Airlines under fire for hidden fees
Consumer rights groups in the US have joined forces to launch a campaign demanding more transparent pricing from airlines.
FlyersRights.org, the Business Travel Coalition, and other corporations and national consumer groups have demanded that the US Department of Transportation backs their fight for "true comparison shopping" for airline consumers.
They have launched a 30-day public awareness campaign demanding transparency in airline ticketing and the end of hidden fees.
"At a time of slow economic recovery, the flying public is being financially damaged by the airlines’ refusal to post the hidden ancillary fees next to the base fares so that flyers can compare apples to apples when comparison shopping for air fares," said Kate Hanni, director Flyersrights.org.
By Christmas Day, the consumer groups aim to have 25,000 signatures on a petition to pressure the White House to formally review this request and provide a public response.
The groups are urging the traveling public to sign the petition and join the campaign for greater price transparency.
"It’s outrageous," said Hanni.
"These are deceptive pricing tactics that the airlines use to give the flyer the illusion of a lower fare. Airlines use hidden ancillary charges as an indirect way to raise fares in a manner which makes it impossible to predict the total price of a ticket.
"Business travellers who have to account for their travel costs have to aggregate all of their receipts in order to get reimbursed, and it’s just impossible for them to handle. The hidden fees can raise the cost of a ticket by up to 40%"
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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