Image by sparktography via FlickrHow often have you seen a ridiculously low airfare published only to find out that when you try to purchase a ticket that a tax larger than the airfare is added on? Well it happened to me today when I spent time purchasing a ticket for my trip to Thailand next week. I have been aggravated for awhile to see these fares and then waste time going through the motions only to find out the true airfare. Several airlines do it and some big air ticketing websites on the internet do it. Well not much longer. This practice was addressed in a Final Rule issued by the Department of Transportation along with several other issues.
Docket No. DOT-OST-2010-0140 issued by the Department and which can be seen HERE issues rulings on the following:
(1) contingency plans for lengthy tarmac delays; (2) reporting of tarmac delay data; (3) customer service plans; (4) contracts of carriage; (5) responding to consumer problems/complaints (6) oversales; (7) full fare advertising; (8) baggage and other ancillary fees; (9) post-purchase price increases; (10) notification to passengers of flight status changes; (11) choice-of-forum provisions; and (12) peanut allergies.
The Full Fare advertising ruling not only affects the airlines but anyone selling a ticket to include agencies and online ticket sellers. Unfortunately this seems to have been brought on by the airlines and ticket agents not being willing to operate in a fully transparent manner. But at least next time I go shopping for a ticket I won’t have to navigate multiple web pages to find out what I am being charged.
Glorious blog!
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