News and notes from around the interweb:
- Concessionaires at Denver airport appear to be overcharging customers, violating street pricing rules, across the board:
Denver International Airport pricing investigation shows basically every business in the airport is breaking the law
There is a law that says items sold can only be marked up 15% from comparable items outside the airport. Here’s how much they are marked up
– McDonald’s +114%… pic.twitter.com/pbj8Htcryj
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) February 11, 2026
- On overlapping routes from Chicago-O’Hare, American and United Airlines share almost equal load factors
- This is such a bad experience. Airlines keep forcing passengers to give up their carry-on bags, even when there’s still plenty of room onboard. Gate agents are afraid that passengers won’t have room at some point, and it’s better to block them from boarding with bags before that happens, or else it’ll take precious moments before departure to gate check them. If they waited until flight attendants told them bins were full, it would be too late. Nobody has figured out how to manage this well.
Hey @united, can you explain why I was told there’s no more bin space and had to check my bag after paying extra for a ticket that included a carry-on? (We’ll talk about the no-carry-on policy for basic economy another time. Frontier airlines much?) pic.twitter.com/3B76Uf6aoP
— Alexa Gervasi (@AlexaGervasi) February 11, 2026
What’s the deal @AmericanAir? You force everyone to check their bag b/c overhead compartments are full but we get on and multiples ones are completely empty.
And then crew snaps at ppl who try and out their back packs in the empty bins claiming they’ll check if they don’t… pic.twitter.com/751CSYr3Qa
— Kelsie Taggart (@kelsientaggart) February 11, 2026
- Seven years later, still funny
The napkin appreciation post reminded me of this gem/disaster. I still have the napkin.
by
u/amnonymous in
delta - Can American Airlines turn itself around?
- Waymo is hiring DoorDash drivers to close vehicle doors in Atlanta. Apparently if a door is slightly ajar, Waymo vehicles can’t move – and this cannot be addressed remotely.
Los Angeles, CA (NOV. 28. 2025)
If you were wondering how Waymo resolves doors left open…BTW- why didn’t Tesla make the model Y doors self closing to mitigate this issue for Robotaxi use?#SunsetProject pic.twitter.com/vlWMkjXQYL
— No Safe Words (@Cyber_Trailer) November 28, 2025
@Denver Refugee — We await your ‘hot take,’ sir!
I would guess that the rent at the airport for concession space is much higher than that outside so the 15% more rule on comparable items may be squeezing the concessionaires. Labor also would likely cost more due to extra time getting to work and getting back home. I would not really call that overcharging because it is done with real world calculations. It would be interesting to see the costs of an airport McDonald’s vs one just outside of the airport. Further, it would be interesting to see the overall profit. Maybe the volume is high enough that the 15% rule is justified.
Another annoying thing about the Denver airport McDonalds (and all airport / leased McDs but I have just personally experienced it at the Denver one) is that you can’t use your points there. Because it is a leased location, they “opt out” of the McDonalds Rewards program
It sounds like the overhead bin nearly empty problem should be fought with potential airplane delays. Make sure to carry a lithium ion power bank in all carry-on luggage. Keep all luggage at the seat and out of sight until the last passenger is ready to sit down then open the bins and put the luggage in. Alternately wait until the final round of seat inspections and have the luggage out. The flight attendants will not want to to delay the flight to take luggage and put it in the hold so they will have to put it into the overhead bin. Enough people doing this will cause changes, maybe for the better and maybe for the worse. Most of the flight attendant’s fight is against cabin sized roller bags which I have quit carrying.
We’ll all get a check for $2.59 in seven or eight years.
Comparing load factors don’t mean much if one airline is flying 787s and the other has CRJs.