Advertised airfares will soon reflect what you pay

[jennymac75]

FYI. Starting on Thursday 1/26. Airline-ticket shoppers will notice changes because of passenger-protection rules approved by the US Dept of Transportation last year. Full-fare advertising begins on Thursday. Airlines must include all taxes and mandatory fees in their advertised prices. Previously, they could detail that information in fine print. Baggage fees, priority boarding and seating, and other optional services need not be included in advertised fares.

I'm actually pretty happy about this. No more reading the fine print or waiting until the payment confirmation page to realize your fare has increased by $40-$50 because of taxes and additional fees.

 

[bjakmom]

Spirit Air went online with this today. I almost had a heart attack when I checked on airfare, hoping for the usual Tues decrease and saw an almost $80 per person increase for my flights. Called my sis to vent and she informed me about the new regulation. I doubled checked it to the last page and, sure enough, no increase - all the fees (beside the 5 million little extras Spirit adds on) are now listed right up front.

 

[vacationclub]

FYI. Starting on Thursday 1/26. Airline-ticket shoppers will notice changes because of passenger-protection rules approved by the US Dept of Transportation last year. Full-fare advertising begins on Thursday. Airlines must include all taxes and mandatory fees in their advertised prices. Previously, they could detail that information in fine print. Baggage fees, priority boarding and seating, and other optional services need not be included in advertised fares.

I'm actually pretty happy about this. No more reading the fine print or waiting until the payment confirmation page to realize your fare has increased by $40-$50 because of taxes and additional fees.

Are they really called "passenger-protection rules"? If so, what are they protecting passengers from....learning what the government is taxing them?

Is it really called "full-fare" advertising? Because that's not accurate either. It's full-fare plus all the government and airport fees.

I have mixed feelings about this. Unfortunately, this is a net loss for both the consumer and an industry that advertises. Now, people....tax payers....aren't clearly being shown extra fees their government is taxing them for deciding to buy an airline ticket. They don't know how much the airline actually charged them unless they examine further. The airline has lost it's ability to clearly show the sticker shock of what the government is actually taxing the consumer (which the airline is forced to collect for the government). The only entity that gains anything here is the government entities who's fees are now hidden from obvious view....unless the consumer is curious enough to examine it.

The only thing this law "protects" passengers from is disappointment after a few clicks.

There are parallels here...for example when you buy gasoline you don't see all the taxes being added in by the state or fed on the sign or the pump. Not sure if this is a law, or if it's just for convenience of the retailer. Either way, it really hides how much taxes the government is actually taxing people....part of the reason taxes continue to survive and grow...people don't know about them and thus can't use their democracy to do anything about them.

 

[tebookie]

Southwest has also started with this today too. It is nice to look on one screen to see your bottom line price.

 

[mom2brooke76]

This will take some getting used to for me. While it's nice to see the bottom line up front, I'm a regular SW flier who regularly checks to see if my fares have gone down. Now I've memorized what the fare that I paid was (before taxes), so that will take a little getting used to.

 

[Geoff_M]

I am so glad I found this thread! It appears that AirTran has gone live with the change too. I looked tonight and about died when it looked like the flights I was looking at for June had jumped about $30 each overnight... but I thought the total cost looked about the same! I thought I'd just cost us $180 by waiting a day.

 

[shoes99]

Yup, saw it on Continental also.

 

[SuzyQue]

Spirit is calling it "Hiding taxes in your fares".

http://link.spiritairlines.com/YesConnect/HtmlMessagePreview?a=hCsg3-sW3XkNI4Gj6ASjOr

 

[Carina]

I wish they would do that here in Canada. You ain't seen taxes and fees until you've booked a flight in Canada.

Just today a coworker booked a flight... $99 plus taxes total cost just shy of $500!

Thats one heck of a jump and very typical... well actually the $99 part is pretty rare lol

 

[familyfirsttimer]

Glad I read this thread, I was freaking out today that by waiting a few days it was hundreds of $$ up! Ugh! I will still wait it out. Thanks for posting

 

[DVC-Don]

Are they really called "passenger-protection rules"? If so, what are they protecting passengers from....learning what the government is taxing them?

Is it really called "full-fare" advertising? Because that's not accurate either. It's full-fare plus all the government and airport fees.

I have mixed feelings about this. Unfortunately, this is a net loss for both the consumer and an industry that advertises. Now, people....tax payers....aren't clearly being shown extra fees their government is taxing them for deciding to buy an airline ticket. They don't know how much the airline actually charged them unless they examine further. The airline has lost it's ability to clearly show the sticker shock of what the government is actually taxing the consumer (which the airline is forced to collect for the government). The only entity that gains anything here is the government entities who's fees are now hidden from obvious view....unless the consumer is curious enough to examine it.

The only thing this law "protects" passengers from is disappointment after a few clicks.

There are parallels here...for example when you buy gasoline you don't see all the taxes being added in by the state or fed on the sign or the pump. Not sure if this is a law, or if it's just for convenience of the retailer. Either way, it really hides how much taxes the government is actually taxing people....part of the reason taxes continue to survive and grow...people don't know about them and thus can't use their democracy to do anything about them.

Yes! It's called "hiding the tax". A few years ago a local gas station broke down the cost of a gal of gas at each pump with each tax list per gal. The street sign still had the price with tax included. The state government came down on them saying it is illegal to post the tax amount.

 

[vacationclub]

Yes! It's called "hiding the tax". A few years ago a local gas station broke down the cost of a gal of gas at each pump with each tax list per gal. The street sign still had the price with tax included. The state government came down on them saying it is illegal to post the tax amount.

