Washington — President Joe Biden on Monday rolled out a brand new initiative that could finally let shoppers see extra value on airfare — including baggage and change fees — before placing an order, as the White House continues to find ways to lower prices for individuals who have been through the roof. High prices reduce inflation.
The White House said the DOT’s proposed rules would prevent airlines from hiding the “true value” of tickets, which could help shoppers reduce up-front fees and encourage additional rivals among airlines to offer higher fares. This requirement applies not only to direct flights, but also to third-party search sites such as Kayak and Expedia.
“If you’re checking it, it’s better to know the full value of your ticket,” Biden said Monday, citing the cost of airline group checks for bags or seat families. The president mentioned that the new rules will help shoppers “choose the ticket that’s best for you.”
Airlines have collected nearly $5.3 billion in baggage fees and nearly $700 million in cancellation and rebooking fees over the past 12 months, according to the Department of Transportation. Airlines pay a lot of different money for more legroom and different benefits not tracked by the federal government.
The most important U.S. airline business group that mentions the airline has disclosed the phrase and overall value of the ticket. “This includes transparent taxes and fees charged by authorities for airfares, which account for more than 20 percent of one-stop round-trip tickets for many families,” said Catherine Estep, a spokeswoman for American Airlines.
The proposed rules are designed to deal with the typical customer scenario where the ticket value is listed on an airline or search site, but details about further airline charges such as sitting next to a baby or changing or canceling a flight – charges are usually listed elsewhere , which varies by airline and may quickly add up to {dollars} of ticket value after the initial purchase. Below the proposal, this information can be pre-accessed when the marketing fare is first displayed.
Fare information may be required for all industrial flights to and from the United States.
The proposal, again traced back to the Obama administration, was scrapped by then-President Donald Trump in 2017 after airlines complained that the proposal was meaningless and would generate significant prices. It must now go through a 60-day comment interval before completing approval.
The proposed rules come amid heightened tensions between the Biden administration and airlines, each of whom has blamed each other for a surge in cancellations and delays this summer.
The Department of Transportation has also started publishing information to help shoppers understand what each airline offers when flights are canceled or delayed for reasons across the airline’s management. This has prompted many airlines to switch insurance policies to spot brand new flights and protect resort and meal bills for stranded holidaymakers.
Biden made the announcement Monday afternoon at a meeting of the White House Council on Competitiveness and scheduled the final 12 months as a way for his administration to find cost-saving measures for shoppers. This is the organization’s third general meeting and is chaired by Brian Diess, director of the National Finance Council.
“Capitalism without competitors is not capitalism,” Biden said during an event in the White House State Dining Room. “That’s exploitation.”
At the convention, Biden also urged various federal businesses to take relevant cost-saving measures, particularly through increased transparency about hidden charges that could inflate the true value of products and suppliers.
One example is the Federal Communications Tariff proposal, which could require ISPs to increase base fees and expenses for what the government calls a “broadband diet label.” The Agriculture Department could even unveil new measures on Monday aimed at boosting rivals in many agricultural markets.
The federal government has taken action on financial institution and card charges that the White House says are saving shoppers $3 billion a year compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.
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President Biden announces a brand new initiative to point out the ‘true value’ to people before they buy them