Why, for the life of me, do airlines insist on keeping their fees as secret as possible? Almost 70 percent of the American public purchase airline tickets through travel agents and online. Airlines are effectively hiding their fees from these passengers.
Moreso, the airlines are hiding these fees from even passengers using their own proprietary websites until the moment of purchase. Airlines have become the champions of obfuscation.
It is not enough that airlines have made paying for airline transportation one of the most complex processes in the retail world, but, to top it all off, the airlines believe that it is in their best interests to keep their myriad fees and their various fee levels and waivers as hidden as possible.
Federal rules concerning airfares and full disclosure have been in effect for decades, however, the airlines have been separating what was once included in a single airfare and selling it by pieces. They call is “unbundling.” Most of the flying public call it confusing.
Unfortunately, as the airlines remove portions of what was formerly considered “airfare,” they are also removing those separated components (baggage, meals, seat reservations, etc.) from the regulations governing unfair and deceptive practices to which total airfare should still regulated.
Taking airfares apart into pieces should not permit the airlines to skirt the federal regulations that deal with unfair and deceptive practices. When the federal regulations were written, airfares included two bags, normally a snack of some sort or meal, a seat reservation, use of a reservation agent, carry-ons etc. All should still be required to be made public as the same time that the airfare is published.
Whenever airline passengers are forced to pay these hidden fees that the airlines seem to spring on them at random, they feel abused. Many call is being nickle-and-dimed, but the fees are actually far more — $150 to change tickets, $35 for checked baggage, $10 for a sandwich, $50+ for a seat selection.
Is there anywhere that all of the airline fees are published and available to the public?
Not that I can find.
I have scoured aa.com, united.com and delta.com and can find no comprehensive list. I searched under “fees,” “extra fees” and “airline fees.” Heaven forbid the airline websites even begin to enumerate all of the iterations of their fees based on frequent flier program level, type of credit card being used, or annual baggage fees.
When I approached an airline association about the need to have fees disclosed, their response was, “We have many fees. What do you want all of them? Even coffin fees?”
I answered, “Well, yes. Make the fees public.” Consumers in the throes of mourning should be able to find out the fees for transporting the remains of loved ones just as easily as the airfares to funerals.
If the airline will not release these fees and their variations voluntarily to the flying public in a way that consumers can compare total airfare costs between airlines, the government must compel airlines to become transparent.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) has proposed just such a rule in their proposed rulemaking. For me, this is the most important section of the proposed rulemaking.
With the increasing industry-wide trend to “unbundle” fares by charging fees for individual services provided in connection with air transportation, the Department has decided that there is a need to enhance protections for air travelers by establishing rules to ensure
adequate notice of such fees for optional services to consumers. When booking air travel, consumers are not always made aware of the extra charges that a carrier may impose on them for additional services. Such charges may include services that traditionally have been included in the ticket price, such as the carriage of one or two checked bags, obtaining seat assignments in advance, in-flight entertainment, and in-flight food and beverage service … Due to what the Department feels is sometimes a lack of clear and adequate disclosure, consumers are not always able to determine the full price of their travel (the ticket price plus the price of additional fees for optional services) prior to purchase.The Department believes that effective disclosure of the optional nature of services and their costs would prevent carriers from imposing hidden fees on consumers and allow consumers to make better informed decisions when purchasing air travel.
Go to www.regulationroom.org. Register. Read the various sections of the proposed rulemaking and let the Department of Transportation know your thoughts. This opportunity is unique in the federal government and allows you the everyday citizen and consumer to register your thoughts with those who can effect change.
I’m not certain of exactly why airlines believe it is in their best interest to hide fees, but it is in the interest of American consumers to have full disclosure about the total cost of travel so that they can easily make comparisons of the total cost of travel and that travel agents working to help them can provide the total cost of travel as well.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
