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US airlines are suing the Biden administration over a new rule to make certain fees easier to spot

U.S. airlines are suing to block the Biden administration from requiring greater transparency over fees that the carriers charge their passengers, saying that a new rule would confuse consumers by giving them too much information during the ticket-buying process.

The U.S. Transportation Department said Monday it will vigorously defend the ruleagainst what it called “hidden junk fees.”

American, Delta, United and three other carriers, along with their industry trade group, sued the Transportation Department in a federal appeals court on Friday, asking the court to overturn the rule.

MisterFrog ,
@MisterFrog@lemmy.world avatar

In Australia all junk fees are expressly prohibited by Australian Consumer Law.

Help, I’m so confused.

(Not to say things are hunky-dory over here, just that their arguments, while already being ridiculous on first inspection, hold no water whatsoever because things work just fine here with hidden fees being illegal)

jaybone ,

Wasn’t I just reading about how they are not paying flight attendants a living wage and are providing them with hardship letters they can use to file for government assistance?

Where is all the money going huh??

bluemellophone ,

Lawsuits

ShaggySnacks ,

The C Suite bonuses and shareholders.

catloaf ,

I just find it funny that for plane tickets it’s “show all the fees” and for ISPs it’s “stop nickel and diming us and just give us the bottom line price”. They’re both regulated industries with numerous fees being passed on to the consumer. Really it should always be the “you pay” price with itemization available, for fixed costs like regulatory fees and sales taxes.

DarthChris ,

They’re still the same thing though, a way for corps to charge you more without you noticing. If you red the article the fees they’re talking about are for baggage, changes or cancellations. Those things are technically optional so they shouldn’t be included in the “you pay” price as you say, but should still be disclosed so the consumer knows what other charges they might incur.

RagingRobot ,

Hidden fees are standard in the US. Even in the grocery store the price on the label isn’t what you pay. You have to do math in your head to figure out the real price. Everything is purposely misleading. It’s infuriating.

Fedizen ,

A market is where prices are hidden from the buyer?

Like Joe Biden is trying to make capitalism the least bit functional and all these companies shitting their pants.

painfulasterisk1 ,

Well, I guess I can proceed with my legal draft of suing all U.S. airlines that would not allow me to obtain a $2000 boarding pass with my prepaid debit card, which has a balance of $2.53.

killjuden ,

www.vidlii.com/watch?v=A500uuWTk1S

tal ,
@tal@lemmy.today avatar

It would require airlines and travel agents to disclose upfront any charges for baggage and canceling or changing a reservation.

The degree to which I care about this has a lot to do with whether it’s a fee that affects all my options equally. Usually, when I’m planning to take a flight, I’m going to take it regardless. So a bag charge isn’t going to affect whether I fly or not.

But airlines charge different rates for checked baggage, and right now, comparison-shopping websites don’t incorporate that, which is obnoxious, as I might change the airline I take.

5opn0o30 ,

The broadband nutrition label that was just introduced is an example on how to do it.

WindyRebel ,

It would be sad if we all brought lawsuits against each airline for lying about their prices saying we will pay one thing and then getting charged a bunch more for things we weren’t told about up front. How sad that would be.

rockSlayer ,

Easy W for Southwest. They’ve had enough bad pr over the years.

Edit for those that didn’t read, Southwest is the only major airline that isn’t suing

restingboredface ,

One of the reasons I’ve stood by them- they are generally already pretty transparent in their pricing. It’s a no frills airline to be sure, but it’s nice to fly with people who seem to be genuinely happy to be working where they are.

hobovision ,

It’s no frills but on the kind of flights I think most people use them for, who needs frills? If the flight is under 3 hours or so, a snack pouch and free soda is plenty nice. Plus you don’t feel like you’re second class having to walk by the nice seats on the way to the back.

I took a United flight from California to Chicago (cause it happened to be cheaper and better timed than SW) and I couldn’t tell you the difference from flying SW besides maybe I knew my seat before boarding?

homesweethomeMrL ,

What an excellent use of the court’s time.

LifeInMultipleChoice ,

Yeah, would be nice if we the people could start suing these companies for wasting our tax dollars, maybe it would help.

underwire212 ,

How dare they make us tell our customers how much everything will cost!

snownyte ,
@snownyte@kbin.social avatar

"WE WANT GREED! WE WANT GREED!"

RustyShackleford ,

Bite me and rot in hell, American, Delta, United and three other carriers, along with their industry trade group.

vodkasolution ,

The courage it takes to say something like that.
The courage it takes from lawyers to fight for something like that.
If I’d believe, I’d wish them to rot in hell.

ThePantser ,
@ThePantser@lemmy.world avatar

Wasn’t this already covered under the false advertising laws? Like just beef up that law to cover hidden fees better. You shouldn’t be able to add any fees except tax on a advertised price.

manucode ,
@manucode@infosec.pub avatar

Why should you be allowed to advertise the price without the tax. Companies should already knock the applicable tax rate when they write these ads and could easily advertise “$x.99, $y.99 with tax”.

Bonesince1997 ,

Maybe your comment is meant to cover what I’m about to say, too, or already does, but not even brick and mortar stores list prices on a shelf with tax included. I’m somewhat OK with this because I know the tax hasn’t been figured in yet. But that’s all. Maybe those shelf prices should also be adjusted, but at least they don’t seem as bad as having to account for them PLUS other hidden fees.

foggy ,

They do in most other countries.

dogslayeggs ,

I’m ignorant on how sales taxes work in other countries, but do they have variable rates based on not just what state but also what city you are in? The sales tax in Santa Monica (10.25%) is different from the sales tax in Beverly Hills (9.50%), and they are both within the city of Los Angeles.

tal ,
@tal@lemmy.today avatar

I think that they could do it in the US without trouble as long as it’s a brick-and-mortar retailer and someone is buying in person, but it’s also fair to point out that US sales taxes are considerably lower then VAT in Europe, so it’s less of a factor.

For online stuff, they’d have to know location in order to provide a post-tax price, since the state of the purchaser is a factor. I don’t want to have to hand out my location while anonymously browsing online retailers, so I’d rather not have them give a post-tax price (or at least have the option to browse with pre-tax prices).

baru ,

For online stuff, they’d have to know location in order to provide a post-tax price

Or they advertise a price and then make a slightly different amount per city and so on. That’s how it is done sometimes for stuff sold in multiple European countries for the same price.

SeaJ ,

Other countries do have VATs that differ in regions. Having different rates in different areas is not a reason to not have the end price after tax. It turns out that calculators exist and are pretty easy to use before printing off the sale sticker.

The real reason is that the tax is on the sale itself and not on the product. It’s a silly distinction. Many states do not actually allow you to display the post sales price.

Monstera ,

How have they not been figured out in those cases? Doesn’t the cashier computer apply it? So it is figured out and also unacceptable

MisterFrog ,
@MisterFrog@lemmy.world avatar

In most places (in the world other than the US), tax is included in the price. Are you not tired of seeing a price and it not being the price you actually pay?

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