Just re-reading the thread and seeing the comments re 'extortion', 'money grab' etc it reminded me of a conversation I had with Brant (USA Transfers owner) a while back. I asked him about the price for stopping at supermarkets for an hour. He said, he'd rather not offer that at all, but has to offer it as an optional service because other companies do and for some customers it may be a deciding factor. He also said, if he offered it for free then everyone would want to do it. Let's think about the impact of that. Brant has around 150 vehicles, 200 drivers, and up to 600 services (one service being to or from the airport) per day. Each Cancun service has an allowance of about an hour - this includes not only the travel time, but finding the customer, the loading/unloading of luggage, taking payment, maybe a 5-minute free stop at a convenience store, allowance for bad traffic etc. So a one-hour service costs the consumer $35 one way, or a return $55/2 ($27.50 each way). We can average that out at $30 per hour since there are more return services than one way. That is exactly the cost of a one-hour supermarket stop. Imagine if it was free, or let's say a trivial sum like $10 per hour and the vast majority of people opted for it. Each service would take two hours instead of one, so he'd need to double the number of vehicles and double the number of drivers to maintain the same quantity of services at the same level. Now imagine his cost to double the number of drivers and double the number of vehicles to make the same profit. He'd either have to cut his company's profit in half or double his prices. I've known Brant for almost 20 years. He's as smart as they come, and definitely not an extortionist or money grabber. I just wonder what would be the price to call a cab where you live to travel 13 miles and ask the driver to stop for an hour along the way? More, or less than $60?
Who in the hell needs an hour to pick up this and that, as in liquor, suntan lotion, etc. ? We have never even needed 15 minutes. At the prices they charge it is cheaper to walk across the street and pay the prices they ask for. I can see it if the airline loses your luggage, etc. Or if you want to take a trip on your own during the week.
