A proposal by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to relax rules on airfare advertising has won the favor of the nation’s largest travel advisors’ advocacy organization.
The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) this week approved a DOT plan to amend a current rule governing how airfares are displayed in ads. The proposed rule from the DOT would rescind a portion of the Full Fare Rule that requires airlines, travel agencies and other ticket agents to display the total cost of an airline ticket more prominently than taxes, fees or any carrier-imposed charges.
ASTA officials said they support the change as long as the full-fare cost remains at least as prominent as the other charges in ads and other materials.
“Travelers deserve to know the full price of an airline ticket from the outset, but the federal government does not need to dictate every formatting decision used to present that information,” said ASTA President and CEO Zane Kerby. “DOT’s targeted proposal offers a sensible balance by preserving meaningful price transparency while removing outdated requirements that create unnecessary compliance burdens.”
However, ASTA opposed a DOT proposal to repeal the Full Fare Rule altogether, which the travel advisors’ group said would inject uncertainty into pricing displays and make it harder for consumers to comparison-shop for airfares.
Enacted in 2011, the Full Fare Rule was intended to provide full disclosure of the cost of an airline ticket; it eliminated the ability of airlines to simply advertise the bottom-line airfare.
Airlines have long opposed the rule.
In a blog post, air travel consumer advocate Christopher Elliott characterized the proposed rule as an attempt by the Trump administration to help airlines hide the full cost of air travel.
The DOT proposal “may sound like a typography debate, but it’s not,” wrote Elliott. “Once every number can have the same prominence as the true price, airlines will have a license to make the low base fare the star of the ad. The total still technically appears, but they’ll find a way of burying the real cost.”
The government’s separate proposal to eliminate the Full Fare Rule is even worse for consumers, Elliott added. “That would mean airlines could once again advertise a fare that excludes taxes and fees altogether,” he noted.
The post ASTA Backs Controversial Federal Plan to Loosen Rules on Airfare Ads appeared first on Recommend Magazine.
Orijinal Haberi Görüntüle
