But that also means that those who need to get a quick lunch have a window towards the end of the cost penalty period in which they can breeze through the line and more easily get a table
Doesn't seem that way. From the article.
"If you find yourself in the cafeteria sometime around 1:20 pm, ... the cafeteria area between where the food is collected and where you pay is quite crowded. The Goldman lunchers are chatting with each other, waiting for the final minutes to tick down until they can save a dollar or two."
In other words, if you want to breeze through the queue, you have to come after the 1:30pm queue for the cashiers has subsided. If you want to get a table, you may have to come even later.
In general, I find this to be a bizarre and overly complicated solution to the basic problem of 'time wasted in queues'. There are may other ways to tackle this but it doesn't surprise me that an investment bank thinks manipulating prices is the 'right' way to do it.
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Doesn't seem that way. From the article.
In other words, if you want to breeze through the queue, you have to come after the 1:30pm queue for the cashiers has subsided. If you want to get a table, you may have to come even later.
In general, I find this to be a bizarre and overly complicated solution to the basic problem of 'time wasted in queues'. There are may other ways to tackle this but it doesn't surprise me that an investment bank thinks manipulating prices is the 'right' way to do it.