I have cut way back on going to fast food places, not because it isn't healthy, but because the prices have gone up so much. Like a Big Mac is now about $6 including tax. Then today, I see this. Opinions? Wendy'''s to roll out Uber-style surge-pricing, with menu prices fluctuating based on demand | Fox Business Another story on the topic said that surge pricing is estimated to increase the profit of each Wendy's store by $50 per hour. If it works.

Probably not going to work out well for them...

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Life Member GOA and NRA

I live within par 5 range of over a dozen fast food joints. We don't mind splurging on them occasionally as the boys consider them treats.

Works for me.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Vacation places and gasoline prices have always been higher during high demand. Now fast food and restaurants. What will be next? Larry

Wendy's has come up with an interesting way to look at prices. Their menu is rumored to be going to 'fluid' pricing, factoring in demand in real time. So, don't be surprised if your Baconator changes price right before your eyes!

p.s. What is not increasing in price? Have I overlooked a bargain somewhere?

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NRA Endowment Member

No problem for me, I never set foot in a fast food joint, but I would love some xtra crispy KFC.

Paid $.59/ box 50 Federal copper plated "HiSpeed" .22lr @R&S Home and Auto in 1966. According to the "official inflation calculator" they would be $5.62 today. Just bought a batch of the same cartridges for the equivalent of $3.10/50 (bulk box @$.062 rd, delivered). Screaming bargain, a little over half where it should be in the current market. I'd buy more but I'm broke and my house is about to tip over. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

I have three major fast food joints, plus a faux deli in the gas station, all less than two blocks away. All walking distance. When I think of fast food these days, I drive 3 miles to the best Chinese takeout in the area, pick the veggies and meats I want, the amount I want, and pay and walk out.

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Heavily armed old man.

As late as the later 2000s, bulk pack .22s were selling at around 2 cents per round.

Sunday I got a double cheeseburger and small drink at a Jack in the Box in the St Louis area. $10.21. ��

A while back I went into a KFC which had a backed up grease trap.
It was several years before before I could go into one.
Thank God for drive throughs!

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Costco hot dog.

I had this a few nights ago. $11.59. Tasty and filling. I gave the 16 oz drink that came with it to JR as I already had one.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Locally, JITB is nearly defunct. Most locations have been closed or taken over by other fast food chains within the past five years. The few that remain open seldom have any customers. Not sure why those remain. At one time it was our favorite FF place. I wouldn't go there today.

It's even happening to some of the local owned cafes. Our local Greasy Greek Gut Grenade supplier has raised prices quite a lot. I won't mention the name but they are family owned and have been in business for 101 years. They are now 4th generation owned. I hadn't been in a while but I ordered two greasy Greek sliders, curly Q French fries and a drink. The total was $19.95 including tax. I tipped the usual $2.00 that I have been tipping for the last 40 years. I ate there a couple of years ago and paid about $10.00 for the same meal. I'm making my own at home more now unless I'm on the road. The same thing has happened with pizzas. You now get a smaller "large" with cheaper ingredients and a higher price. I have found that by shopping around and watching sales I can save a lot of money and eat better quality food...except when I'm traveling.

I avoid it due to health concerns. But prices do seem to be nuts. Paying these kids $15hr. is not a good business plan.

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No baby we aint

Menu prices increases are a reflection of cost pressures
Starting with labor which was never an easy thing. There are pressures from organized labor targeting fast food(Enabled by NLRB), legislative action (Many in our society now believes an entry level job should afford a family with higher wages and paid time off) The concept of an entry level job is no more. Many potential workers became accustomed to not working during past several years and seek more gig work. Restaurant work can be hard. I’m prob missing a few other serious matters but bottom line is: Staffing a restaurant with decent people is challenging these days.

Also
Food, paper and other commodities all up significantly
Utilities and insurance too…all increased. I’m sure I have left off a few items. It’s late…


A former President once declared “Elections have consequences”. In my opinion we are enjoying many of those consequences today.

My idea of fast food is an apple or a banana.

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My Daddy was a pistol..

I would have gone with Pronghorn.

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The best I can with what I got

I'm not really big on fast food or even restaurants anymore. Partly because I can make better food myself, but more because I find it repulsive being served by someone who looks like they fell face first in a tackle box.

On the original topic, I think Wendy's is trying out a method to move their "stale inventory". When you have too many burgers that have been around too long, you should throw them out.

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Kind regards, Heinz

The biggest bummer is no Skyline Chili here.

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Common sense isn't so common.

They go into the chili.

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Common sense isn't so common.

Avoided unless out and about and there’s not a non chain around.

I hate paying more for ****** food, you are what you eat.

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Sure you did

I use to stop at Wendy's for a Junior Cheeseburger Deluxe on the way to my favorite outdoor range. A snack before a shoot helps reduce jitters from low sugar or coffees.

Three years ago, before the dollar's value dived and inflation flared, the Jr. Cheeseburger Deluxe was $1.69. Today, it costs $2.69.

We can thank congress for our economy's downward spiral and huge price increases at fast food, eat-in restaurants, and our grocery stores that take big bites from our wallets.

It’s not like you make the same money you did years ago. I make a heck of a lot more money than I used to. You want to save money at Wendy’s? Don’t go there.

20 years ago, I paid $475 for a 4 inch 629-4 Mountain Gun and thought that was crazy. Have you priced one of those lately?

Prices go up. That’s life.

I haven’t eaten in a fast food place in years. I don’t trust what they feed you.

