The €348 Breakfast Tax.
Convenience, Priced Like Insurance
The hotel offers breakfast as an “easy add-on.” €29 per adult.
Kids under six eat free.
Suddenly, a bowl of oats and some fruit becomes a €348 weekend decision. Not because anyone believes the oats are worth it. But because the offer is not really selling food. It is selling friction removal. No searching.
No deciding. No negotiating with hungry children at 7:00. The buffet looks like an abundance, but it is mostly a paid shortcut away from small morning stress.
The bias is present bias (we overpay to make the immediate moment easier) with a side of loss aversion (we fear the regret of skipping it and then having a “bad breakfast morning”).
Hotels know this. They price breakfast like insurance: you do not buy it because you want it. You buy it because you want to avoid the one scenario where you wish you had.
In this decision, choice is not a feature. It is a tax designed to increase the price, not the value.
Have a great day
Henry
