Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I always stay away from the Strip

even when I staying at the Wynn

  The wife is not a fan of cheap motels, at all.

I have to keep up appearances of course.

of course

back in the 80s working for the meat packer, I was allowed $4/breakfast, 5/lunch, and $11 for supper.

some in accounting would allow me $20/day, others wouldn't

yes, we would go to the butcher shop and purchase nice steaks and grill them in the back of the Holiday Inn - tough to expense the 12-packs

The few times I've eaten on the company dime, I haven't changed what I'd ordinarily do.  I guess I'm boring.

Good man!

The few times I've eaten on the company dime, I haven't changed what I'd ordinarily do.  I guess I'm boring.

Neither have I...

...but I've been known to eat pretty well on my own dime ;-) 

I should point out that I try to keep my meals within the normal limit, and almost entirely am successful do so. When my meal cost exceeds the limit, I only expense the per diem and consider overrun to be a personal expense rather than trying to justify the overrun. 

And I usually don't eat breakfast, and sometimes skip lunch, so since we're reimbursed based on ACTUAL expenses rather just given a specific amount per meal whether we use it or not, that ends up being savings to the company.

Well, taking China out of it for a second, I think you can look at the airlines.

Once pricing was all transparent and easily comparable on the internet, "ticket price" became all that anyone cared about. With the exception of frequent business travelers who had loyalty based on certain levels of status due to frequent flyer miles, everyone else picked the cheapest seat they could find.

What happened? Predictably, service went out the window. Airlines started doing everything they could to get the "internet number" as low as possible, nickle-and-diming travelers for EVERY little additional thing that they could... Want to check a bag? Pay up, sucka. Want to select your seat? Pay up, sucka. Want to carry-on a bag (for some)? Pay up, sucka. For a while it was only the budget airlines that were charging for things like selecting a seat, but now even the "flagship" airlines in this country are doing it.

As consumers, people complain about this but at the same time they'd sit on the wing of the aircraft if it would save $5/ticket, so again it's an economic "revealed preference" thing.

So yeah, back in the old days you had to call or go to a store to find out how much something cost, and it was damn near impossible to comparison shop unless you had a LOT of time on your hands to go looking around multiple places. Now a quick perusal of the internet will let you know what that item costs anywhere and everywhere you're looking for it, and barring other factors usually the decision is made on item price and/or shipping costs.

There's always bad with the good.  And often vice-versa.  Back in the days of heavily regulated airlines, you had to be middle-class or above to travel by air.  And flying was generally a nice experience.  Now almost anyone can travel by air.  At least it seems that way.  People who don't appear to be able to afford to bathe or wash their clothes can afford to fly.
You are right--our actions so often contradict our stated beliefs!