Wow, that says it all. Illegal to tell people what the government is taxing them....

 

[Lewisc]

About time. Spirit can no longer promote $9 fares. The cost of flying includes the cost of fuel, the cost of processing reservations and the cost of taxes. Many business pay taxes. They don't quote one price then add in a fee to cover the cost of property taxes.

Some of the fees go to the airport. Some of the fees go to pay security. How many companies charge one price then, at the register, add in a charge to cover rent or store security? The cost of maintaining the airport, and providing security, is an appropriate cost for passengers to be paying. Appropriate to disclose the cost in the fare displayed.

Spirit's page is dishonest. Spirit wants to hide the real cost of booking as long as possible.

edited to add I see Spirit is still promoting $9 fares on their website. I wonder how long before Spirit is fined. I doubt Spirit will fly passengers for $9 (total fare).

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

edited to add I see Spirit is still promoting $9 fares on their website. I wonder how long before Spirit is fined. I doubt Spirit will fly passengers for $9 (total fare).

They have until tomorrow to quote the real price.

 

[Lewisc]

They have until tomorrow to quote the real price.

Thanks. I didn't check the date carefully enough. Other airlines are complying with the rules a day or two early. Spirit wants to continue to promote deceptive fares until the very last second allowed.

The issue wasn't just taxes. The issue was airlines like Spirit that wanted to promote a low fare but add in fuel charges and booking charges so their fares would (initially) look lower when comparing airfares.

 

[Geoff_M]

Spirit is calling it "Hiding taxes in your fares".

http://link.spiritairlines.com/YesConnect/HtmlMessagePreview?a=hCsg3-sW3XkNI4Gj6ASjOr

Me thinks Spirit is "full of it". As far as I can tell, the new regs do not prohibit the airline from telling you the taxes associated with your ticket. If so, then AirTran is in violation because when you select a fare now (after changing their site to display the post-tax price when getting a quote), you STILL are given the base fare/taxes breakdown. As far as I can tell, the only thing the new regs do is prohibit the use of eye-grabbing "artificial" low rates and require that the posted price be the actual out-of-pocket cost of stepping on the plane (minus any checked luggage, of course).

 

[vacationclub]

Some of the fees go to the airport. Some of the fees go to pay security. How many companies charge one price then, at the register, add in a charge to cover rent or store security? The cost of maintaining the airport, and providing security, is an appropriate cost for passengers to be paying. Appropriate to disclose the cost in the fare displayed.

Fees that go to the airport, yes, I agree, that's just a cost of doing business and should be reflected in the price. The airport isn't charging you, the passenger, this cost, they have no authority over you to do this...they aren't doing business directly with you. And airlines can negotiate this cost with airports, you can't.

BUT, security fees, are in fact, taxes, and mandated by the Federal government for each person who decides they want to use an airport. The airlines do not use that money, and are not charged that money. They simply collect it on behalf of the government. The largest part of the markup on your ticket is due to excise taxes that the government imposes and the airline collects (basically like sales tax at the store). http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=242812,00.html

Spirit's page is dishonest. Spirit wants to hide the real cost of booking as long as possible.

edited to add I see Spirit is still promoting $9 fares on their website. I wonder how long before Spirit is fined. I doubt Spirit will fly passengers for $9 (total fare).

I agree that Spirit took this to the extreme. But mandatory government imposed fees should be indicated exactly as such. They are not a cost of doing business, they are a tax levied directly on the consumer....like sales tax which is also not reflected in any price for any product until you pay(except gas).

 

[Lewisc]

Many states charge excise taxes on adult beverages and cigarettes. A variety of taxes on gasoline. Advertised prices for those items include those taxes.

I'm comparing airfares I want to know my total cost. Some of that cost goes to pay for fuel. salaries. aircraft lease payments. taxes and fees imposed by the government Charges imposed by the gov't to pay for security, airports etc is certainly part of the cost of doing business.

The airline objecting the most is Spirit. Spirit is still promoting the $9 fare club but they can no longer list $9 fares.

 

[jsilvers]

As far as I can tell, the new regs do not prohibit the airline from telling you the taxes associated with your ticket.

Correct. The Department of Transportation explains:

Under the full fare rule, a seller of air transportation must always list the total price to be paid by the consumer, inclusive of all taxes, fees, and other mandatory charges. Because several commenters to the proposed rule expressed an interest in informing the consumer of the source of the total price, so that the consumer can see the base fare as well as the taxes and fees, the Department decided to include a provision permitting a seller of air transportation to break-out these charges while still displaying the total price to be paid by the consumer. A separate statement of these taxes and fees, however, must not be false or misleading, must be provided on a per-passenger basis and must accurately reflect the cost of the charge to the carrier, and may not be displayed prominently. The purpose of the rule is to ensure consumers are not misled regarding the total cost of the purchase.​

http://airconsumer.dot.gov/rules/EAPP_2_FAQ_01-11-2012final.pdf

 

[jsilvers]

Fees that go to the airport, yes, I agree, that's just a cost of doing business and should be reflected in the price. The airport isn't charging you, the passenger, this cost, they have no authority over you to do this...they aren't doing business directly with you. And airlines can negotiate this cost with airports, you can't.

Actually, the airport charges included in the ticket price are assessed on a per-passenger basis (up to $4.50 per segment). Although not technically a tax, they in effect are one, because they are only permitted with FAA authorization. They aren't subject to negotiation between airlines and airports; airlines merely collect the fees and pass them along to the airport (but are entitled to retain a portion of the fee to cover their costs).