Posted on 09/06/2017 9:47:50 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
Flying mid week, with no advance tickets?
Welcome to the world of business travel.
To address the price situation of inventory.
If you are setting your prices based on what your last delivery costs, you will be out of business soon. You need to price your products based on what it is going to cost next week.
That is why gas prices are fast to go up, but slow to come down.
Starting with the airlines what you tow do not take into account is that there won’t be any return flights to Florida once those aircraft leave. The prices of the airfares have to cover the airlines’ cost of operations when they have to pay to park these aircraft somewhere instead of operating them.
As to the $42 case of water the higher price includes the vendors higher costs to get more water delivered into a flood zone.
Do you two really expect that every private business can afford to absorb all of the costs of a disaster without passing some of it on to their customers?
If you two think everyone should have free water in a disaster then donate to a charity like Samaritan’s Purse:
https://www.samaritanspurse.org/
But if you expect that private businesses are supposed to morph into social welfare agencies when it suits you then you might be on the wrong forum.
Before you jump to any conclusions about me let me tell you that we run bison on our ranch and every now and then that means we get stuck in the middle of heavy snows needing to buy alfafa.
Normally alfafa runs like $9 to $10 per bale. But during heavy snows...when we need it most...the cost can rise to as much as $50 and even $60 per bale.
That’s because we’re paying for the delivery and we’re paying for the delivery truck and driver to take the risk of wrecking in the snow and maybe even getting killed trying to get alfafa to us. So we pay what we have to pay.
If you’re in the midst of a devastated part of Houston then you’re fortunate to even have access to an open store. But you have to acknowledge that the cost of resupplying that store has to come from somewhere and that’s the consumer.
Retail price controls don’t have any effect on wholesale delivery costs so what these price controls end up doing is closing stores in the areas that need them the most.
Look at Venezuela which is in the midst of a disaster every bit as bad as a hurricane and their retail price controls have put entire industries out of business and now people are starving.
Is that what you want? Of course not.
Then leave the retailers in Texas alone and don’t support this stupid price control laws.
- Megan
When my bride and I got married in October 2004, her cousin gave us tickets to any condo she had access to. We looked at one in the Caribbean, till the ticket agent asked if we wanted hurricane insurance.
It was a package to guarantee an early flight out if a storm was on the way, and was VERY expensive. The agent (remember those?) said few took the insurance. Looking at the odds (we booked in January of that year) we went to Maine instead.
I am very paranoid about being on an island in a hurricane. I can’t imagine what your friends are going through.
Not to mention neighbors, governments, and churches attacking them as hoarders.
What exactly are they going to sue for. That the planes from Puerto Rico to fla (which are probably full) aren’t stopping in the Turks to pick them up? That jet blue isn’t chartering airplanes to get them out? Jet blue didn’t strand the people there. They didnt have tickets to get out before the storm. Jet blue isn’t responsible for getting people out of harms way because they flew into an island on their planes. What would be the claim in their lawsuit.
There’s reasonable response to an increase in demand due to a weather event as far as price hikes, and there’s profiteering verging upon piracy in response to an increase in demand due to a weather event. What we’re looking at isn’t reasonable. I hope the people who are being gouged have a very long memory and tell everyone they know. These airlines are not winning themselves any converts, that’s for sure.
I am assuming that the airport on the island is still open.. I have been to the Caribbean a couple times myself, and one thing to note is that the take-off’s and landings can be difficult due to island terrain. On St. Martin, I know from experience that many if not all planes are not allowed to arrive or depart after dark. Not to diminish the plight of your friends, but there are issues that are beyond the control of the airline. The length of the runway and the availability of planes that can land on island runways can be a factor as well. I really do hope for the best for your friends, but I just don’t see that it’s the responsibility of the airline to change a ticket for someone who books a trip to the Caribbean during hurricane season.
Looking at the story, I am shocked the price isn’t more.
I sometimes have to fly on short notice. I have paid more for a shorter flight.
Perception and the way people vote
has little to do with reality, unfortunately.
Higher prices also provide an incentive for enterprising and adventurous souls to increase the supply of the water (or other essentials).
The choice is between: a ‘fair’ distribution of insufficient quantities; or, increasing prices to increase the supplies to adequate levels.
I have a friend who was stationed at a small military facility. They had a gas station for members and dependents. The gas was priced at what the military paid for it. It was a good deal if it was bought low and then prices rose, but took months to drain the tank if it was bought when gas prices were high and then went down.
You’re right about mandatory reading.
I like the example of fuel.
Say a gas station has 5000 gallon underground tanks. If there is an evacuation and each person who needs gas puts in 15 gallons, 333 people can fill up their car. Assuming the tank is completely full to begin with.
Statistically, there is one gas station per 2880 citizens. But, in this town, there are only 20 stations for 100,000 people. Assuming an evacuation of a town of 100,000 put 2 to a car. 20% of them needed gas. That’s 20,000 people who get 12 gallons each. That’s 240,000 gallons of gas but the available fuel in town is only 100,000 gallons. (twenty stations, 5000 gallons each) That means the first 8300 cars get filled up and 11,700 people get to ride out the storm in their cars.
Or, The station owner changes the price to $8 a gallon. The first 8300 people get 4 gallons of gas, then the next 11,700 get 4 gallons of gas. They all get to safety and to cheaper gas where they fill up. The stations now also have 20,000 gallons of gas available to police and emergency services who may need fuel immediately after the storm.
Such is the goodness of “price gouging”
Airlines have been price-gouging last minute tickets for as long as I can remember.
A store in Houston was caught charging $42 for a case of bottled water.
And, they were correct. It was not a 24 pack case, but 30 pack case, and for liter bottles. Maybe you didn’t know that, but that’s actually a little cheap. 30 liters of water for $42 bucks, less than $1.50 a bottle. Go to 7/11, Valero, Kum N Go, and price a liter bottle of water.
My nephew lives in Tallahassee. He said he couldn’t stock up on bottled water yesterday. The store was sold out already.
Well he should start filling containers, as a backstop, if it gets bad, then turn off the gas on the water heater and you have 30 to 50 gallons of good clean water to drink.
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