I read THIS about Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood being outraged at Spirit Airlines’ newly announced carry-on bag fees.  It would appear that he thinks this should be stopped or mitigated by the government and says the FAA is looking into what it can do.

 

Well, those who know me know I am *not* a fan of bag fees in general and I’m certainly not anti-government either.  In this case, Secretary LaHood is way off base.  It is not the job of the FAA or the government in general to prevent these kinds of fees from being implemented.  If these fees are as bad as some think (and I don’t think they are for this particular airline), the market should respond accordingly. 

 

What is the government’s job is making sure that these de-bundled fee based services on various airlines is transparent and currently it is not.  When a consumer is attempting to shop various options on traveling to a destination whether by most airlines’ websites or by an online agency (Orbitz, Travelocity, etc), they really only get to see the base fare plus taxes and fees.  This is a lack of transparency in pricing because the various fees are being implemented in conjunction with other desired services and some, although not all, are not advertised in the price.  

 

For instance, one does not see the convenience charge for using a credit card or the online booking fee that some charge.  Others don’t see how much it costs to transport a checked bag or, now, a carry-on bag.  If we’re going to have de-bundled fees for various “services” on airlines, I think it’s time we also be able to see the “all in” price of making that trip.  In other words:

 

• How much is that base airline fare?
• How much are the taxes?
• How much are the airport fees?
• How much is the fuel surcharge (if any)?
• How much does it cost to pay a checked bag fee at the time of ticket purchase?
• How much does it cost to pay a checked bag fee at the gate?
• What limits does this airline impose on both carry-on and checked baggage?
• Can one pre-purchase a meal and, if so, how much is that?

 

There are many more questions that should be answered in advertising those fares so that there is transparency instead of “gotchas”.  That is what should be imposed by the government.  Mind you, when the government does begin to impose such rules, the airlines will scream, holler and stamp their feet that they can’t afford the infrastructure to do this.   Sorry but if you’re going to have fees, you need to have the infrastructure to support a fair and transparent communication of what those fees are.  That’s the job of the government. 

 

Airlines would abhor such a thing because the very next development in online airline shopping will be websites that present the “all in” price for making a trip and that will make things hypercompetitive among airlines at present.  All I can say is that life is hard in the big city. 

 

There are other areas where transparency could and shood be better.  Codeshares are one area of that.  I don’t object to codeshares at all but I do object to the lack of transparency in how those codeshares are presented currently.   What is presently being done is the equivalent of offering one brand of flavored rice at a price and then giving the consumer another brand of flavored rice after the purchase.  Both brands may be great brands but what if you *really* wanted Rice-A-Roni instead of Lipton’s?   An airline isn’t going to let you change your ticket upon discovering that you really aren’t flying on their airline for particular flight.

 

There has been a lot of laxness in allowing airlines to operate for 2 decades or  more with this lack of transparency.  The argument that it would take time and money to present this in a fashion much like we expect virtually every other retailer or service provider to do is cost prohibitive just doesn’t fly.  Shame of the government for ignoring this for so long but shame on the airlines for doing it too.  The FAA has long been under the influence of exceptionally airline friendly forces for an very long time and they, more than anyone else, permitted this to happen.  I’m glad that Secretary LaHood wants to stop some of this abuse but I would suggest that he needs to be a little less media friendly in his words and a little more active in promoting fair for both airlines and consumers.  This is one part of the house that is long overdue to be put back into order. 

 

I”m a very experienced shopper for air fares and I’m exceptionally well acquainted with strategies to find a good fare and even I am finding it exceptionally difficult to do this in a manner that allows me to compare the cost of a trip in an apples to apples manner.  It takes an exceptional amount of time to make an informed purchase for air travel and if it is that hard for me, how hard is it for just the average consumer? 

 

I never want to let an airline have its cake and eat it too.

Filed under: Airline Fees by ajax