If you’ve ever been broadsided by unexpected taxes, fees and surcharges when you booked an airline ticket, then fire up your email program now and send a letter to your senator. Ask him or her to support the Clear Airfare Amendment that Sen. Robert Menendez introduced this morning.
The amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill (PDF), which will be considered by the Senate next week, is simple: It requires airlines and travel agents to disclose the full price of a ticket, including taxes and fees, right up front. (Other governments, including Australia and Europe, already do this.)
But there’s more. The amendment would also make them disclose any fees for checked baggage, seating assignments, and optional in-flight goods and services, and other fees that may be charged after the ticket is purchased — all prior to submitting any personal information.
This goes a long way to disclosing a “total” price and would allow air travelers to easily and fairly compare airfares.
Here’s the full amendment:
Purpose: To ensure that all consumers are able to easily and fairly compare airfares and other costs applicable to tickets for air transportation, including all taxes and fees.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES-111th Cong., 2d Sess.
H.R.1586AMENDMENT intended to be proposed by Mr. MENENDEZ to the amendment (No. 3452) proposed by Mr. ROCKEFELLER
Viz:
At the end of subtitle A of title IV, add the following:
SEC. 407. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO THE SALE OF AIRLINE TICKETS.
(a) IN GENERAL.-The Office of Aviation Consumer Protection and Enforcement of the Department of Transportation shall establish rules to ensure that all consumers are able to easily and fairly compare airfares and other costs applicable to tickets for air transportation, including all taxes and fees.
(b) NOTICE OF TAXES AND FEES APPLICABLE TO TICKETS FOR AIR TRANSPORTATION.-Section 41712, as amended by this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
(d) NOTICE OF TAXES AND FEES APPLICABLE TO TICKETS FOR AIR TRANSPORTATION.-
IN GENERAL.-It shall be an unfair or deceptive practice under subsection (a) for an air carrier, foreign air carrier, or ticket agent to sell a ticket for air transportation unless the air carrier, foreign air carrier, or ticket agent, as the case may be-
“(A) displays information with respect to the taxes and fees described in paragraph (2), including the amount and a description of each such tax or fee, simultaneously with and in reasonable proximity to the price listed for the ticket; and
“(B) in the case of a ticket for air transportation sold on the Internet, provides to the purchaser of the ticket information with respect to the taxes and fees described in paragraph (2), including the amount and a description of each such tax or fee, before requiring the purchaser to provide any personal information, including the name, address, phone number, e-mail address, or credit card information of the purchaser.
“(2) TAXES AND FEES DESCRIBED.-The taxes and fees described in this paragraph are all taxes, fees, and charges applicable to a ticket for air transportation, including-
“(A) all taxes, fees, charges, and surcharges included in the price paid by a purchaser for the ticket, including fuel surcharges and surcharges relating to peak or holiday travel and
“(B) any fees for checked baggage, seating assignments, and optional in-flight goods and services, and other fees that may be charged after the ticket is purchased.”.
(c) REGULATIONs.-The Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out subsection (d) of section 41712 of title 49, United States Code, as added by subsection (b) of this section.
Contact your senator now.
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{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s why I use kayak.com. It shows the complete price for airfare, with the exception of a few discount carriers that I have to check direct with the carrier. Then, I can go to the carrier’s website and book from there. I can narrow down by flight times, carriers, layover time and check flexible dates all from one screen. I can even set up a fare alert if there is a trip that I’m watching but not ready to book and can send the flight details to others for them to approve. The bill would make it easier though for sure.
I’m usually against these things, but I have no problem with requiring airlines to include taxes and fees when quoting the airfare. I think that airlines would do this now as it is, but because it’s not required, a single airline is not going to voluntarily do this because it will put it at a competitive disadvantage against others if the other are quoting fares without taxes (that make them appear lower) while that one airline is quoting fares including taxes. However, if this was legally required from everyone, then that’s probably a good thing.
However, the whole thing about providing up front disclosure about add-ons is complete nonsense. Why? Because non of these items are essential to air travel. Preferred seat assignments are non essential because one could otherwise get free seat assignments at the airport. Meals are not essential because one could eat at home or at the airport. Checked baggage is not essential because not everyone checks bags. And so on. Does this mean than an airline would have to disclose EVERY single optional purchase, including things like buy on board meals and alcohol, airline club membership, optional transportation services to and from the airport, etc.? Where does it stop? The point is that it’s a good thing to require upfront disclosure regarding taxes and such, but anything optional is just that – optional.
@John
I understand what you’re getting at with the fee disclosure. There are many that will be asinine. I try to look at this from the non-frequent-travel perspective. Those are individuals who may not be familiar with luggage fees or paying to reserve seat assignments. I had a several year gap in my flying once (late 80s/early 90s?) and returned to discover that meals were no longer provided on my flights. I would have like to know that beforehand so I could have grabbed a snack.
