Phx flyer..
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With the exception of the fuel surcharge, all the other taxes and fees vary by itinerary so therefore couldn't be included in the fare.
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Typically in these threads, we disagree about lots of things, but I can usually follow your logic and understand your point. I rarely agree with it, but I get the point. This is a mystery. All fares vary by itinerary... indeed, virtually all airlines use dynamic pricing software, so they don't only vary by itinerary, they vary from hour to hour, minute to minute. What has that got to do with the debate? It is a spurious argument trying to defend the indefensible.
Silent Bob
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So would it be legitimate for Target to list everything that goes into the cost of that 20 dollar towel? They could as could most retail store, but then that would be one heck of a loooooong receipt and quite frankly, I wouldn't wanna know.
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This makes my point. The different elements that go into the price of goods or services are varied and complex for all products and services. I cannot imagine why the airlines are a special case... who care's what they pay for landing fees, airport taxes, federal ATC charges... not me. Just tell me the honest price of getting from A to B. Instead, they post fictional prices and then add all the baloney on top, to deceive the customer and this is one reason (amongst many) why these robber barons, abusing virtual monopolies need to be re-regulated.
Now, it is over 10 years since I lived in the US, but I lived there for 12 years. During that time I was a member of the Piedmont Frequent Flyer Programme (later US Air). At the beginning of that programme, when I cashed in my miles, the ticket was genuinely free. Later, they started adding taxes. Still possibly legitimate. However, once they started slicing up their costs (as outlined in Silent Bobs Retail 101), and added them as "fees", they are effectively withdrawing the incentive which was offered in the first place to get you to buy the product. We seem to accept airlines behaving in a particular way, which we would not expect from other providers of goods and services. I am asking why? Why should we accept this?
If Target is offering a towel on a BOGOF.. (Buy One, get one free), would it be ok if you got to the till and they said you have to pay fuel surcharge, fees and charges on the towel, but the towel itself is free? I am using this example, simply to illustrate the point. The airlines are being deceptive. They get away with this because they are not truly competitive.
The barriers to entry for new competitors are huge, and so they have built up "fortress" hubs, in which they dominate the city pairs from that hub. Once they have established an effective monopoly, they begin to abuse their customers. This is exactly what the robber barons of the railroads, steel industries, telephony companies etc did 100 years ago. At some point, these behemoths should be broken up and more aggressively regulated to stop this abuse.
Markc's complaint is legitimate (not to PHX of course, who will defend anything the airlines do), but the free offer he was promised has been stripped away by the introduction of bogus "fees" which are just, plain and simple, the cost of doing business. His free flights are not free at all....they are discounts.