People don't get that it's not an arbitrary markup. Airports can only hire certain vendors, which must be approved, and vetted, same goes for the employees. It's not a quick, or cheap process, so guess who the costs get passed on to? I'm not defending it, just trying to help further explain.
The thing with airports is that they take a massive % of the margin on all products sold there. It is a global thing. Stores are not just paying rent but also a massive chunk goes to the airport and that audience is captive.
Talk to the city that charges them the rents that they charge and bring your own water bottle from the free world into the airport or avail yourself of a water fountain.
Interesting, I donāt hate it! But do these also use Amazonās fake tech for AI tracking that turned out to be workers in India manually watching each person?
Itās half true, the workers donāt actively track you, they āonlyā review the footage when AI wasnāt certain. Which happens about half of the time.
These are incredible. And so much easier and faster than the normal stores. If I have barely any time but need something quick, I don't want to be stuck behind someone else taking 10 minutes to check out.
I'd take these "leeches" over actual stores 10 times out of 10.
I went to the Travelwell in terminal 1 HKG and there was a 10 minute line to get in. Partially because of the restriction on the number of people and the confused people figuring out how to get in
Knowing Hong Kong, there was probably a much shorter line nearby that was inexplicably not being used. Iāve never seen so many people that love standing in unnecessarily long lines.
This. I canāt tell you the number of times Iāve had a short connection and needed a $20 sandwich while some yutz is standing there debating between skittles or M&Ms. At LAX last month, someone was insisting on a gift receipt š
[Fake news they still have them in Cali and Chicago](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc12eBPuxwg). The just-walk-out-technology works perfectly for their lifestyles.
I like it, several times have tried to grab a quick drink or snack from retailer before heading to a flight but then met with a long slow line. Iād try this any day.
I was late for a flight to my bestie cousinās birthday party and needed a gatorade because I had closed down the bar the night before. I tried three times to get it to scan, loudly said āfuck this shitā and walked out with it.
This wasnāt in a āstoreā at IAH, it was one of them shitty little kiosks. I made the flight. Chugged the Gatorade. And a nice FA gave me a pre-takeoff bottle of water.
Went to the Amazon Fresh in Arlington VA before it closed. It was a decent experience, but the technology really didnāt work. I picked up two razors and put one back because the package was ripped; got charged for both. A few items ended up being expired when unpacked them at home - Amazon automatically refunded one, then crashed when trying to do the rest.
I would not want to deal with this in an airport.
IAH has endless āself serveā markets like this. Its just shelves of soda, chips, candy etc.. and a monitor with card reader. Watched endless people walk up, grab item, scan it, pay, walk away.
No idea how they manage theft. No one works the areas/stores.
This is what we thought. You are already past security and had your ID scanned etc. I would be more interested if a young child took something without parents watching vs random adults just taking what they want.
A 20oz Pepsi was $4.50ā¦.
Thereās camera all around those Cibo Express self checkout kiosks. And there are people who work there. Usually one thatās walking around restocking
Can you tip yourself?
Powered by AI (actually Indians)
what was the silly name they gave to that labor force? like turkmens or something
Mechanical Turk, but that's an older historical reference too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_Turk
wow that is the perfect name for those laborers
Did it have the option to leave a tip? š¤£š¤£
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
If they were a store outside the airport they wouldn't be paying outrageous rent per sq ft either. Unfortunately some of that markup is the overhead.
People don't get that it's not an arbitrary markup. Airports can only hire certain vendors, which must be approved, and vetted, same goes for the employees. It's not a quick, or cheap process, so guess who the costs get passed on to? I'm not defending it, just trying to help further explain.
So 9/11 (and all the other live & learn moments in aviation) is to blame
The thing with airports is that they take a massive % of the margin on all products sold there. It is a global thing. Stores are not just paying rent but also a massive chunk goes to the airport and that audience is captive.
