Brooklyn resident Cooper Lund was charged $27 for a single glass of Sam Adams Summer Ale at a restaurant inside LaGuardia Airport and took to social media to express his outrage. It turns out that he wasn’t alone in his anger at having shell out that much money, when he could have gotten a 12-pack for a mere $17 elsewhere. A second traveler shared a photo of an $11 serving of fries that was offered at a restaurant inside Newark Liberty International Airport. An investigation was immediately launched, revealing that 25 customers were charged between $23 and $27 for a single beer, which officials described as “totally indefensible. All of those customers were immediately issued refunds. The Office of the Inspector General has published a 35-page change to policy guidelines for airport concessionaires, and the biggest takeaway is that it has set a maximum cap price for New York and New Jersey airport concessions at “local street prices” plus a surcharge of 10%. “Nobody should have to fork over such an exorbitant amount for a beer,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole. For their part in the incident, retailers at LaGuardia and Newark airports say the $28 beer and $11 fries were the result of employees simply entering the wrong prices. The Office of Inspector General is asking anyone who is overcharged for food or beverages at the airport restaurants to let them know on social media.
