Port Authority explains why water bottles are more expensive at airports

The cost of airport food is rising.

Travelers passing through airports tend to wait more to pay for basic items such as water bottles – but why is it much more expensive?

A USA Today reporter shared into a column that she bought a 24-on-bodied water bottle and a snyder’s snyder-snack bag of Hanover Mini Pretzels for a total of $ 9.47 in a Hudson News in John F. Kennedy Airport. The water bottle cost $ 4.99 and the harness costs $ 3.99.

In comparison, 7-11 in its neighborhood in Queens sold the same water bottle for $ 3.29 and the harness options ranged from $ 1.69 for stores in $ 3.69, although they had no accurate harness she bought at JFK airport.

Price rules vary from airport to the airport, and there are no national regulations on how airport retailers set their prices, but in general, many airports mark their prices to balance other costs.

“To compensate for the highest operational costs, many airports add a 10% to 15% difference to local road prices, reflecting the highest costs of operating in safe, high traffic,” the port authority for USA Today in a statement.

Operational costs include higher rental, security, services and staff, which is more complicated and expensive than at smaller airports outside the airplane, as well as the guaranteed increase in living costs for its minimum ownership wage workers, the agency explained.

“To help businesses manage the increase in operational costs, the Port Authority also reviewed its road price policy, allowing sellers to upload up to 15% on local road prices for comparable products, along with an additional 3% addition to employee benefits and retention programs.”

The high load is known as the “Plus Price”, which can be confused, especially when local regulations do not specify what is considered “the price of the road.

“If language is unclear, it gives many ways to interpret that a seller decides what is comparable. They must set strict standards for what they mean at comparable prices,” Alex Jacques, chief of politics and advocacy at the tanks’ economic center, told The Outlet, said Outlet,

The New York Port Authority said its sellers’ prices are based on Deloitte’s annual market audits and market analysis – which is suspected to compare prices at the airport to similar articles in places around the Metro area. The prices are then monitored and approved by managers in the agency.

While the Port Authority is just an example of this price mark, as a major airport operator, the way they operate is similar to many facilities and other airports across the country.

However, lawyers for more transparent prices argue that these operators are not “dumb” and are aware that it is difficult to get food and drinks passed in the safety of the airport, so passengers should get their adjustment from these airport sales.

“They know exactly what kind of environment they have set up at the airport,” Jacquez explained. “There is no competition in space. This gives the country a considerable place of price power.”

Jacquez said the strict road price used at Oregon International Airport is a price model that he believes work well.

Portland Airport does not allow its sellers to load more than outside the airport, and local vendors “are all to get inside the airport.”

Plus, a Portland port spokesman told USA Today that this rule makes the airport feel like another part of the city.

“Focusing on local shops and restaurants, and loading those businesses identical to those that would be out of the airport, travelers get an authentic experience of what our region has to offer,” the airport operator said.

“Plus, we’ve seen that when people are not feeling the Gouged price, they are willing to spend more.”

More often than not, travelers do not really have a choice, but pay more than they would be out of the airport, but there are usually deals to abduct.

According to the Port Authority in New York, their sellers are required to offer at least some essential goods with a discount.

“Concessionaires are required to offer affordable opportunities, such as $ 2 with bottled water and valuable foods, as part of the” We Appreciate You, “the agency said in a statement.