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Charlie Leocha

Do airline customers have a right to know taxes and fees before buying their ticket?

by Charlie Leocha on March 18, 2010

After a long day of negotiations between Senate aides and committee staffers over wording regarding when passengers will get to know what taxes and fees will be added to their airfares, there was no final agreement. That means the Menendez amendment to the FAA Reauthorization bill will come up for a vote sometime today, and the fate of how we purchase airline tickets and view airfares will hang in balance.

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Clear Airfare amendment can use help now, call your Senator

by Charlie Leocha on March 17, 2010

As with everything in Washington DC, there is time to push hard and a time to wait. The Consumer Travel Alliance is in the push-hard part of an effort to force the airlines to tell travelers all of their fees upfront in the ticketing process.

The Menendez amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Act, being debated today, will mandate that airlines and travel agents disclose the full price of a ticket, including taxes and fees, right up front.

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Consumer Travel Alliance supports Menendez amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Act

by Charlie Leocha on March 16, 2010

The Consumer Travel Alliance strongly supports the Menendez amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Act. As noted below, this amendment will compel the airlines to be upfront about their various fees. The airlines should present all fees prior to the point where customers have already completed a portion of the purchase process.

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Regional airlines with 2nd-class safety fly most domestic routes, more coming

by Charlie Leocha on March 12, 2010

This is an alert for anyone concerned with the deteriorating airline service. Those following negotiations with airline pilots are betting that the mainline carriers will soon allow regional pilots to fly aircraft carrying up to 125 passengers. That means more regional flights for domestic passengers. Translation: more poorly trained pilots, smaller planes, underpaid staff, less service and more consumer confusion.

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Greece grinds to a halt — air grounded, public transport stopped, ferry and rail service supended

by Charlie Leocha on March 11, 2010

In case anyone was planning on traveling through Greece in the near future, think again. Greece is in the midst of a dramatic uprising focused against the country’s austerity program and tax increases designed to strengthen the country’s currency and keep the government out of bankruptcy.

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Consumer Travel Alliance — Nudging along DOT consumer web pages

by Charlie Leocha on March 10, 2010

Way back in the spring of 2009, while visiting various Senate staffers and members of the Department of Transportation enforcement division, the Federal Railroad Administration and the FAA, two members of the Consumer Travel Alliance raised the concept of a more user-friendly Website for travelers.

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Hotel numbers keep going down, hotel bargains abound

by Charlie Leocha on March 9, 2010

Smith Travel Research is out with another look at the U.S. hotel industry. They reported decreases in all three key measurements during February 2010. The occupancy rates are hovering just over 50 percent. Average daily room rates are now well under $100 at US$97.12. Those factors add up to a revenue per available room number of only $52.19.

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Consumer Travel Alliance — United Airlines tries to shift credit card fees

by Charlie Leocha on March 8, 2010

In late summer, United Airlines announced a new program where a select number of travel agents would no longer be allowed to use the airline’s merchant account to process ticket purchases. This maneuver was an obvious attempt to save the three to four percent credit card processing fees. The Consumer Travel Alliance saw a more ominous outcome — the possible loss of important consumer protections.

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Forbes: The world’s most beautiful colleges

by Charlie Leocha on March 7, 2010

Forbes has selected what they consider the world’s most beautiful. This selection was created after surveying a group of architects. I have included the Top 10 on their most-beautiful list.

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