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.

Basically, the Menendez amendment mandates that travelers get to know all applicable taxes and fees before they begin the purchase process. The amendment instructs that the Secretary of Transportation “shall establish rules to ensure that all consumers are able to easily and fairly compare airfares and other costs applicable to tickets for air transportation, including all taxes and fees.”

It seems simple, but the airlines are fighting tooth and nail against any change to the current law. Under the current system, airlines can basically hide their fees until the last minute. It allows the airlines to mislead consumers until the last moment. This Menendez amendment will put an end to that practice.

Today, there will probably be a vote on the amendment. Please call or send email to your Senator encouraging them to take a stand for consumers, honest advertising and the ability to make informed comparisons between airfares.

Send your Senator this message:

I urge you to support the amendment (No. 3506) proposed by Sen. Menendez to H.R. 1586 requiring airlines and travel agents to disclose all taxes and fees associated with airfares. We need this rule so that we can compare the true cost of air travel.

Again, here is the list of all U.S. Senators and their contact information complete with a webform that will make sending a message easy. Contact your Senator. Right now, it is the best way to help yourself (whether you book through a travel agent or directly) when it comes to having the airlines provide the true total cost of travel when making airline ticket purchases.

Getting the Menendez amendment passed will be the best way to insure transparency in airline ticket pricing. The amendment is being supported by the Consumer Travel Alliance and the Consumer Federation of America.

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Tagged as: faa reauthorization act, menendez amendment, Sen. Menendez

  • Ginny Gordon

    My only question is will it make a difference to the consumer? When I quote an airline ticket “inclusive of taxes and fees” there is never any question. Fee is my charge to issue the ticket. When I break it out, I have to go into a five minute conversation of why we must charge fees to issue airline tickets…….

  • Jeff

    While the price of an airline ticket can be misleading until the point of purchase, I think there is a distinction between taxes and fees.

    If I go to the grocery store, I do not know how much will I pay in taxes until I purchase the item. The store does not disclose this before I make my decision. Granted, taxes on an airline ticket are higher than taxes on a grocery bill, but the concept is the same. Why should United be treated any different from Safeway?

    Fees (at least those controlled by an airline) are different. But most are variable in nature. Luggage fees are now a perfect example. 0 bags is free, 1 bag is $25, 2 is $50, and so on — unless you have status, then it is different. But if it is heavy, then follow a different price schedule. So I am not sure how you can disclose these for a comparison. Fees that are mandatory, like a booking fee that some airlines charge, should be included.

  • Pingback: Ontario Buyers Must Know Taxes, Fees in the Advertising of Travel « TravelOFFEN.com Blog

  • MG

    > If I go to the grocery store, I do not know how much will I pay in taxes
    > until I purchase the item. The store does not disclose this before I make
    > my decision.

    … And that’s one of my pet peeves.
    Why, oh why, can’t North America be like the rest of the world, and display store prices, with taxes included?

  • Jake

    I think the intent is to force the airlines to include bogus charges like “fuel surcharges” (which can sometimes be more than the ticket itself!) in the advertised price, and I’m all for that. If I were writing the reg, it would be any fee that the customer cannot decline MUST be displayed as part of the advertised price. To Jeff’s point the variable fees wouldn’t be there, but I believe among frequent travelers the differences would quickly become well known, and among the infrequent travelers airlines would start hyping which things they DON’T charge for, like Southwest’s “Bags Fly Free” campaign. At the end of the day I don’t care if 50% of the price paid is going to fuel…if I can’t opt out of it, it is part of the price and shouldn’t be allowed to be broken out until the last minute.

  • Catherine

    I believe it is my right to know what my money is going for. Let’s say you take your car in for a repair. The mechanic says it will cost you $375.00 for the repair but doesn’t give you an itemization of what he is actually billing you for.

    I don’t know about you, but this is getting as bad as our healthcare industry. You get a bill from the Doctor or Hospital these days with NO itemization.. I’ve found that they have tacked on procedures, etc. that did not belong to me.

    You all are being blindsided and you can’t figure it out.. This is pathetic!

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