Beware of Air Fare Confusion

Ticket Pricing Questions

Beware of air fare confusion once again if a bi-partisan bill introduced in Congress and supported by the airline industry is voted into law.  Until slightly more than two years ago, the common practice was to advertise a low air fare in large bold type without including the additional required taxes and fees, which often added 30% to 50% to the total ticket price and resulted in widespread air fare confusion.

In January 2012, the Department of Transportation began requiring the airlines to show the total price of airline tickets, including all taxes and fees.  The new fare transparency requirement for the airlines was meant to provide consumers with a way to price shop for the lowest rates and eliminate air fare confusion.

Current Updates To Prevent Air Fare Confusion

In the meantime, pricing complexity has continued to grow with the fees for checked luggage, rebooking flights, and choosing an upgraded seat assignment, which causes even more air fare confusion.   When calculating the total ticket cost, you are more likely to buy from the one airline that gives you a free baggage allowance for being one of their frequent flyers than from another carrier offering a lower price.

By the time you add on the luggage fees to the cheaper carrier’s price, the tickets cost almost the same amount.  Either way, you are going to pay a higher price.

In spite of the time it takes to calculate your total air fare, the Department of Transportation does make it possible to find out what additional fees to expect by requiring that each airline post them on their web site in an attempt to eliminate some of the air fare confusion.  Also, the listed ticket price must include all taxes and fees.  It is even possible to change your reservation within twenty-four hours of purchase without a penalty.  Although if it is any longer than that, you may end up paying a “change fee” of $250.

The Proposed Legislation

The bill pending in the House of Representatives wants to separate the ticket prices once again into the airlines’ fee and the mandatory taxes, thus creating renewed air fare confusion.  Their reasoning is that the public should realize how much of the pricing is due to taxes and does not go to them as revenue.

If it passes, the airlines will once again have a smoke screen to hide the total price of an airline ticket and create air fare confusion by burying the mandatory taxes and fees where they are difficult to find.  Although their stated intent is to give the public information about the high taxes charged on airline tickets, there is no benefit to the consumer for not being able to immediately discover the full price of an airline ticket.

It is important to be aware of what air fare confusion might lie ahead if the airlines are able to lobby this bill into returning to the old pricing structure, which allowed them to advertise prices that were simply too good to be true.

Would you rather just know the full price of an airline ticket when you are comparing air fares or is it also important to you to see the breakdown of taxes and charges that are added to the air fare?

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