidentally had put themselves in the drop off zone rather than the collect zone. Just completely vile and disgusting corporatism at every single level.

fc417fc802 9mo ago
Are you saying they fined you for picking someone up in the drop off area? If so that's pretty wild. It's all just traffic at the end of the day.
- gizajob 9mo ago
  Yes. They have paid sneaks standing around and the second you do something like that they radio to the people who control the barriers so you can’t get out without paying it. Just completely f*cked state of affairs. https://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/drop-off-zone-terms-and-conditions/ https://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/dro... “ 1.3 Breach of these terms and conditions may result in Parking Charges up to £100. An additional fee of up to £70 may be applied for the costs of debt recovery. 9.1 Drop-off only: The Drop Off Zone may only be used to drop-off passengers and not for pick-up. There are separate designated areas for the pick-up of passengers. Use of the Drop Off Zone for any other purpose will result in the issuance of a Parking Charge.
- mlrtime 9mo ago
  I do that all the time in certain airports when the drop off is essentially empty with 0 line but pickup is a half mile row of cars.
  - Scoundreller 9mo ago
    Shhhhh
  - account42 9mo ago
    Kinda antisocial. If everyone acted like you the drop off would be clogged as well and some people would miss their flights.
    - fc417fc802 9mo ago
      The drop off is frequently clogged anyway so you have to plan for that. Where I'm at the airport will advise the use of the opposite one if things back up. Early in the morning the departures sign will suggest using arrivals if you see traffic backing up and vice versa in the evening.

kakacik 9mo ago

Price of water from water fountain (to be found on basically any western airport and most non-western I've ever been to) - 0. I get your approach, but say where we live (Switzerland) if you have something not tightly around your body like a fleece jacket, you have to take it off and put it through scanner, this is default. Sometimes they still ask me to go down to t-shirt even if its obvious I don't have anything in pockets. Not worth the hassle for something that is mostly free and probably healthier compared to plastic bottles stored god knows where and how long. I'd imagine if they catch you, you are going for more detailed inspection since its obvious you didn't forget 1kg bottle in clothing you wear by accident.

jeffwass 9mo ago

Even in your own car dropping off your friends or family at a UK airport (at least the London ones) requires paying a £6 fee now. Just to get to the dropoff area, even for 30 seconds as you say. But hey, at least the luggage carts are free…

gampleman 9mo ago
In Edinburgh the (small, we often need 2) luggage carts are now £2.
0x3f 9mo ago
Right, but what do you think the alternative is? There is limited space close to the entrance of the terminal, it has to be rationed somehow. Also what happens in practice is people take advantage. A trust-based 30s wouldn't work. Even with the current fees you can hang around Heathrow drop off and see the police having to move people along, check unatended cars, etc.
- direwolf20 9mo ago
  There's limited space everywhere. It is rationed by people not wanting to be there. There's limited space at the baggage claim but nobody is charging you to be at the baggage claim.
  - 0x3f 9mo ago
    You think people don't want to drop off at the airport? There's literally a multi storey full of short term parking at every Heathrow terminal. They wouldn't fit in the drop off area at all. You are charged to be at the baggage claim. The airline pays it on your behalf, from your fare.
    - direwolf20 9mo ago
      you are not charged to be at the baggage claim

flakeoil 9mo ago

On the other hand, one can also question if the £16 cost for the flight makes any sense. A more correct price would be £500. It's about time that the airlines pay the same taxes for fuel as everyone else.

yread 9mo ago
I agree. A mandated minimal price per km.
HWR_14 9mo ago
What is the correct cost for a flight leaving in 3 hours with an empty seat? What is the correct cost for a scheduled flight leaving in 2 months with no seats sold yet? Tickets aren't the same price for everyone, and planes fill to variable levels. Plus there are addons like luggage fees and beverages that have a huge markup. What is the best way to solve for that? Besides, it averages something like 53L of fuel/passenger to make that trip. Hardly necessitating £500.
- flakeoil 9mo ago
  You can do whatever calculations and speculations you want, but the fact is that airlines do not pay any tax on fuel and no VAT on fuel. Not sure why they should not. Another thing with flying is that it is so easy to go long distances as it takes limited time. A trip London-Barcelona is a 1.5-2 day trip one-way by car. You think twice before doing that. An intercontinental trip London-Bangkok is impossible by car, but creates more CO2 than all energy one person uses in a year (heating, cooking, going by car to work etc). Dirt cheap and in the blink of an eye.
  - HWR_14 9mo ago
    > that airlines do not pay any tax on fuel and no VAT on fuel. Not sure why they should not. What a weird rule. In the US they do. Although some of that might go back to attempts made early in aviation to handle the import taxes of airplanes landing with a half full gas tank.

phgn 9mo ago

Take an empty, open water bottle through security and then fill it up at the free water fountains!

angry_octet 9mo ago
There is often no free water.
- smugma 9mo ago
  Which airports?
- weberer 9mo ago
  I've been all over the USA, continental Europe, and Japan, and there have always been water fountains. Granted, I've never been to one of the "don't drink the tap water" countries.
  - angry_octet 9mo ago
    I just had this experience at CDG, at the AA gate. I really don't know why people seem to think this is a made up problem. You may have found drinkable water at your gate, but airports are big, and your experience is not universal.
- CGMthrowaway 9mo ago
  Correct, I pay for it for you, every April 15th.

bluebarbet 9mo ago

Tangential, but given the myriad externalities of air transport, such low fares for flying are deeply unethical and a perverse incentive that we are going to need to address one day.

traceroute66 9mo ago

> Taxi enters drop-off area for 30 seconds: £7 To be fair, I entirely understand the absolute necessity for this. The reason for its introduction is before hand the PHVs (Uber etc.) of this world would, instead of using the car parks, go up to the drop-off area and wait there. Because there was no charge and no penalty, what they would do is drop off a passenger and then sit there waiting for their next job to ping on their screen. This became a particular problem at Heathrow T5 where the drop off area is relatively tiny. The result would be that at busy hours, private individuals attempting to drop off their friends and family would be unable to find space and end-up double-parking and causing safety hazards. For a while they tried to use airport Police to enforce it, but the volume of PHVs was just far too great. Hence the cameras, charges and penalties were introduced. It should also be noted that at Heathrow, if you do not want to pay the £7, you can instead drop people off for free at the Long Term Car park and they can get the shuttle bus back to the terminal.

pc86 9mo ago
Rather than charge everyone £7 or more for a drop off, wouldn't it make more sense to charge the people abusing it an absurd amount? I'd much rather see a £25 fee after 90 seconds and an additional £125 fee after 5 minutes than £7 for 30 seconds. It seems less about making things more efficient and more about just squeezing a little bit out of money out of everyone.
- cess11 9mo ago
  That'd be a lot of surveillance and bookkeeping.
  - xp84 9mo ago
    In San Francisco we have toll tags called FasTrak. You can pay for parking at the airport with it. Of course, there, it's just the normal, pretty high airport parking rates, but there's no reason you couldn't use such a tag for enforcing quick free drop offs and pickups with exactly that much precision. Enter the drop/pickup area with your toll tag, if you're out in 3 minutes, no charge. 5 minutes, $4, and if longer than that, $20/hour or whatever. It's not like computers mind doing that math.