Paying for their mistakes

For most Americans, this summer is the first opportunity for a long-overdue vacation. With worries of war, SARS and terrorism fading into memory and the economy on the rebound, more travelers are expected to be out and about than in any other summer since 2001.

But for the American travel industry, this summer represents an opportunity of a different kind: a chance to make us pay for the many mistakes and missteps it’s made during the last three years.

Whether we’re flying or driving, it seems the travel industry is determined to force us to shell out a little extra – slapping us with surcharges and fees meant to either improve its earnings or just cover expenses that taxpayers refuse to.

Take airport security, for example. The federal government entrusted the airlines with the job of screening passengers before 9/11. It’s a task the carriers passed off to couldn’t-care-less rent-a-cops who allowed terrorists with box cutters to board planes, unfortunately.

So is it any surprise that after the Transportation Security Administration is created, the airlines figure out a way of passing the buck yet again? Every roundtrip airline ticket is now marked up by $10 to include a “security fee” for training, salaries, and benefits for the federal security screeners and law enforcement personnel.

Is it right to ask us to pay for an industry’s failings when it comes to airline safety?

But the airlines aren’t stopping there. They want you to cover their higher fuel bills now, too. A gallon of jet fuel goes for about $1, up more than 40 percent from last fall. The airlines apparently believe that’s our problem, and have repeatedly tried to stick it to us by adding a fuel fee to their tickets.

The latest airline to try is bankrupt United Airlines, which raised its fuel surcharge by $10 per round trip in late May, to a total of $30 per ticket. It’s a problem the airline could have easily avoided if it had hedged its fuel purchases only a few months ago, when gas was cheaper. But it didn’t.

Is it fair to ask customers to pay for poor management decisions?

Of course, you don’t have to fly in order to pay for someone else’s mistakes. Just stay at a hotel and you’ll have an opportunity to foot the bill for the lodging industry’s failings.

Some of the fees are as bizarre as they are inappropriate. In Huntsville, Ala., the cost of a hotel or motel room will increase by one percent later this year to help fund the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. Presumably, the state of Alabama couldn’t find anyone else to pay for the rockets. And just last week, the city of Binghamton, NY, debated a proposal to double its hotel tax to $2 per night in order to improve its “entertainment offerings.”

Since when are entertainment offerings the responsibility of a hotel guest?

There’s a better way to do this, and that is for the travel industry to take responsibility for its own shortcomings.

The cruise business is a standout. Its collaboration with the TSA on port security is a public-private venture, heavy on common sense, that doesn’t saddle passengers with needless charges.

Southwest Airlines, which locked in a price of $24 a barrel for most of its jet fuel – almost half the going rate – isn’t hitting its customers with any surcharges. (And indeed, most of the attempted fare hikes related to fuel costs have eventually been rolled back because low-fare carriers like Southwest refused to match the increases.)

And if you want to vacation in a place that doesn’t just see tourists as walking dollar bills, then visit San Diego. Not only does it have some of the lowest hotel taxes in the country, but voters there also recently rejected a proposal to raise bed taxes from 10.5 percent to 13 percent to pay for public safety and city infrastructure, among other things.

It’s common sense, really. You don’t ask someone else to pay for your mistakes.

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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