I traveled a lot with my son when he was younger. He was too young to sit alone, so I made sure to pick our seats. Or so I thought. When I got to the airport, I was suprprised to find out that the airline did not honor them because the flight was overbooked. We were given random seats at the check-in counter and told to see the gate agent to make a change. I almost panicked to think my five year old would be out of my sight during the 2+ hour flight. Thankfully the gate agent found someone willing to switch seats. The point is, years ago they didn’t charge for that, so an infrequent travel may still have that expectation.
This is important to me. Just this morning looking at United’s site for tickets from SEA>BRO they quoted $387 (an “additional taxes and fees may apply” link was under the price, but in far smaller size type). Upon clicking the link, I was taken to a pop-up window that described, ad nauseum, the justifications–not the cost–of any additional tax or fee that _might_ apply. Not until I chose my flight times was there any indication of these additional charges. And even then, I still couldn’t find anywhere on the site, except for the contract of carriage, where they noted, “baggage fees may apply.” Oy.
Thanks for covering this, Chris. My letters were mailed to the Senators this morning.
Much ado about nothing. Tickets have been sold like this since Wilbur and Orville. I guess in the interim 100 years we’ve all turned stupid.
That photo brings back memories for me. My father was a travel agent and I used to see him hand-carrying those standard (carbon copy) tickets as well as stash a lot of the receipts in various forms..
On a few occasions when I traveled as a kid, I got to use those standard ticket forms. Sometimes they got a little bit fuzzy and hard to read.
Carver, wonderful sense of humor. True , big deal.
I agree with having any taxes or non-avoidable fees included in any price quote because that only makes sense. As for the other stuff, like checked baggage fees, have we really become so stupid as a society that we can’t take five minutes to look up what those are going to cost before we book? (And if we’re unwilling or incapable of doing that little bit of research, maybe we should be using a travel agent rather than forcing airlines to hold our hands).
@Carver
Nah, just lazy.
I think this is important legislation. While you don’t necessarily need EVERY fee posted, there are certainly some that should – luggage, seat assignments, what type of food service is included in the price, using the bathroom. There are a lot of people who don’t travel much and may not be aware of all of the fees, who is charging them and if they are truly optional. I have a friend who booked with Spirit, he was checking golf clubs and a suitcase, didn’t realize he didn’t have to reserve seats, ended up paying almost as much in fees as for the flight. In the end it’s the people who don’t travel frequently that really get hit by all these fees, probably not the people reading this blog.
Why would be impose this requirement only on the airline industry? If the airlines are required to state all prices up front, why shouldn’t all industries be required to do so?
I’ve emailed my two Senators. To get their contact info simply go to http://www.senate.gov and at the top right “Find Your Senators.”
For those of you who complain about forced disclosure of baggage fees: Have you looked them up lately? They’re far from clear. They vary based on time of purchase, destination, class of ticket purchased, class of the purchaser (some are in the “elite” class, you know) and probably the phase of the moon. Make airlines compete honestly by disclosing up front the price of their product.
Actually, yes, I just looked up the baggage fees for United, US Airways, Delta, and American; I spent less than ten minutes perusing the basic rules for all four of these airlines. In each case, I was able to find the information very quickly and it’s going to be pretty simple for 99% of travelers to figure out a) what the baggage fees are, and b) if they are in one of the exempt groups. For the 1% for whom it’s not easy to determine, I doubt having the computer guess at what they’ll have to pay would help matters.
What are people proposing, anyway? That the airfare search results return the fare with an arbitrary fee included that may or may not reflect what I intend to bring with me (say, have all the results show the cost of 1 or 2 checked bags per person)? That’s not really useful. Or are they proposing that when you search for an airfare, you should be able to input what you intend to bring with you and then the results will include what you’ll pay given that? If it’s the latter, I can already hear the complaints from people who will do their search based on one bag then decide to bring two, or who bring overweight/oversized luggage as they’ll scream “deception” when they’re charged a different price than they saw in the search results (even though it was their own mistake).
For the vast majority of people, I would argue that if you can’t or don’t want to do your own research on what you can expect to pay in baggage fees, you’re probably going to miss even more important information (like connecting times) if you try to book your flight online, and you should probably just hand everything over to a travel agent.
@Dave
I can only speak for American Airline. Luggage fees only vary by type of ticket and status of purchaser, not time of purchase. But in reality infequent fliers should assume that they will pay luggage fees.
@Dave
Correction: American baggage fees are in flux right now now because they are undergoing a rate increase.
Thanks for the update, Chris. I have emailed my senators.
