They want to help airlines hide the true cost of their tickets again.
Price transparency on airline tickets could be a thing of the past, as House Republicans push to roll back Obama-era rules that prohibit airlines from advertising anything but their all-in prices, including all required taxes and fees.
But Democrats and consumer watchdogs are sounding alarms, saying the change would be a gift to airlines, who could hide the true cost of airfare behind links or fine print — and increase their profits by getting consumers to spend more.
“This is a bad idea,” said John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud at the National Consumers League. “Price transparency makes it easier for consumers to comparison shop. … We don’t want to have to do algebra and advanced trigonometry to figure out what it costs.”
The Republican provision was tucked into a huge Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization package, one of the few bills considered a must-pass this Congress, by members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. It was amended, however, to leave some of the Obama-era rule intact — under the amendment, airlines would still be required to be open about any airline-imposed mandatory fees, but they would be allowed to strip out governmental taxes and fees from their advertised rates.
A spokesperson for the transportation committee chair, Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., told NBC News that the provision would allow airlines the same freedom in advertising that other industries enjoy.
On Thursday, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., wrote a letter to their House colleagues urging them to support Schakowsky’s amendment to strip the pricing reform out of the FAA bill before it goes to a full House vote next week. But they face major headwinds in getting the GOP-controlled House to include it.
“Consumers booking airline tickets deserve to know the full price of a ticket at the start of their transaction to avoid surprise fees and to easily comparison shop,” the three Democrats wrote. “The airline industry is using this must-pass legislation to unravel air travel price transparency laws that have been in place for the last decade.”
Airlines have been required to display the full cost of a fare ever since then-President Barack Obama issued a mandate, through a Department of Transportation rule, in 2012. And it appears to be wildly popular with consumers.
A poll conducted by YouGov this month found that 87% of U.S. adults said they support rules requiring airlines to display the total cost of a ticket up front in advertising. That includes 83% of independents, 88% of Democrats and 90% of Republican respondents.
And when asked specifically about efforts to roll back price transparency, allowing airlines to advertise only their base ticket price, excluding taxes and mandatory fees, 67% of respondents opposed the idea.
The airlines are trying to hide the true cost and the Republicans like the idea of blaming the government for “taxes and fees.” Synergy!
A spokesperson for Airlines for America, an advocacy group representing major U.S. air carriers that has fought to kill the transparency law, told NBC News that “this provision would provide clarity on the actual cost of a ticket versus the numerous government taxes and fees that are added.”
“The American people deserve transparency, and the government should not be able to hide its mandated fees as the base cost of airfare,” a spokesperson for the group said in a statement.
But the sellers of airline tickets, such as TripAdvisor, Expedia and Booking.com, are on the other side of the debate.
“You can’t comparison shop on the checkout page,” said Laura Chadwick, president and CEO of the Travel Technology Association, which represents the online sellers. “It’s essential to put that information up front, the first place where consumers see the airfare.”
People hate this shit. If they manage to pass it in the House, the Democrats should make a whole campaign out of it. It’s just too dumb for words.