Originally Posted by
B2N2
You are more then willing to pay for the cost of taking a helicopter for your “$100 hamburger” but you balk at the landing fee.
Have you asked yourself what the requirements and liabilities are for having a helicopter landing area?
You think those costs shouldn’t be passed on to you somehow?
Simple math:
Permitting, licensing, insurance, maintenance pick a number.
1500/year. You accommodate an average of 10 landings/year > 150/landing please.
Or should they just up the price for lunch by 50 for everyone so could can bring a helicopter in for free?
I think you're missing some context; in the UK none of that is necessarily required and it's not unusual to just ring a place and ask if they have an open field nearby to land at so you can pop by for lunch or stay overnight. The uneven ground comes for free and there shouldn't be any associated costs for the business with having the odd helicopter stop in every now and then. By charging a landing fee they are saying 'we want this much extra money from you because you're coming by helicopter and we want more of your money' - you're not paying for any specialised staff or additional facilities that a wouldn't be necessary had you come by car. I've been to places before that simply put a tenner on the bill for the shortly endured noise for the diners (we were landing mighty close to the tables to be fair), but I agree with the OP that £150 is cheeky at best.