Real Flight Prices

From USA Today:

"DOT mulls forcing airlines to include fees in fares. Again."

As Transportation Department officials debate to force airlines to include fees for bags and seat assignments in fares, they already have hundreds of comments to consider. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced Tuesday the department would conduct a rule-making to “explore” a requirement for all-in-one pricing that includes fees for baggage, seat assignment, change and cancellation of tickets. The goal would be to reduce piecemeal pricing for ancillary fees, which the industry calls unbundling, because it frustrates travelers by making it tougher to compare fares.  But the department already collected more than 750 comments for a rule-making posted in May 2014 governing ancillary fees. “This will be a step backwards from two earlier rule-makings,” said Charlie Leocha, president of Travelers United, a consumer advocacy group. “If DOT is planning on starting from scratch, it will be an enormous retreat from overall airline pricing transparency.” Airlines contend that Congress deregulated the industry in 1978 and the department should allow competition without dictating how to market fares. For example, Southwest Airlines promotes its lack of bag fees, but other airlines charge a variety of fees depending on loyalty and other factors. The debate promises to remain contentious. In the 2014 rulemaking, travelers said the growth of fees and proliferation of choices has made buying tickets too difficult. For example, last year airlines collected $3.8 billion in bag fees and $3 billion in change and cancellation fees. “The airlines are difficult enough to navigate with the different boarding, seating, baggage, meals, by nickel-and-diming of the consumers, it will be almost impossible to find a flight and compare the final price,” said Joan Horn of Walkersville, Md. “Displaying all fees as part of the ticket price levels the playing field and makes it much easier for consumers to compare apples to apples,” said Matthew Kirkland of Watkinsville, Ga. In addition, the department was studying in 2014 whether to force airlines to charge the fees at the same time as the airfare, under a policy called “transactability.” The U.S. Travel Association said nearly half (45%) of the 1,031 travelers surveyed found it difficult to budget for travel because of fees and that one-fourth faced a fee at the airport they didn’t anticipate.

^ Of course the airlines are fighting this tooth-and-nail since they have swindled the flying public since 2001. Passengers have to pay for food, blankets, bags, seats, etc. and get treated as cattle through check-in, security and on-board (not to mention if there are delays at the terminal or on the plane.) Even when you pay for your bags and they get lost by the airline they keep the money rather than refund it. Airlines should display all their prices up-right to potential passengers as a sign of good-faith and that they actually want us rather than being forced to be a law. The fact that the airlines don't want to says a lot about them and how they view us "cattle." ^

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/todayinthesky/2016/10/19/dot-studies-requiring-airline-fees-fares/92405580/