LAX Starbucks pricing among steepest airport markups in US

They’re serving up a bitter shot of sticker shock.

A Starbucks stop at Los Angeles International Airport costs 42.9% more than at a city store — the nation’s 10th-steepest airport markup, according to an Upgraded Points study.

A basket of popular items at the java retailer jumped from $24.45 outside the airport to $34.95 inside — a $10.50 hit to travelers.

The spotlight on gateside gouging comes as LA raises minimum pay for covered airport workers — with a city-approved baseline of $25 an hour, before healthcare costs — soaring to $30 by 2029.

Southern Californians are already being pushed to the pricing limit when flying — appetite-killing asks at eateries inside Hollywood Burbank Airport’s gleaming new terminal hit the headlines earlier this week, with officials rushing to acknowledge that they were addressing the issue.

Meanwhile, at LAX, the Starbucks order studied included a grande brewed coffee, grande caffé latte, bacon, Gouda and egg sandwich, Strawberry Açaí Refresher and birthday cake pop.

Researchers checked pretax app prices in July at one Starbucks in each of 53 airports — against one store in the corresponding city.

The average premium was 26.5% — far below the nearly 50% grub gouge endured by LAX flyers.

Still, caffeine-craving Angelenos could fare worse, at an airport many frequent — Harry Reid International in Las Vegas tied with Charlotte Douglas for the biggest markup nationwide, at 56.4%.

A California airport coffee run doesn’t always carry an LAX-sized sting — San Francisco International’s five-item basket cost $27.90, a comparatively modest 13.7% premium.

Closer to home, Burbank passengers have been choking on prices at the airport’s $1.3 billion replacement terminal, which opened October 13.

As The California Post reported Wednesday, one traveler flagged a $25 bean-and-cheese burrito at Poquito Mas — compared with $11.95 at another Burbank location.

Another claimed they’d paid nearly $50 for three tacos and a bottled water.

“Plan on taking out a loan,” that traveler griped on Reddit.

“I paid $35 for the breakfast burrito and coffee,” another wrote.

The airport’s published concession rules generally limit food and beverage prices to 15% above an estimated street-price benchmark.

But the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority told The California Post that concessions manager MSC Burbank LLC missed its deadline to submit the data needed to establish those benchmarks.

Officials said they were working with the company to secure compliance.

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