It’s time to double down on
consumer protections for air travelers –
become a citizen co-sponsor of the
Real Transparency in Airfares Act
Airlines are making record profits – a whopping $12.7 BILLION last year – as customers were charged for everything from baggage to seat changes. For years, some ticket sellers and airlines have tried to hide these costs from travelers to make ticket prices look significantly cheaper than they really are.
Now, they want to make it even harder to determine the bottom line cost of an airline ticket – and Congress is helping them.
A bill just passed the House of Representatives with a misleading name – the “Transparent Airfares Act” – and contrary to the title, it’s a bad deal for consumers. It reverses a federal rule which says ticket sellers and airlines have to advertise the full price consumers will pay upfront – including taxes and user fees – and not hide them until we get to the checkout line. That’s a bait and switch and a deceptive attempt by a powerful industry to mislead customers about the real price of airfare.
That’s why Senator Menendez introduced the “Real Transparency in Airfares Act” to strengthen, rather than weaken, consumer protections. Not only does this bill uphold the existing “full-fare advertising” rule that requires all ticket sellers to disclose upfront the full airfare cost, including taxes, it doubles the maximum penalty for violators to $55,000 a day. These tougher penalties will make unscrupulous ticket sellers think twice before they try to pull a fast one on their customers and pay heavily if they do so.
Add your name on the right and urge the senate to protect consumers.
*Flight prices were looked up on May 1, 2014 for trips departing on August 1, 2014 and returning on August 8, 2014. The price for flight 1 was quoted on southwest.com, and flight 2 on aa.com. For flight 1, the cheapest non-stop flights were selected, and for flight 2 the cheapest 1 stop flights were selected.
