Tag Archives for fees.
Under new DOT requirements, airlines and ticket agents will have to fully disclose all fees for baggage, changes, and cancellations upfront at first instance of displaying itineraries and fares. Airlines will also have to automatically and promptly refund passengers in cash or their original payment method when services like checked baggage and Wi-Fi are not delivered as promised.
The federal government has issued a final rule for how airlines disclose their fees, and requiring prompt refund of fees when they don’t provide the promised service.
It largely will not change how most passengers experience airlines most of the time. Airlines already disclose their fees, and generally provide refunds for services they don’t provide. There will be a stronger requirement, though, to refund checked bag fees for long-delayed and lost bags.
Guests of the Fairmont Whistler in Canada are required to pay a fee to help cover housekeeping wages, separate from their room rate. And the hotel charges guests an additional fee to manage this fee.
President Biden is calling for airlines to allow families to sit together on flights for free. Now, unlike the previous President he doesn’t run his own social. And no doubt this tests well. But airlines charging families more so that their kids aren’t unsupervised on planes just doesn’t seem to be an actual problem.
There’s a simple reason that annoying fees are prevalent in travel. They work. Customers spend more money. And in some cases politics and the tax code encourage them.
John Arnold shares what happened at StubHub when they tested an elimination of hidden fees for some customers: those who were shown transparent all-in pricing spent less money.
Travelers need to be cautious of increasingly prevalent ‘No Show’ fees, particularly with rental car companies like Hertz, which may charge a day’s rental for no-shows. While rental agencies historically overbook and often fail to honor reservations, strategies such as booking through third parties can help travelers avoid these unexpected charges.
California’s Governor signed SB 478 on Saturday. It bans hidden fees, though airlines and car rentals are excluded from the ban. That leaves hotels as the major offender in the travel space which will feel the brunt of the impact – and online travel agencies which sell hotel rooms, too.
It’s pretty common for passengers to view it as a ‘hack’ to wear a jacket with lots of pockets (think Scott-e-Vest) and stuff their bodies full of their carry on items instead of using luggage.
One woman flying Frontier Airlines tried a tact I hadn’t seen before. She… stuffed everything in the seat of her pants (“extra junk in her trunk”).
What on earth is a “Hospitality Charge,” as seen at Bruegger’s Bagels in the Minneapolis airport? There’s signage explaining that a 4.5% surcharge is added on top of menu prices to cover ‘hospitality’ but also explains that this is not a tip and does not go to workers.
Southwest Airlines, the largest U.S. domestic airline, is raising several fees effective August 15, 2023, the carrier has revealed to employees in a document reviewed by View From The Wing. They will be raising pet and unaccompanied minor fees, as well as fees for additional, oversize, and overweight bags. Third and beyond checked bag goes from $75 to 125. Overweight bags go from $75 for up to 100 pounds to $100 for up to 70 pounds or $125 for up to 100 pounds. Oversized bags go from $75 to $125. Unaccompanied minor fees go from $50 to $100. Pets go from $95 to $125 per carrier, with no change to intra-Hawaii pet fees. Southwest still doesn’t charge for seats (they don’t pre-assign seats), don’t have change fees or basic economy fares that are unchangeable, and…
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
