Rant: My old trick for cheap airport food is basically dead now

Three years ago, I could always find a decent sandwich for under $5 at the little grocery store inside the Denver airport before security. Last month, I went back and that same spot is a fancy coffee bar with $12 avocado toast. I had to walk all the way to the far end of Concourse B to find a basic snack counter. Has anyone else noticed their go-to cheap airport spots disappearing?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_tessa1mo ago

Honestly, it's the same story with train stations and even some hospitals now. They've figured out we're a captive audience with nowhere else to go, so they just keep pushing the prices higher for the same basic stuff. It feels less like a service and more like they're just trying to squeeze every last dollar out of you while you're stuck there. That shift from a simple grocery store to a fancy coffee bar is the perfect example of the whole vibe change.

uma_johnson1mo ago

My friend got stuck at O'Hare last Tuesday and tried to buy a banana. The only place open near her gate was a craft beer spot that charged four dollars for it. She said she just put it back and waited for the flight, which was delayed two hours. It feels like they design the place now so you have no choice but to spend twenty bucks on a sad salad. She used to always get a cheap pretzel there too, but that stand is gone. The whole experience just seems mean on purpose.

kai_park17d ago

Oh COME ON, you're really gonna pretend like a dollar store banana is some kind of basic human right at an airport? I get it, four bucks is steep for a piece of fruit. But here's the thing - airports aren't grocery stores, they're private businesses running on sky-high rent and 24/7 operations. That craft beer spot probably pays more in rent per month than we make in a year. Plus, that sad salad your friend passed up? It's probably got fresher ingredients than anything you'd find at a regular fast food joint. I remember when O'Hare had those sad little vending machines with stale chips - you couldn't even get a banana AT ALL back then. Yeah, it's expensive. But you're literally standing under a roof that was built to move 80 million people through it every year. Someone's gotta pay for that concrete and those fancy moving walkways.