Kate,
I do not currently do any airport shops at the NYC/Newark airports.
I think that you are assuming a number of things, like the fees, the narrative length, and the number of shops per airport per shopping period, and the policies of the airport management companies. In my experience,the Port Authority of NY and NJ is a law unto itself, btw.
For the airport circuits that I do, the written report takes 15 minutes, average 4 per hour. I am a slow typist, but that is my rate. No pix to upload. I am badged at more than one airport, but I will give you an example of what the total shop load is for an average airport in my areas.
Here goes a hypothetical airport case:
Client: the company that manages all of the airport concessions, in most cases (Often a contractor specializing in airport and shopping center management.)
Number of concessions = 105 (This is a large, but not huge, airport.)
Shopped: every other month, eg, Feb, Apr, June, etc. 6 shop periods/months, per year per airport
Each concession shopped: a minimum of 3 times per shopping period/month. Some are shopped 4-5 times, if they are having problems or contradictory reports have been filed.
Total number of shoppers badged for post security: 5-6
Number of different airports each shopper shops on each occasion: 2 or more
Number of concessions shopped on each shopper visit 20-25 (This includes both pre- and post-security.)
Number of visits each shopper makes to these airports each round: 2-5
Minimum number of concessions I have shopped in a round: 65
Maximum number of concessions that I have shopped each round: 105
MY typical shop load for each round: 4 visits to 2 airports and a total of 80-85 shops.
In addition to fees, I bring home tons of reimbursed food, travel sized toiletries, etc.
Just to complicate things, nearly every concession in the airport may also be shopped by another, or 2 other MSCs whose clients are either the company that granted the franchise for the ff or restaurant, etc. and/or the person/company that owns several franchises or establishments in that airport. Typically, it is only the MSCs that have the “whole airport management company” contracts that put together big route/circuits and take the time and trouble to get a cadre of shoppers badged just to do those shops. The other types of shops are spread across nearly as many different MSCs as there are franchisors/business owners at a given airport. That is what accounts for the relatively high number of MSCs that have at least a few post-security shops during any given year.
Some MSCs that have “whole airport” clients use job boards and a lot or shoppers, but may not bother to get the shoppers badged. They might manage to get day passes for each shopper for each visit, which is ridiculously cumbersome for both the shopper and the MSC. Under current “escort” rules, having unbadged shoppers escorted to every concession beyond security is probably not an option that either the client or the MSC wants to pay for. (Like all badged personnel, I had to learn all those rules and pass tests on them.) Those that do get the shoppers badged, do so only on an “as needed” basis, from what I have gathered. The MSC goes through a lot of red tape to get shoppers badged, plus the wait for the shoppers who apply to get their clearances and badges. So for smaller numbers of post assignment shops per month, some MSCs just try to reply on personnel that have other sources of badges, like airline employees, or frequent travelers, or ask the shopper to buy a refundable ticket to gain access to a concourse.
Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel
Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.