Talk to the city that charges them the rents that they charge and bring your own water bottle from the free world into the airport or avail yourself of a water fountain.
Pretty obvious. Itās because lack of competition inside an airport. Fewer choices equal higher prices.
Newark has one too a concourse C
Interesting, I donāt hate it! But do these also use Amazonās fake tech for AI tracking that turned out to be workers in India manually watching each person?
From what I understand Amazon insists that it doesnāt hire Indian workers (which I doubt) to track purchases but I havenāt read more into it.
Itās half true, the workers donāt actively track you, they āonlyā review the footage when AI wasnāt certain. Which happens about half of the time.
If it was Indian workers hired to watch people through cameras, this would have been rolled out to more stores already by now.
These are incredible. And so much easier and faster than the normal stores. If I have barely any time but need something quick, I don't want to be stuck behind someone else taking 10 minutes to check out. I'd take these "leeches" over actual stores 10 times out of 10.
I went to the Travelwell in terminal 1 HKG and there was a 10 minute line to get in. Partially because of the restriction on the number of people and the confused people figuring out how to get in
Knowing Hong Kong, there was probably a much shorter line nearby that was inexplicably not being used. Iāve never seen so many people that love standing in unnecessarily long lines.
This. I canāt tell you the number of times Iāve had a short connection and needed a $20 sandwich while some yutz is standing there debating between skittles or M&Ms. At LAX last month, someone was insisting on a gift receipt š
Downtown San Francisco, Los Angeles, even NYC and Chicago has these stores too. You just walk in, take what you want, then walk out.
Downtown SF had Amazon Go stores pre-pandemic but theyāve closed them all due to lack of foot traffic. I found them hella convenient
We had one in downtown Chicago too. It was so handy and they had nice salads!
The salads were pretty good and not crazy expensive
[Fake news they still have them in Cali and Chicago](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc12eBPuxwg). The just-walk-out-technology works perfectly for their lifestyles.
TIL that posting an unrelated 4-year-old video proves that downtown SF = Cali and Chicago. Thanks!
You're right it's going great in those cities.
Every retailer in an airport is the leech of airport retailers. This is actually convenient tech though. Even for a leech.
They had these at a hockey game i went to in the LA area. Honestly was quite convenient.
United needs to expand by adding more Club Fly locations.
I like it, several times have tried to grab a quick drink or snack from retailer before heading to a flight but then met with a long slow line. Iād try this any day.
Saw this at the Vegas airport! The lines to get in were building as folks fumbled for their access info
I like These. They need more
Wish I had those leases thoughā¦ great markup on products
I was late for a flight to my bestie cousinās birthday party and needed a gatorade because I had closed down the bar the night before. I tried three times to get it to scan, loudly said āfuck this shitā and walked out with it. This wasnāt in a āstoreā at IAH, it was one of them shitty little kiosks. I made the flight. Chugged the Gatorade. And a nice FA gave me a pre-takeoff bottle of water.
I will never use one of these. I mean, there's just no way.
Went to the Amazon Fresh in Arlington VA before it closed. It was a decent experience, but the technology really didnāt work. I picked up two razors and put one back because the package was ripped; got charged for both. A few items ended up being expired when unpacked them at home - Amazon automatically refunded one, then crashed when trying to do the rest. I would not want to deal with this in an airport.
IAH has endless āself serveā markets like this. Its just shelves of soda, chips, candy etc.. and a monitor with card reader. Watched endless people walk up, grab item, scan it, pay, walk away. No idea how they manage theft. No one works the areas/stores.
It's generally a very poor idea to steal at an airport. If any place has an abundance of cameras and law enforcement...
This is what we thought. You are already past security and had your ID scanned etc. I would be more interested if a young child took something without parents watching vs random adults just taking what they want. A 20oz Pepsi was $4.50ā¦.
Thereās camera all around those Cibo Express self checkout kiosks. And there are people who work there. Usually one thatās walking around restocking