Airline Fees Remain Anything But Transparent

Richard D'Ambrosio, Travel Market Report

It has been nearly 10 years since the airline industry introduced fees for different services. But while the travel industry has had a long time to experiment and refine the listing and booking process for ancillary fees, consumers and travel agents remain ill-prepared to compare costs across carriers and make educated decisions.

In 2016, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) received a total of 17,904 complaints of which 862 (about 5 percent) were regarding airline fees for optional services. The complaints included concerns that fees were too high for changing or cancelling reservations, transporting bags and selecting seats. Also, fee information “was not transparent or fully disclosed to the customer,” according to the General Accounting Office (GAO), which undertook the study. Read the full article here.