Hidden airline fees: A question of government or consumers

When you buy, are you able to accurately compare ticket prices or do the airlines have you flummoxed by hiding some of the fees attached to their airfares?

The Business Travel Coalition has petitioned the U.S. Department of Transportation “to police airlines’ anti-consumer policies and practices.” The consumer group believes the issue has become critical because the consolidation of the industry has whittled the competitive landscape down to three major network carriers: American, United and Delta.

The organization conducted a survey of 343 corporate, university and government travel managers and found that 96.5 percent of them think airlines should proactively provide ancillary fee information to channels where they sell their base fares.

The survey also found that 94.7 percent believe that because the marketplace has not fixed the problem after six years that the government should step in and require airlines to provide the information. Also, 90.5 percent believe the Transportation Department should require ancillary fee information to be shared by airlines in a format that allows comparison shopping.

I’m interested to hear what you Road Warriors think about this.

On one hand, it seems consumers would be best served by full disclosure by the airlines and as a regulated industry, the airlines should be required to disclose certain matters as a condition of their certification.

But on the other hand, should fare pricing be within the purview of government? Shouldn’t it be the consumers’ responsibility to do their homework to find which deal is the best?

The issue really hits close to home.

Two of McCarran International Airport’s top carriers are deep discounters, Spirit Airlines and Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air. They offer really low fares, but they also have fees for a number of the added services they provide. Other carriers offer some of the same services, but they’re built into the ticket price. Spirit and Allegiant say they can keep fares low by only charging customers for what they want.

Shouldn’t you, the passenger, be responsible for finding the true cost of your flight after fees? Or should the Transportation Department step into the fray?

Chime in and I’ll use some of your responses in a future column.

IT’S A JOKE

Ben Stiller got big laughs in the film “Meet the Parents” when he went on a rant about having a bomb in his carry-on suitcase and it got him booted off his flight.

Transportation Security Administration officers take hearing that word very seriously and passengers are warned that when you’re in line awaiting your turn to pass through the detection gauntlet that you shouldn’t even joke about having a bomb. Or a gun. Or lots of other stuff.

Now, there’s a new word that you shouldn’t joke about. A passenger on a US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic got into trouble when, after coughing for a while, told fellow passengers, “I have Ebola … you’re all screwed.”

Even though the passenger later said he was joking, US Airways officials weren’t amused. Four people with hazmat suits climbed aboard and escorted him off the plane and other passengers were delayed while the aircraft sat on the tarmac.

“Ebola” apparently is the new word you shouldn’t joke about at the airport.

THEY READ OUR TWEETS

Social media enthusiasts have been telling us about the power of the tweet and how public criticism of an airline on Twitter can produce swift consumer satisfaction results.

Make no mistake about it, airlines are reading our tweets. In my recent visit to Southwest Airlines headquarters, I got a look at the company’s Listening Center where a team of self-labeled social media nerds monitor the hashtags and social commentary about the airline. Southwest says the Listening Center can head off trouble well before it becomes a big problem.

But some airlines are reacting a little differently when the critical tweets roll in.

On a JetBlue flight from Philadelphia to Boston (What is it about these flights from Philadelphia?), a pilot showed up late for the flight and a passenger jokingly asked if he was detained because he was at a bar. Some JetBlue colleagues overhead the exchange and took it seriously enough to request a sobriety test.

The whole incident was live-tweeted by a New Hampshire woman ticketed for the flight. When the pilot was cleared and the 8:25 p.m. flight finally boarded just after midnight, the tweeter was denied boarding. The reason: She exhibited “objectionable behavior.”

JetBlue issued a statement to WMUR-TV about the incident:

“The decision to remove a customer from a flight is not taken lightly. If we feel a customer is not complying with safety instructions, exhibits objectionable behavior or causes conflict at the gate or on the aircraft, the customer will be asked to deplane or will be denied boarding especially if the crew feels the situation runs the risk of accelerating in the air. In this instance, the customer received a refund and chose to fly on another carrier.”

The lesson learned: If you really, really want to make your flight, be careful what you tweet.

OPEN ROAD

The final stretch of roadway along Galleria Parkway from Boulder Highway to Lake Las Vegas opens Thursday when Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen and Councilwoman Gerri Schroder cut the ribbon on the $12.9 million project.

The road will now provide a direct link between Lake Las Vegas and downtown Henderson.

The project was an environmental challenge because some of the right of way traverses the Clark County Wetlands Park and had to be signed off by the Southern Nevada Water Authority, Clark County, the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation.

Questions and comments should be sent to roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com. Please include your phone number. Follow the Road Warrior on Twitter @RJroadwarrior.