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Eccentric old coot

Fast food in my world doesn't exist. If I hit the 5-6 big fast food joints once every few years it's a lot. If I go out to lunch it's restaurants and diners. Probably not much better, but it's an internal victory to pass on whoppers and the like.

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paws for friendship

Let's for the sake of argument, it works and they stick with it. Everybody else will do it. Then we'll have the "Burger Buddy" app that gives you the cheapest cheeseburger in a 2 mile radius. Oh joy.

I don't go to these places often, but I did happen to go to McDonalds yesterday because I was hungry and in a hurry. A Big Mac meal was $10.00!

In my working days I would go to fast food places for lunch once a week or so. It seemed everybody tried to keep their combos around $5.00. One problem I see with Wendy's plan is many who eat at these places are on a budget, and not knowing what lunch is going to cost might be an issue.

On our way home from camp we often stop at a McD drive-thru for a snack. Last week 2 small shakes and 2 small FF cost $16.00. I was shocked. And the governor wants to raise the minimum wage even higher.

I heard that nonsense this a/m. I think Wendy's will get a taste of what Anheiuser-Busch experienced with Bud-Light. The consumer will smack them hard.

Our main FF patronage is mainly at Whataburger. Their menu prices are no better than the other FF chains, but they have more coupons and a pretty good loyalty program. And soft drinks are always free for seniors.

So I guess that, that fast food chain will have a new sticker added to their menue, that states..................

" or Higher ".

The only time I stop at a fast-food joint is when I'm on a road trip and don't want to take time to stop for a restaurant meal. I don't travel much at all anymore and am in a hurry even less, so they can do whatever they want with pricing. I won't be contributing much, if at all.

I have some difficulty in understanding the logic of surge pricing in any context. Other than businesses can use it make more profit by fleecing their customers. Seems to me that it should be called customer loyalty destruction pricing.

Everything's going up, damn guns fault!

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Dave Ramsey Cultist

That's at least two meals for me.

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Release the Kraken

My usual fast food place is a cup of "java" and a do-not. Prices in the last 3 years have gone up, a $1 cup of coffee = $2.29 with a do-not at $1.25. My wife and I use to go to 5Guys for burgers and fries cost was $18.00 now its $29.00 for the same meal. We now eat a lot of home cooked meals with "left overs", that and dogfood for my two shepherds now runs at $500 a month. I miss the "good old days".

Wages and materials costs are not the only things weighing down the fast food industry. Energy costs increased dramatically starting almost exactly two years ago? (Small clue there)

Pretty much all fast food places cook using natural gas. Did you see how much it jumped in price two years ago? The local utilities commission is debating another request for a price rise here in NV. It's expected to increase domestic bills by another $101/year on top of the already high rates. Now translate that into a fast food business with gas ranges going all day.

Then there is electricity, which also saw big rate increases starting in 2022. There comes a point when all the LED lights in the world cannot shield you from the increased cost of electricity.

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Release the Kraken

I guess my wife and I must have small appetites. We split a 5-Guys double patty cheeseburger and fries. It makes a more than adequate meal for us.

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Release the Kraken

My take on this surge pricing is that it’s driven by headcount. After all, costs walk in on two feet. During slow periods having a full complement of staff just standing around is a very bad business model. And so, during rush hour when there is a lot of help, you have to pay for it. Like in racing, speed cost money, how fast do you want to go?

But you have to admit. Wendy’s has some good commercials.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

I very seldom eat any fast food stuff any more, since I came down with a-fib/flutter and my doctor put me on a low sodium diet. Since getting on that, my awareness of just how much salt they put in fast food and prepared food has increased a hundredfold. I had an ablation done last April, which set me back in normal sinus rhythm but I am still continuing the low sodium diet fairly well. I do cheat every once in a while and eat out, but not at a fast food joint.

I just read about this somewhere. Sounds kinda crazy? I do not eat there are any place like it.


Free Hamburgers tomorrow

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Still Running Against the Wind

I’m in my truck all day driving around, visiting my construction projects and don’t take a lunch break other than grabbing something quick to eat at a drive-through. At 64 I can smell food and gain weight so I try to eat very small meals. I might stop by Freddy’s and get a small cheeseburger and a cup of water and not eat much of the bun or go to taco Bueno and get a combination burrito with no tortilla. After church on Sunday, we love to go to Longhorn steakhouse and split a ribeye dinner and a slice of buttermilk pie. Jana is 5 feet 6 and 117 pounds so she doesn’t eat much either and she’s a good influence on me and I feel better and my stomach definitely feels better when I don’t eat a lot of greasy fast food.

After trap shooting awhile back I was hungry so I drove to the local BK. Double whopper and medium fry, $14.27. Never again.

I can think of no business venture where the customer base likes congestion pricing or un-bundling. It baffles me that big corporations like Wendy's spent large sums with consultants and market research organizations to come up with selling strategies so repugnant to consumers. Makes me appreciate the visionary single minded entrepreneurs (i.e. Ray Kroc, Sam Walton) that built successful organizations as opposed to cowardly committees of partly qualified managers that depend on the likes of McKenzie, Boston, et al.

"Surge pricing" is a self-correcting process. Once customers are exposed to it, they will learn to go at off hours or will go elsewhere. The "surge" will disappear, and prices will return to normal.

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What, me worry?

Sounds like some MBA types have moved into Wendy's management with their latest whiz-bang, golly-gee, latest great ideas to maximize profits.

I get hungry during the traditional meal hours and will drive through any number of FF places depending on which ones are on my side of the road.
However, I will scratch Wendy's off my list if I can't be assured that their prices haven't surged today, as compared to a few hours ago.