If you rent a car in Europe this summer, you might notice a few changes. Pay attention to them. They could be coming to America soon.
Tag: PRICING
New DOT initiatives target airlines’ baggage fees and price transparency. Are they enough?
When the Transportation Department (DOT) announced new “enhanced” protections for air travelers last week, the reaction was predictable. Airlines complained loudly that they were being re-regulated. Consumer groups offered a collective eye-roll, grumbling that it wasn’t enough. And the government cheerfully congratulated itself.
Is this a completely lost cause?
When someone starts an email with “Is this a completely lost cause?” the answer is usually, “yes.”
Is this one of those cases? I’ll have the answer in a moment. Actually, you’ll have the answer.
Warning! Not all premium seats are created equal
Airline seat pricing never made much sense to begin with, but leave it to United Airlines to take it to the next level.
How to find hidden fees: 3 secrets no company wants you to know
But not really. The airline he chose, American, didn’t actually fly to Barcelona, but instead offered flights through a deceptive arrangement known as “codesharing.” That’s where an airline gets to pretend its flights are its own, but they actually belong to a different carrier.
And that someone else — the airline’s codesharing “partner” British Airways — had a little surprise for Grabowski and his wife: If they wanted to sit together, they’d have to shell out an extra $98 per ticket for his transatlantic flight. Or he could take his chances, and get a random seat assignment — the choice was entirely his.
“That’s a hidden fee,” he says. “It’s unearned money.”
