[PHXFlyer]

Originally Posted by airhead

- passengers are already compensated for delays that are within the control of the airline. A sliding scale or trickle down a la carte menu of time may further complicate the ticketing system. Passengers should be aware of the potential of any type of delay and the consequences. The contract explains this in more technical terms.

Originally Posted by AADFW

No they're not, at least not consistently. Such compensation wouldn't need to be tied in any form or fashion to ticketing systems.

Why should airlines be treated differently
from any other business? If you're not completely satisfied with your Dominos Pizza they aren't obligated to give you a refund. More often than not they give you a "credit" towards your next purchase. Of course, if the airline can't get you to your ticketed destination at all then under DOT rules you are entitled to a refund. If it's just a delay I don't see anything wrong with compensation in the form of travel vouchers or even frequent flier miles.

Originally Posted by airhead

-a transparent form of pricing would indeed be nice but who can enforce that? If that were to happen then that would have to be effective on other consumer goods and services. Personally, my internet/cable bill comes to about $78 a month after the taxes and fees. The base amount is $49. That is about a 58% price increase. Phone bills, utilities, cars, real estate, credit cards and many others have added taxes and fees. Taking away the fees to be include in the base price would mean more work and calculations for the pencil pushers and bean counters thus raising the price. The IRS and FDA, just off the top of my head, would have to grow thus increasing more taxes. I don't want more taxes, I pay enough.

Originally Posted by AADFW

What a totally preposterous response. First of all, the FTC can and does monitor and enforce rules with respect to false advertising and deceptive pricing. There's no reason why they, or another government agency couldn't respond to consumer complaints if price transparencey rules were enacted for airlines. The "calculations" that "bean counters" and "pencil pushers" seem to have no problem with are the extraneous "fuel surcharges" and other add-on fees that go directly to the airlines and are simply a deceptive part of the fare structure itself. Including taxes and fees in the fares upfront wouldn't create any extra labor for the airlines at all. It would simply be fairer for consumers.

Actually, the pricing that does show when booking on the internet is just how the FTC wants it. While one is shopping for flights the price displayed is the base fare plus the 7.5% federal excise tax which is consistent across all US fares. The other taxes/surcharges are often dependent on the number of segments, which airports are transited, and in the case of international travel the destination country/airport.

For example Delta has a non-stop from Phoenix to JFK. Let's assume a base fare of $200. The federal tax would be $15, segment tax would be $3.60, passenger facility tax $4.50, and the "9/11" security fee $2.50 for a total of $225.60. Now let's look at the same $200 base fare on United which doesn't have non-stop service from Phoenix and would require a connection. PFCs (Passenger Facility Charges) are for the most part all the same now so let's assume a connection in Chicago (ORD). So the base fare and federal tax, $200 and $15, are the same. Since there are now two segments the segment tax would be $3.60x2 or $7.20. Same goes for the PFCs and "9/11" fees which are now $9 and $5 respectively. So the total on United would be $236.20.

Same base fare, origin and destination, but if you were shopping an internet booking engine and the prices displayed were...

Delta - $225.60
United - $236.20

...which would you choose if price was your major determining factor? That is why prices are before taxes and fees. With an equal playing field on price the customer can then choose based on other factors such as convenience of a non-stop vs. connection, departure/arrival times, brand loyalty, etc.

As for the miscellaneous service fees that the airlines are charging these days, if they thought those fees were cutting into their business in a significant way they'd stop collecting them. Of course expect fares to increase accordingly.

Personally the fees don't bother me. I have yet to encounter an issue booking online that required a call to an agent to book it for me. There are some situations where an agent is required due to the complexity of the booking or an award ticket on some partners. I rarely travel with a checked bag and when I do I don't mind paying the fee. I'd rather know that for all the times I traveled without one my fare wasn't subsidizing people who pack half of their belongings for a weekend trip.