Daily life is full of costs that can add up and quietly eat away at your finances without you even noticing. If you take all those subway tokens and cups of coffee and added them up you’d have a nice chunk of change.
Some services are well aware of this fact of life and are offering relief from these nibbles at our wallets in exchange for some healthy or polite habits. Here are five examples from around the world as gathered by Naver Matome.
France – It pays to be polite
La Petite Syrah in Nice, France has a unique pricing scheme for their coffee that aims to keep customers on their best behavior. Patrons who patronize staff with a curt order of “a coffee” will be charged like the big shot they’re acting like at seven euros (US$10).
However, if you remember the golden rule and say “a coffee please” then your bill is significantly reduced to 4.25 euros ($6). Furthermore if you show even the slightest consideration for your waitstaff by greeting them first (“Hello, a coffee please.”) then you only have to pay 1.40 euros ($2).
Samoa – Every kilo counts
It always seems odd when you check into an airline nervous that your suitcase is over the designated limit, only to have someone who weighs more than you and your baggage combined judged by the same standard waiting in line behind you.
Samoa Air apparently thought so too and are charging the passengers according to weight. For example, taking a random destination if you weigh 50kg (110lbs) you might pay $106. If you’re 70kg (154lbs) then the price would go up to $148 and a slight increase to 85kg (187lbs) would bump your ticket price to $180.
Such a pricing scheme has raised alarms of weight discrimination especially in a country with one of the highest obesity rates in the world. However, Samoa Air insists this is all done for the sake of efficiency.
They say that anyone under 120kg (265lbs) is paying under what a regular flat fare would be. In addition, those who do pay extra due to their large bones will be given the courtesies of extra-space to compensate for the higher payment.
Although Samoa Air flies small aircraft their pricing scheme is becoming very attractive to larger airlines around the world. So, if you’re planning to take a flight in the near future you might want to head down to the Moscow subways first.
Russia – Feel the burn
As a part of the lead-in to the Sochi Olympics the Moscow subway system has installed an exercise incentive program. If a passenger can successfully do 30 squats within two minutes then they get a free ticket.
The cost of a subway ride in Moscow is 30 rubles which would place a value of a single squat to be about $0.03. I got to think that machine is easy to cheat, but it’s a good idea nonetheless.
Other fitness campaigns are in the works including replacing the straps on buses with those stretchy tension bands people work out with and setting up mobile device chargers hooked up to a stationary bicycle.
Japan – In Kyoto, Japan taxi drivers tip you!
The former capital of Japan is well-known for its rich culture and historic atmosphere. As such, people traveling around in traditional Japanese clothing are treated to a 10% discount on their fare when they use one of 1,000 participating cabs.
It doesn’t matter what type of garb you’re rocking be it a kimono, yukata, haori, hakama, samue, jinbei, or happi. Even a fundoshi might give you a discount if you could actually manage to flag a cab down wearing one. Even if you’re in a group where only one person is wearing a kimono the discount still applies.
However, according to the blog Hasunoya, there are a lot of rumors swirling which mention that in some cases the 10% discount comes out of the driver’s pocket. If true, this is not only weird but would seem to significantly lower your chances of catching a cab with classical clothes on.
Japan – Flowers for “I’ll get on”
Toyama City held a campaign on its light rail system where passengers carrying flowers would get their fare waived. The scheme was thought up to both boost business at the flower shops along the line and beautify the interior of the Portram cars.
Unfortunately the campaign ended earlier this year, but perhaps we’ll see it again somewhere someday. It’s an elegant solution for the guy who both commutes and angers his wife on a daily basis.
Source: Naver Matome, Hasunoya (Japanese), La Petite Syrah (French), Samoa Air (English)
Video: YouTube – Олимпийские Перемены
Portram Image: Wikipedia – GAMEGAWA
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Origin: Goods and services that cost a pound of flesh, a bouquet of flowers, and some deep knee bends
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