Lawmakers have again called for legislation to reign in the rising cost of airline fees and ensure airlines disclose all fees up front.
A Senate Commerce Committee report has slammed the industry for continuing to hide added costs, particularly the policy of charging arbitrary change and cancelation fees for flight bookings.
"The traveling public is being nickel-and-dimed to death. What’s worse is that many flyers don’t learn about the actual cost of the travel until it’s too late," said Sen. Bill Nelson.
The report calls out the lack of transparency on the true cost of changing a flight reservation or cancelling a ticket.
It says these fees have increased by as much as 66% in the last five years.
"Airlines justify their change/cancellation fees by claiming the fees are necessary to cover the opportunity cost of an airline not being able to rebook a seat," the report said.
"This rationale, however, fails to account for why many airlines charge the same penalty fees regardless of the lead time a passenger provides for an airline to resell the ticket."
The Committee criticized airlines’ secrecy over these fees, which are usually found in small type on a separate page to listed airfares, under ambiguous headings such as ‘optional services’ ‘fare rules’ or ‘optional fees.’
The report called out United Airlines’ website for being especially confusing.
Sen. Nelson said he hopes the Senate will take on board the report’s recommendations when work begins on reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration.
