Comments on: Proposed government rule would force airlines to disclose “full price” of tickets

By: Charles Clarke

Charles Clarke — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 05:02:04 +0000

@Arizona Road Warrior
How would elite travellers lose those benefits? Those aren’t mandatory charges and you get the charges for those waived.

I’m definitely a free market person and I think anyone who is a free market type person should support this. More transparancy is what makes up a true free market. Not who can hide the real cost or externalize those costs best. Make sure I have the information easily and nondeceptively available to make the best decision for what I want and I’ll do it.

By: Consumer Travel Alliance » Passengers say they miss luggage-inclusive fares the most

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 16:05:40 +0000

[...] proposed federal regulation would change that. The government is considering a requirement that airlines quote a “full” [...]

By: Passengers say they miss luggage-inclusive fares the most

Passengers say they miss luggage-inclusive fares the most — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 16:01:41 +0000

[...] proposed federal regulation would change that. The government is considering a requirement that airlines quote a “full” [...]

By: The truth about the government’s new “full fare” disclosure rule

The truth about the government’s new “full fare” disclosure rule — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:39:25 +0000

[...] already written about Section 6 of the rulemaking because it’s so important. So have airline critic Joe Brancatelli and travel expert Pauline [...]

By: New consumer protections on offer from the DoT - The Wandering Aramean

New consumer protections on offer from the DoT - The Wandering Aramean — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 12:02:29 +0000

[...] to read more about these proposals? Check out what Aviation Week, View from the Wing or Chris Elliott have to say about it. Tags: Chicago, DoT, fees, Flying, frequent flyer, Las Vegas, New York City, [...]

By: Courtyard's Weekly Travel Roundup | Connections

Courtyard's Weekly Travel Roundup | Connections — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:08:17 +0000

[...] or the never ending good weather, this article shares ten of the world’s happiest places. Proposed Government Rule Would Force Airlines To Disclose “Full Price” Of Tickets The government has proposed a rule that may significantly affect air carriers. Airlines may soon [...]

By: Buddy

Buddy — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:02:33 +0000

How does the ultimate fare price change if every carrier has to pay the same government fee on an airport by airport basis? My ultimate question would be what pet government (airport official) project is the fee funding? Look at your local airport, study the additional fees, and look hard where they go. I would recommend looking up the airport financials; you may be surprised what you find.

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:41:36 +0000

I typically don’t agree with the govt getting in our business, but this is one of a few instances that I do appreciate their getting involved. The govt isn’t telling airlines what to charge- just forcing them to simply state the whole price of the ticket upfront – voila transparency :-). I believe this may stop the tricky bait and switch advertisements we see so often (until the airlines can think up some other schemes), and hopefully as consmers we won’t have to be so paranoid when purchasing a ticket.
Not everyone is internet saavy, and he or she could go to an agent but this is a good move, and like stated above i’ll be even more happy to see these rules applied to the hotel industry too. Thanks for the info Chris

By: NextFlightHome

NextFlightHome — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:29:01 +0000

This is very good news for the traveling public! I honestly don’t know how I missed this yesterday!?!

The way I look at it is like this. Suppose you need a dozen eggs. At the grocers the price of the eggs is clearly marked $1.95, and at the Farmers Market organic locally farmed eggs are $2.50. Being budget conscious you go to the grocers, but when you get to the register you’re charged an additional $.50 for the carton the eggs come in, plus $.20 security fee for the store’s surveillance system, plus $.15 for a bag to carry the eggs out of the store, and finally $.10 tax.

Now my $1.95 eggs cost me $2.85 because of the hidden fees, while meanwhile across the street at the Farmers Market, I could have bought Organic locally farmed eggs for $2.50 all in.

If you feel you were deceived at the grocers, well you’re being deceived at most of the major airlines (and car rental firms too for that matter).

By: Marsha

Marsha — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 03:33:04 +0000

I think it is about time for this change! Thank goodness…now if we could only do something about those damn baggage fees.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:18:24 +0000

This is good news.

Let this be the end of the dreaded advertisement:

LONDON FOR $199*!!!!!!!!!!!!

* One way based on round trip purchase. Taxes, surcharges, and fees extra.

By: Logan

Logan — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:30:58 +0000

Let me put it this way: There’s a good reason I use Kayak to look up airfares. In addition to searching the Legacy Carries plus JetBlue, it folds up all of the taxes and fees, and can even add on the baggage fees. Southwest includes the taxes on its site voluntarily, on the initial search results page..

By: Carver

Carver — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:53:34 +0000

A couple thoughts

Government always intrudes in the free market. Ever heard of minimum wage. So that discussion is already over. The question is, is this a good idea?

Alas, as MeanMosh implies, the devil is in the details.

Personally, I break fees into two types: Mandatory and Discretionary

Mandatory fees are fees that it is impossible to avoid. Those are fees that unless you pay them, you cannot purchase a ticket. Fuel charges, airport concession fees, etc.

Discretionary fees are fees that a reasonable number of people can avoid. Luggage fees for example. As much as they are hated, many people do not pay them, whether because of elite status or better packing.

The grey area are the almost mandatory fees. For example, suppose an airline charged for in flight bathroom access?

By: MeanMeosh

MeanMeosh — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:21:00 +0000

Guess it depends on the government’s definition of “mandatory”. If they mean the government taxes and fees and stuff like those irritating “peak travel surcharges”, then fine (though you can figure that out already by doing a search on Kayak). But if they start defining too many things as mandatory – baggage fees, meal fees, etc. – it’ll start cluttering up fare displays unnecessarily. Not to mention, I’m lazy, and I don’t want to have to start unchecking a bunch of boxes for stuff I don’t want to figure out what I actually need to pay.

Now if only the government would mandate the same things for hotels. If you ask me, the mandatory but always nicely buried-in-fine-print “resort fee” is far more deceptive than anything you might find in an airline advertisement.

By: Johnny Triumph

Johnny Triumph — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:50:23 +0000

It’s all just more hype, since there are so many other fees that they can apply to the ‘full’ fare (bags, meals, headphones). This may help things out but will not solve the problem.