New rule requires air fare ads to include taxes and fees

By Hugo Martin

Jan. 1, 2012 12 AM PT

Fly from Albuquerque to Tucson on Southwest Airlines for $59, from Asheville, N.C., to Orlando on Allegiant Air for $49, or from Boston to Chicago on Spirit Airlines for only $9.

If these fares seem too good to be true, that’s because they are. An asterisk accompanies the online ads for the fares, with the fine print indicating that additional fees and taxes apply. In some cases the additional charges raise the final ticket price by 20% or more.

Starting Jan. 26, no more asterisks. A new U.S. Transportation Department rule requires all advertised air fares to include any compulsory taxes and fees, including fuel charges and the Sept. 11 Security Fee.

“The price advertising provision was adopted to make sure passengers know the full amount they will have to pay for air transportation when they buy a ticket,” said agency spokesman Bill Mosley.

The federal regulation does not require that fares include optional baggage fees or charges for food and on-board entertainment.

But Southwest, Spirit and Allegiant are fighting the rule in a legal challenge filed in November with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The airlines claim that the federal agency has no proof that the practice of advertising base fares and the fees and taxes separately is “unfair or deceptive conduct,” according to court documents.

The airlines also described the new rule as “arbitrary and capricious” because the practice of advertising fees and taxes separately has been used for years by “virtually every other industry in the United States.” Despite the legal challenge, Mosley said his agency planned to begin enforcing the rule Jan. 26.

Southwest and Allegiant representatives said they would abide by the rule while they pursue the legal challenge. A spokeswoman for Spirit Airlines declined to comment.

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