Government Accuses Airlines of Raking in Billions with Hidden Costs
Once there were a variety of services that the airlines included on the purchase price of the ticket – but those days are long gone and the industry is now raking in billions on a laundry list of extra and sometimes hidden fees. This led a congressional committee to call multiple airline executives to discuss the validity of these fees.
The government asserts that airline customers are having what amounts to an impossible time trying to determine how much it will actually cost them to fly and are looking at increased regulation to make sure the airlines are playing fair.
The airlines generated revenue of nearly $8 billion during 2008-2009 from a combination of baggage fees, cancellation penalties and reservation change charges.
The house committee noted that the airlines are guilty of using complexity and confusion to hit each customer with an onslaught of hidden fees that should be advertised up front.
Some of the government “full disclosure proposals include:
- Listing of mandatory costs, taxes and fees
- Spelled out optional fees for checked bags, seat selection and food
- Baggage Fee refunds for luggage not delivered in a timely manner
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by John Adams, John M Adams, MyPRGenie, In-Flight Insider, Jay Bonds and others. Jay Bonds said: Government says with all the hidden airline costs – figuring out how much it costs to fly is nearly impossible – http://cot.ag/dAkmVv [...]
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