{"id":1037255,"date":"2026-09-01T17:56:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T17:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1037255\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T17:56:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T17:56:16","slug":"4-59-for-bottled-water-ksat-investigates-finds-san-antonio-airport-prices-exceed-markup-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1037255\/","title":{"rendered":"$4.59 for bottled water? KSAT Investigates finds San Antonio airport prices exceed markup policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO<\/strong> \u2013 Anyone traveling through the San Antonio International Airport ahead of Labor Day weekend might want to pack snacks ahead of time. <\/p>\n

In an effort to keep prices reasonable, the airport has a pricing policy for travel essentials. However, a KSAT investigation found travelers are still paying a high price. <\/p>\n

KSAT Investigates<\/p>\n

Hard-hitting journalism from the KSAT Investigates team delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n

The price of convenience<\/p>\n

KSAT Investigates spoke with a traveler who stopped inside a convenience store in an airport terminal to grab a bottle of soda. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019d you think of the prices?\u201d KSAT Investigates asked. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was crazy,\u201d the traveler said. \u201c$3.50 for a Pepsi is outrageous.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are dozens of places inside the airport<\/a> to pick up last-minute souvenirs and snacks. More spots are expected to open. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to offer the right amenities to our passengers is really important,\u201d San Antonio International Airport aviation deputy director Sam Rodriguez said. <\/p>\n

Rodriguez explained vendors have to follow a pricing policy to keep prices within 10% of street pricing. <\/p>\n

Earlier this summer, KSAT Investigates looked at the prices for a dozen travel essentials like drinks, medicine, and snacks. <\/p>\n

KSAT Investigates tests the airport\u2019s 10% pricing policy<\/p>\n

KSAT Investigates compared the airport prices to the prices at Target, H-E-B and Walmart. <\/p>\n

KSAT found the airport charged more than 10% for the same items found at the big box stores. Those findings were brough to Rodriguez\u2019s attention. <\/p>\n

KSAT Investigates reporter Daniela Ibarra looks at the price of travel essentials at the San Antonio International Airport. (Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I think you\u2019ve got to look at the different types,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure if you went to H-E-B and Walmart and some of the big stores. Our stores are not huge stores. You\u2019re talking about a 60 to 100,000-square foot facility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez said prices at the big box stores are not comparable to the airport\u2019s pricing. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy initial reaction to that is \u2014 you\u2019ve gotta look at what\u2019s the convenience store pricing,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

After the interview, KSAT Investigates checked out the prices at a few convenience stores.<\/p>\n

The Q Mart, located near the airport on Airport Boulevard, did not have any prices posted. <\/p>\n

KSAT Investigates went to the QuikTrip convenience store on San Pedro Avenue near downtown San Antonio. At QT, several of the same items were still more than the 10% markup allowed under the airport\u2019s pricing policy. <\/p>\n

For example, a 20-ounce bottle of LifeWater at the airport is $4.59. The QT price for the same water was $2.49 (or 2 for 4) \u2014 an 84% markup. <\/p>\n

A bottle of 24 caplets of Aleve was 27% more expensive at the airport than at the QT location. <\/p>\n

The only item KSAT found was cheaper at the airport than at QT was a 4-ounce bottle of Pepto Bismol. The bottle costs $7.49 at the airport and $9.79 at QT.<\/p>\n

KSAT Investigates emailed the airport\u2019s public relations manager Tonya Hope twice to ask for a response to the findings. Hope has yet to respond to KSAT\u2019s request. <\/p>\n

For people frustrated with the price tag, Rodriguez said travelers can bring their own essentials. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re providing that option, but you know, folks can bring their chips,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cI mean, there\u2019s nothing that stops in terms of TSA (Transportation Security Administration) regulations to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez said the airport issues a notice of correction to vendors that are not following the rules. <\/p>\n

Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Anyone traveling through the San Antonio International Airport ahead of Labor Day weekend might want…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1037256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5133],"tags":[235961,5229,31872,45018,7202,23772,7203,358,1164,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-1037255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-affording-san-antonio","tag-america","tag-ksat-investigates","tag-labor-day","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-international-airport","tag-sanantonio","tag-texas","tag-travel","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1037255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1037255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1037255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1037256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1037255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1037255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1037255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}