The rules require that all taxes and fees be included in advertised fares, while this will be a benefit to consumers, I don’t know how the airlines are going to be able to comply.
Airfares have been typically advertised with the base fare in large type and the taxes and fees in small type, but with the new rules, customers should be able to easily see the full price of their fare. If carriers, or travel retailers, want to show the base fare and fees separately, the font size has to be smaller than the font of the total price of the fare with all taxes and fees included. Many websites only show you a one-way fare without taxes and fees, and you may have to click through up to four pages to see the full price, but in the future you will have to see the fares inclusive of all taxes and fees on the very first page.
I think the international fares will be one of the more difficult because international taxes vary greatly by country and your baggage fee must be the same all the way through. We have seen some websites offering a fare from Dallas to London for $140 each way on the first page, but when we went to book it, we saw that they had not included the fuel surcharge on the first page. When we checked the return fare on the second page, it was $552, which included the $412 in fuel surcharges for the whole trip, plus the $140 base fare. They still didn’t tell us about an additional $200 in U.S. and British taxes and fees, so finally on the third page we saw a total price of $892 roundtrip. We thought we were getting an airfare of $280 roundtrip, but it was actually $612 higher and that kind of advertising is mandated to go away on January 24.
The government says this kind of advertising is misleading because if you see a price of $140 on one site and another site discloses all fees, that first site is misleading the customer into thinking they are getting a cheap airfare. On Bestfares.com, for example once you enter your itinerary, we have the full price disclosure listed on the very first page, which includes your airfare, your fuel surcharges and all taxes and fees listed, and you do not have to click through three pages to get the full fare.
Because airlines can change fares three times per day, and taxes and fees can vary, depending on if you are flying nonstop or making a connection, I think the Department of Transportation really doesn’t know how difficult it will be to comply with these new rules because of the current technology and the way the airlines have been displaying fares, especially in print or online if the airfare goes up.
The rules were supposed to go into effect in August, but the airlines complained that it would be impossible to comply by that deadline, so the government extended the deadline. If we can comply with the new rules, the airlines should be able to, but whether they can make those changes by January 26 is not clear.
If a vacation package includes air travel, the package price will have to include all taxes and fees. If your package includes hotel and air or you book a cruise with airfare, all of these taxes and fees must be included in the advertised price.
I’m also left wondering what will happen with online web searches since stories are stored online and an advertised fare that was valid when a story was written may not be when someone pulls it up through a search. At Bestfares.com, we are date stamping our stories and including all taxes and fees in new stories, but our booking engine has been in compliance on airfares and packages since last summer when the rules were originally supposed to go into effect.
Your baggage fees must be the same all the way through and this could be a challenge for international travel. When you look at flights to Europe, the transatlantic portion has simple baggage fees, but intra-Europe flights often have different baggage allowances, depending on your final destination and partner carrier’s rules.
In Dallas, we’ve seen Southwest ads with fares as low as $59 one-way, but that was just for the base fare. We will probably see Southwest offer fares starting at $69 one-way to reflect the price with taxes and fees in future sale advertising. When you see ads, you may think these fares have gone up, but the airlines have to include a segment fee of $21 roundtrip for nonstop or 1-stop service with no change of planes, but if a passenger is making one or more connections with a change of planes, the segment fee is $41 roundtrip.
Spirit, who is famous for $9 fares, is the main culprit behind these new rules. The airline has had a multitude of hidden fees and even charges a $16.99 passenger usage fee each way for booking online.
We recently priced a fare from Dallas to Fort Lauderdale and Spirit showed it as $59 each way, which included $8.27 for the fare and $50.73 for the fuel surcharge. When we got further into the booking process, we also saw additional taxes and fees of $55.38 for a total of $173 roundtrip.
In the future, Spirit will have to show the fare as $139 roundtrip with these new rules. Spirit will still have a loophole and won’t have to show the $33.98 roundtrip in passenger usage fees until the final booking page because you have the option to avoid the passenger usage fee by going to the airport and purchasing your ticket at the counter.
Airfare transparency is not the only new rule that will go into effect. Other rules include allowing passengers to hold a reservation for up to 24 hours without making a payment, or if you do make payment you can cancel it without penalty for 24 hours after the reservation is made as long as the reservation is made at least seven days in advance.
Also, fares cannot increase after purchase, baggage fees must be disclosed at time of booking, the same baggage allowances and fees must apply throughout a passenger’s trip, baggage fees must be disclosed on e-ticket confirmations and passengers must be promptly notified in the event of delays over 30 minutes or if there is a cancellation or diversion of their flight.
Also beginning January 26, you will have to make a decision at the time of booking to opt in or opt out of travel insurance. You will have to check one of the two choices of wanting insurance or not wanting it.
Remember you can always buy travel insurance from an outside retailer at a later date. You’ll also want to consider whether you need it or not. For an air/cruise trip, it is a good idea to have travel insurance, but for a $98 airfare, it is probably not worth the added cost.
To read the Department of Transportation's press release that touches on all these subjects and give certain, details please click here.
Have you already bought an airline ticket, but the fare has now gone down? Find out how you can get an airline credit for the difference in price after you have already purchased your ticket. To get the full details, please click here.
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