New rules require airlines to show fees with fares

One international ticket I priced online recently was well over doubled when I went to checkout versus the ticket price before all the crap was added. My ticket went from $399 to $852 within mere moments....

Well, in the last paragraph, it does say the law already requires those fees to be posted and they are but not where they are visible on the front end. For instance, DAL shows their fare price, and in small print right below, shows taxes and all but you have to dig on other pages of their site to find out about the bag fees.

I'd rather know up front that I'm paying $300 for my flight by checking a bag than pay $250, show up at the airport and get dinged for another $50 I hadn't planned on spending.

As far as the complaints about taxes and various fees - most people don't know about them and are surprised when their $180 cheap fare with 3 stops turns into $280 because they're paying $10 to TSA, $22.50 to various airports, a "fuel surcharge," and whatever other fees are thrown in. I'd rather see that up front than have to dig through fine print or be surprised at sheckout.

Well, as I said earlier, they are in there now, you just have to look for them. All this will do,in essence, is make everybody display the same way. Most folks nowadays have no idea of true word meaning as used by carriers and the DOT. RATE is the cost of moving something from point A to point B and is generally determined based on fixed costs, AT A SPECIFIC FUEL PRICE. When that fuel price exceeds that base price a FUEL SURCHARGE based on price of fuel increment goes into effect on top of the rate. That way, it can be hidden in the fine print and the rate left unchanged. Generally only experienced traffic and pricing people are aware of these things and the general public is not. Hence when a customer that flies once or twice a year is looking for a RATE, they are generally not looking for details, the actually want a TOTAL PRICE, and when they ask for a rate and then get ready to pay,it is different and there comes the surprise.

John Doe Passenger should not have to be a lawyer with an additional Degree in DoT or airline lingo to make decisions on ticket prices. NOR should JDP have to shell out any more money at check-in unless he is bringing additional baggage over the "normal" one suitcase and a carry-on.

I agree with the ruling. Too many companies - not just airlines - are padding the bottom line with extra charges and fees that are both unexpected to the customer/user AND - by the time they get to find out about it - are 100% cornered/committed and unable to make the no-go decision they would have made if they had known about it up front.

Businesses can - and should - be honest with their customers.

Aw come on guys. You love being on the computer, so spending a couple hours trying to figure out how much the ticket is really gonna cost on several different airlines is just good fun and so much simpler that calling someone like in the old days.lol!