JFK to London – LHR, each way on a round trip purchase
Air Fare: $109
Taxes: $155
TSA Segment fee: $10
Baggage Fees – 1st and 2nd bag $25 each – up to 20 kilos
Global Warming Carbon Offset fee: $57 – for the gullible among you
Heathrow Surcharge: $22
Heathrow Terminal Fee Surcharge: $16
Fuel Surcharge: $112.56
Cabin Attendant Strike insurance: $5
ATC pension surcharge: $10
Onboard Seat Belt fee: $6
flight profit guarantee – variable from $0 to $75 – collected at gate
etc etc etc
@ Steve, no, people shouldn’t have to search a website for fees for everything they might encounter on a flight, or at least normal charges such as taxes, fuel surcharges, and baggage or seat fees. The point of airline pricing is to get someone to book quickly at a cheap rate to sell the seat. If you sit there and go searching then you may miss out on the seat. And I see nothing wrong with telling an airline to disclose fees on their site.
If I walk into a fast food restaraunt I know from signage how much it costs for an extra bbq sauce or to super size something. If I go to an electronics or appliance store I know or see how much it costs for delivery up front. Could you imagine if you took your mower in for repair and they told you it would cost x amount and then when you went to get your mower they told you there was a tool surcharge, a grass cleaning surcharge, and a lubricant surcharge on top of your quoted price?
I think this is a good thing – we should be able to tell at a glance what the full price should be and shouldn’t have to search for that info. That’s just good practice in line with other consumer services.
@Mike
I think you made the opposite point. I went to Costco and bought a big screen tv. The price include a tv and those things necessary for a tv to work. It did not include delivery, extra cables, extended warranty, nor were those prices listed with the tv as they are all OPTIONAL.
And no, when you go into an appliance store you don’t necessarily know how much delivery is upfront. Some stores charge the same for all items, others stores have different prices based on the size. But you have the good sense to ask because everyone knows that delivery is usually an extra charge.
A lot of people are arguing that baggage fees are optional. Well, they are and they aren’t. If you are traveling for any length of time, and need shampoo, sunblock, moisturizer, contact lens solution, etc. you are either going to have to buy when you get there, mail it to your hotel in advance of your stay, or check a bag. Last year I travelled to Disney World. I was staying on the property, and not renting a car. The hassle of mailing myself a package was something I wanted to avoid (and there’s no guarantee that USPS won’t lose it during shipping) and no car rental (an expense that wasn’t necessary as I had no plans to leave Disney Property) meant that buying from a Disney Store would cost an arm and a leg. The only option left was to check a bag. It cost an extra $50 round trip. Technically, I could have avoided the cost, but in reality checking the bag was the simplest solution.
I knew up front about the fee, and planned accordingly, but only because I investigated it with my carrier before I left. I only fly once every couple of years, and the rules change between trips, often drastically. The last flight I took prior to that trip was with Independence Air (no longer in business) and there were no luggage fees on that flight. Infrequent fliers often don’t realize how much has changed between trips. Yes, they should probably ask, but at the same time, a flyer buying a ticket from a site like Travelocity shouldn’t have to go to another website to find out what all the fees are before purchasing. They could lose a good price by the time they’ve finished their research.
@ Monica L. Kennedy – “I try to look at this from the non-frequent-travel perspective. Those are individuals who may not be familiar with luggage fees or paying to reserve seat assignments.”
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How about using a traditional brick & mortar agent that will tell you these things? If you don’t want to use a traditional brick & mortar agent, how about doing some research? There are several websites that an infrequent traveler can go to get information, advice and etc.
@ Carver – “Much ado about nothing. Tickets have been sold like this since Wilbur and Orville. I guess in the interim 100 years we’ve all turned stupid.”
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I agree what Chris wrote at the National Geographic Traveler: “the Internet may be the biggest culprit of them all; it mostly replaced the ranks of travel agents and turned every travel experience except the super-luxurious into a commodity.” These individuals do not want to use a traditional brick & mortar agent. These individuals do not want to stop watching reality tv shows to do some research on the Internet in order to learn. However, these individuals wants the govt to do it for them.
@ Crissy – “There are a lot of people who don’t travel much and may not be aware of all of the fees, who is charging them and if they are truly optional.”
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That is why they need to use a brick & mortar travel agent instead of doing it themselves. Your friend could have pay $ 20 or $ 25 to use a brick & mortar travel agent and probably save a bunch of money.
How are travel agents going to convey airlines menus so the passenger understands the value of their crappy meals. Are the airlines going to furnish all agencies with menus and pricing? This is a nightmare. I don’t buy their food anyway. I rather eat at the airport or bring it on board. The airline price, taxes, and fees I totally agree with. However, with the government moving to communism, it will cost us more to do business than we’ll make having one.
It’s about time. There is nothing more aggravating then looking at a airline site and seeing a price and then finding out they didn’t include a whole host of other charges. We as consumers have become aware of all the charges, but it still irks me to get a price then have to mentally accept that the price isn’t the actual cost I will have to pay.
I can’t believe it. I was just telling my friend about this. I’ll have to share this to him.
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