Yesterday seven U.S. senators sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, commending his leadership and his department’s efforts to protect consumers. In the letter, Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), George Lemieux (R-FL), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) and Mark Begich (D-AK) urge LaHood to “continue requiring increased disclosure of ancillary fees on airline tickets as well as facilitating that disclosure by requiring the sharing of fee information by air carriers to travel agents and online travel companies.”
In their letter, the senators write:
We believe consumers are entitled to full and host disclosure of all fees and charges associated with air travel before they purchase a ticket, whether directly from an airline or from a third-party intermediary … In order for this level of disclosure of ancillary fees to occur, it is essential that traditional travel agents and online travel companies—which together account for the sales of more than half of all airline tickets purchased in the United States—have easy access to fee information. That means requiring timely and full disclosure by airlines of ancillary fees to travel agencies via the global distribution systems (GDSs) that agencies almost universally use as their source of dare information.
“To have a letter come out with such strong and unequivocal support of our position is tremendous,” said Paul Ruden, senior vice president of Legal & Industry Affairs for ASTA. “The travel agency community is extremely gratified to have their support. The senators are to be commended for seeing through the hype and cutting to the heart of the issue.”
The American public made it clear today that they have had enough nasty surprises at the airlines’ behest. Now, with this additional show of backing, we know that consumers’ cries have not fallen on deaf ears.
The letter goes on to state that “(g)reater disclosure of fees will give consumers the information they need to make better and more informed air travel purchases” and lays out their shared belief that “the list of ancillary services subject to required airlines disclosures should be broad and inclusive.”
“It’s never been about the fees themselves, as the Senators note. The issue has always been disclosure so that travel agencies have complete and timely fee information to enable comparison shopping for the leisure traveler or the business traveler utilizing a corporate online booking tool powered by the agency,” said Kevin Mitchell. “We hope the support of these Senators will encourage other members of Congress to weigh in with Secretary LaHood.”
ASTA, BTC and CTA have been involved in the Mad as Hell About Hidden Fees campaign, which culminated with the delivery to the DOT of a petition signed by almost 60,000 Americans, demanding that the unjust airline practice of hiding ancillary fees from the traveling public be stopped. To learn more about the campaign and read stories shared by some of the thousands of people who signed the petition, please visit MadasHellAboutHiddenFees.com.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
