As someone who travels frequently for both business and pleasure, I've gotten very skilled at handling many of the difficulties that travelers frequently experience at airports.
To avoid waiting in line at check-in, I check in online and only bring my carry-on luggage when necessary.
To speed through security, I always have my drinks wrapped in a transparent bag.
The caliber and cost of the food offered in airports, though, continue to astound me.
I try to completely avoid eating at airport food concessions in order to get around this particular annoyance.
In a stand-up routine, Jerry Seinfeld discusses the price of food in airports in a scene from the classic 1990s comedy "Seinfeld," which still makes me giggle today because of how accurate it is.
Do you believe that the store owners at the airport are aware of the costs elsewhere in the world, or do you believe they merely believe they are in command of their own small country and can set whatever prices they please?
You are hungry?
$9.00 gets you a tuna sandwich.
Tuna is very uncommon here.
The tuna sandwich stands, in my opinion, are the only real purpose of the entire airport/airline complex.
I believe that the entire aviation business is supported by financial success.
Consider it, I mean.
the airports and the aircraft.
It's all a distraction meant to keep you from noticing the beating you're giving the fish.
Inflation-adjusted, that $9 from 1990 would be equivalent to $19 now.
I usually grin when I consider the exorbitant costs of food and beverages in airport terminals because I remember how absurd the costs were in the early 1990s and how they have remained.
My own memories involve being asked to pay $10 (£8.70) for a bottle of water earlier this year at the Punta Cana Airport in the Dominican Republic (I gasped, handed it back, and walked out).
Additionally, I once spent $17.50 for a poor pre-made chicken wrap at Atlanta International Airport (ATL) that was so "un-fresh" that the wrap's edges had become wet and mushy.
Not just Jerry Seinfeld and I have noticed this.
Early this year, a $27 beer prompted the organization in charge of the three main airports in the New York City region to take action against exorbitant food and drink pricing.
A Port Authority of New York and New Jersey investigation found numerous instances of beer and food being sold to customers in these airports at "totally indefensible" prices. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is in charge of LaGuardia Airport (LGA), John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).
The Port Authority claims to have subsequently introduced new pricing guidelines for concessions at the three airports serving New York/New Jersey, capping food and beverage costs at what is referred to as neighborhood "street prices."
The new regulation permits a maximum 10% premium to be applied to the selling of these products.
The agency claimed that one of the issues was that the prior street pricing policy's directions to sellers were not clear enough.
That problem is apparently addressed by the revisions.
What other options are there for preventing hunger pangs while traveling abroad?
My colleague arrives at his departure airport just before takeoff and rushes to the gate in order to spend the least amount of time feasible there.
That would be a smart course of action prior to COVID-19.
However, I wouldn't advise showing up 45 minutes before departure and believing things will go without a hitch in light of the airport meltdowns Europe saw over the course of this past summer.
When it's possible, I try to dine in airport lounges.
I try to keep in mind to check whether a lounge is accessible, whether it will be open when I get there, and most importantly, whether I can access it before I get to the airport.
With my British Airways status, Amex Platinum status, and Priority Pass membership, I frequently have little trouble locating a lounge.
I can typically make myself a salad or a sandwich that would be relatively comparable to what I may have at home, and best of all, it's free. The food offered may not be refined or particularly nourishing.
I try to eat at home or on the way to the airport if there isn't a lounge available.
Sometimes I wait and eat while flying.
The food served on planes is typically not much better than what is served in the terminals.
However, I at least don't have to pay for it if I'm flying with a full-service airline.
I will occasionally browse the terminal food outlets if I am without access to a lounge and am unable to eat before the flight or on the plane.
But normally I would rather sit at the gate hungry than spend good money on a poor airport dinner due to the eye-popping costs and a short glance at the food.
In conclusion
If you're OK with a quick takeaway like a Boots meal package or a croissant and coffee from Pret A Manger, British travelers are fairly fortunate with airport food prices.
While hardly gourmet, their cuisine isn't horrendously bad, and their prices are rarely ridiculous.
In other places, I might be willing to pay the exorbitant costs charged if the airport cuisine at least tasted excellent.
However, the few times I've gotten a sandwich or burger in the past for £15 ($17.85) or more, I've consistently been unhappy with the quality I received for the price spent and scolded myself for making this mistake.
Fortunately, airport lounges have come to my rescue and frequently fill the void.
In any other case, I would prefer to go without eating than pay those outrageous amounts for standard food and beverages in an airport.
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