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Left Unchallenged, Airfares Skyrocket Until…

Airfares between Boston and Washington, DC — a flight that is only about one hour actually in the air — have skyrocked in recent years to as much as $518 roundtrip.

Take this trip from Wednesday October 27, 2010 until Friday that week:

Over $500 for a one hour flight is crazy, you have to agree, but that is the price being charged by US Airways, Delta, United and American. 

Now, let’s price out that same flight, exactly one week later — leaving on Wednesday Nov. 3 and returning that Friday:

Wow… the fare fell to $149 from $518 on most major carriers — a more than 70% price drop. What’s going on here?

*MOUSE PRINT:

“JetBlue Airways today is proud to announce plans to serve the popular Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), its third airport in the Washington region, with seven daily nonstop flights to Boston’s Logan International Airport (BOS) and one daily nonstop flight each to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) and Orlando International Airport (MCO) beginning November 1, 2010.” — JetBlue press release.

While there was plenty of competition in the Boston to DC market, there wasn’t any real price competition, until JetBlue, a low-cost carrier, entered the market. You really have to wonder how did it come to pass that all those legacy carriers uniformly charged that outrageous $518 price?

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McDonald’s: Proceeds of Happy Meals Donated?

McDonald’s has been advertising that it will donate money to Ronald McDonald House Charities for every Happy Meal sold at participating restaurants.

At HappyMeals.com, they do the same:

In a press release announcing the promotion, the company said:

Today McDonald’s® announced a new in-restaurant fundraising program and online campaign benefiting Ronald McDonald House Charities® (RMHC®) and local children. Beginning this summer participating McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. will donate proceeds from all daily Happy Meal® and Mighty Kids Meal® sales to RMHC — McDonald’s “Charity of Choice” — benefiting more than 11,000 sick and critically ill children and their families every day.

The keyword here is “proceeds” — that they are going to donate the proceeds from the sale of these meals to charity.

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, “proceeds” means:

*MOUSE PRINT:

1 : the total amount brought in [the proceeds of a sale]
2 : the net amount received  [as for a check or from an insurance settlement] after deduction of any discount or charges

Therefore, you might expect the company to be making a very generous contribution per meal, whether proceeds is defined as either the gross or net amount of sales. Whoa, as they say.

So how much is McDonald’s really giving for each Happy Meal sold? According to the fine print in their TV commercial, and a disclosure further down their press release:

*MOUSE PRINT:

The “proceeds” from a $2 or $3 Happy Meal is only a penny? I’m not lovin’ it (nor buying it).

Thanks to Mark G. for this submission.

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Scott Toilet Paper: Here We Shrink Again

In the continuing retail race to shrink the size of a sheet of toilet paper to that of a postage stamp, Scott 1000 sheet rolls have been downsized again.

Exactly four years ago, we reported on Scott shortening each sheet on the roll from 4 inches to 3.7 inches.

Now, they are making each sheet narrower too.

*MOUSE PRINT:

It went from a full 4.5 inches wide to just 4.1 inches wide. A four pack now has almost 42 square feet less paper — a reduction of nine percent.

When the company was asked why they narrowed each sheet, a customer service representative replied:

This makes Scott “comparable with other brands on the market shelf” … and that there was “a slight improvement to make it thicker.”

How much thicker are the sheets now? Probably not too much as the new package weighs a full five ounces less than the old one.

Scott has a long history of downsizing its 1000 sheet rolls: 

Original: 4.5 inches by 4.5 inches

Pre-2006: 4.5 inches by 4.0 inches

9/2006: 4.5 inches by 3.7 inches

9/2010: 4.1 inches by 3.7 inches

The cumulative effect on consumers of all this downsizing is significant. Today’s roll is a full 25% smaller than the original.  Maybe they need to rename the product Scott 750.

As with all products that are downsized inconspicuously, it is a sneaky way to pass on a price increase because the customer is paying the same price, but getting less.

Thanks to eagle-eyed Mouse Print* reader Karen S. for this submission.

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