The Real Price

Effective January 26th, 2012 all airline ticket prices will include all taxes and fees. The Department of Transportation is enforcing a "Transparency Act". Meaning that they can not advertise for a $90 round trip fare and then add $50 of fees at the end of purchase. The ticket price quoted to you will be $140. No hidden fees on your ticket!


This new ticket initiative is good news for the consumer. How many times have you gone through the process of getting your ticket and you think you found a good deal only to find that your deal is not really a deal. Knowing the exact amount of the ticket is very beneficial and not having to worry about hidden fees is a relief. A person can plan better and save better.

Not only are the airlines required to be forthright about the complete cost of the ticket but also have other fees visible and up front, such as baggage fees. So when you're booking on online they will tell you how much the checked baggage fee will be.

This new law is part of a group of consumer-oriented regulations that have been imposed on the airlines for the last 3 years. President Obama and Republican Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation have worked together to make flying a better experience for the consumer. See, Democrats and Republicans can work well together if they just put down their boxing gloves. Some of the changes they have implemented are that the airlines can't hold planes on tarmacs indefinitely, they must return them to terminals or face huge fines. Airlines have to reimburse passengers with more money if they're involuntarily bumped from flights and if their bags are lost.

All good changes and all for the good of the consumer. But there are those who say these new laws are unfair. Why should airlines be mandated to include fees and taxes to the sticker prices "when customers are used to buying everything from groceries to electronics with the taxes added on at the cash register," Steve Lott, spokesman for Airlines of America. Yes, the airlines are not to happy with this new change, claiming that it hurts their advertising strategies which in turn violates their 1st Amendment rights. Which I don't think is squashing their freedom, they just can't say one thing & then mean another. An advertisement for a $192 round trip ticket under new law would need to be advertised for $212, making this price harder to sell and less appealing. The airlines also says by showing the cost upfront prevents them from exposing to consumers the government's sizable share of a ticket's price. Now I would image that when you print out the receipt it would itemized all the taxes and fees. If it doesn't then maybe the airlines should do that if they are worried about exposing the government.

So as you would image there will be resistance from the airlines, but when there's change resistance is inevitable. Whether it's good change or bad change there is always someone who doesn't agree. For the moment I think this will good for the consumer and it will be interesting to see what the airlines do.

Only time will tell.