A good day for travelers

It’s a good day to be a traveler. Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that it will not change its current rule and enforcement policy on airline price advertising. The airlines had been pushing for a rule change that would have made their fares appear cheaper than they were.

My hat’s off to the DOT for showing some backbone and protecting the interests of the flying public.

But wait! There’s more!

Alaska Airlines has made a small but important change to the way it displays prices on its Web site that is also worth mentioning.

Full disclosure: I have long admired Alaska Airlines and go out of my way to fly on it. I’ve never had a bad experience. Even its dreaded red-eye flight from Seattle to Orlando, which is easily one of the most grueling flights in the continental United States, is a pleasure on Alaska. (I just did it a few days ago, and as always, have no regrets.)

But I was troubled when a reader pointed out that when booking a vacation package through its Web site, Alaska failed to quote a price that included resort fees.

Resort fees are evil surcharges that many hotels impose in order to make their rooms seem cheaper, as I’ve noted in a previous story. These extras should be included in the price of a room — just as the price of an airline ticket should be all-inclusive.

“After you book your travel on Alaska Airlines, they magically seem to remember what the resort fee is, as they make sure to annotate it in your confirmation letter,” the reader complained. “They also take that opportunity to remind you are the one who needs to pay it.”

Well, I shared the letter with Alaska Airlines. And here’s what separates an airline from a great airline, for those of you with management aspirations … Alaska not only read the letter, but it did something about it.

“This question has presented an opportunity for us to further refine our vacation reservation system, so that the customer’s final cost is as straight forward as it can possibly be,” a company spokeswoman, Amanda Tobin Bielawski, replied in an e-mail.

“We are changing the vacation booking process so that customers are not only aware that the hotel may charge them a resort fee when they check out, but that customers also know the exact amount of the resort fee to expect,” she said.

Bielawski noted that most resorts and hotels available for through Alaska Airlines Vacations do not charge a resort fee. That’s reassuring. But for those that do, they will at least now know before they make a reservation that they will have to pay the surcharge.

So, good job Alaska. And nice work, DOT. You’ve made September 20, 2006, a great day for travelers.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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