The Consumer Travel Alliance (CTA), Business Travel Coalition (BTC) and American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) submitted signatures from more than 50,000 travellers yesterday demanding that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) require airlines to reveal all of their ancillary fees in every booking channel.
“Only two weeks ago, we asked travellers to tell us how they felt about hidden airline fees, and we opened a floodgate,” said Kevin Mitchell, Chairman of the Business Travel Coalition. “Consumers are clearly mad as hell about fees they can’t see, can’t compare, and can’t predict. There is no excuse for hiding fees from consumers, and we’re pleased that the Department of Transportation is poised to take action to protect consumers in this area.”
Since September 7th, more than 50,000 travellers have visited madashellabouthiddenfees.com and signed a petition urging the DOT to “require airlines to make their fees fully and easily accessible to both consumers and intermediaries in the travel industry.”
“This issue is not about fees, but about fairness,” said Paul Ruden, ASTA’s Senior Vice President of Legal and Industry Affairs. “Although more than half of all airline tickets are booked through traditional or online travel agencies, the airlines have chosen to hide their fees from the systems that power those bookings. Airlines should be able make a fair profit and set fares and fees that allow them to do so, as long as travellers can see and compare all of those fees in advance.”
Over recent weeks, members of the coalition have undertaken a range of activities to focus public and media attention on this issue, including:
· Releasing the results of an online survey showing that two-thirds of travellers have been surprised by extra fees after arrival at the airport.
· Countering airline claims that their fees are all available on their websites by revealing the obstacles to finding them.
· Presenting an analysis showing that hidden fees can increase the base cost of airfare for a typical two-bag traveller requiring extra legroom by an average of 54%, or by an average of 26% for an equivalent one-bag traveller.
“No other merchant would expect a consumer to buy their product first, and then find out afterward how much it cost, but that’s exactly what the airlines do,” said Charlie Leocha, President of the Consumer Travel Alliance. “Consumers deserve to see all of the costs up front and in advance, so they can compare their flights on an apples-to-apples basis against one another. With Secretary LaHood’s help, we hope this will be the last year we need to ‘celebrate’ this unfortunate day for travellers.”
