Airlines ordered to stop hiding fees, give full refunds instead of vouchers


As we talked about on Tuesday, the airline industry sucks. It’s so expensive to fly nowadays, and you get less and less for your money, including sh-ttier seats and fewer free in-flight amenities. They prioritize profits over safety and generally have terrible customer service for when things go wrong, like a flight being canceled or delayed or luggage being lost. And the worst part (to me) is how unfair it is that the taxpayers have to bail the industry out when times are bad because they chose stock buybacks over a rainy day fund. And how do they repay us? By monopolizing and outpricing us.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been working on fixing some of the issues that are wrong with the airline industry. In August, he fined American Airlines $4.1 million for keeping passengers on board for too long during the delays. He also set up the Customer Service Dashboard that requires transparency, serving as a cheat sheet for customers to know each airline’s policy on certain things. On Wednesday, Secretary Pete announced that the DOT is now requiring airlines to give automatic refunds when a flight is significantly delayed (more than three hours) or canceled. They’re also required to disclose all fees, including junk fees. So now we’ll be able to see all of the dumb extra charges you see when you book a hotel room (like a “tourism tax”) or concert ticket (f-ck you, Ticketmaster!):

Throw out the junk fees: One of the final rules announced Wednesday requires airlines to show the full price of travel before passengers pay for their tickets. The other will force airlines to provide prompt cash refunds when flights are canceled or significantly changed. “Passengers deserve to know upfront what costs they are facing and should get their money back when an airline owes them – without having to ask,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement announcing the new rules. Surprise junk fees have become a large and growing source of revenue for airlines in recent years, according to the DOT.

More info and less headaches: “Today’s announcements will require airlines to both provide passengers better information about costs before ticket purchase, and promptly provide cash refunds to passengers when they are owed — not only saving passengers time and money, but also preventing headaches,” Buttigieg said.

Waahhh, nobody makes the airlines bleed their own blood: The airline industry is unlikely to welcome the new rules. At a hearing on the proposed fee rule in March 2023, an industry lobbying group representing American, Delta and United said it would be too difficult for airlines to disclose their charges more clearly. “The amount of unwanted and unneeded information forced upon passengers” by the new policy would only cause “confusion and frustration,” warned Doug Mullen, the deputy general counsel at Airlines for America. “Very few, if any, need or want this information, and especially when they are initially trying to understand schedule and fare options.”

A “benefit to the sector as a whole:” But the DOT insists its new rule will give consumers the information they need to better understand the true costs of air travel. “I believe this is to the benefit of the sector as a whole,” Buttigieg said in an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition, because passengers will have “more confidence in the aviation sector.”

No more scam advertising allowed: The new rules require airlines to disclose all baggage, change, and cancellation fees, and to share that information with third-party booking sites and travel agents. The regulation also prohibits bait-and-switch tactics, the DOT says, that disguise the true cost of flights by advertising a low base fare that does not include all mandatory fees.

Creating a “better experience” for customers: “This is really about making sure that we create a better experience for passengers, and a stronger aviation sector in the United States,” Buttigieg said in the NPR interview.

[From NPR]

So, I don’t mean to sound like I’m ungrateful or all doom and gloom, but you can’t f–ck with a CEO’s potential extra yacht purchase, so I am bracing myself for whatever workaround or way the airlines end up punishing customers for their own failures. But that doesn’t mean that will happen here! This is a great start. I do appreciate the effort because as someone who has flown pretty regularly over the last 16+ years, air travel has gotten out-of-control and needs a massive overhaul. I’ve had to fight for refunds before and 9/10 times, had to settle for vouchers that expired within one year because I didn’t want to pay an extra $75+/person for a fully refundable ticket. It’s bullsh-t. Break up the monopolies. Let’s get some free-market competition and force them to drop some of the more ridiculous fees. Make them actually pay back all of that bailout money with interest, then take that money and invest it in education.

That lobbyist from Airlines for America gave the game away: “The amount of unwanted and unneeded information forced upon passengers…Very few, if any, need or want this information, and especially when they are initially trying to understand schedule and fare options.” My dude, maybe you’re cool with being price gouged, but most of us are not. We know the difference between reading the time of day and the cost of something. You’re still gonna get to overcharge us, now we’ll just know by how much. Y’all are just mad that people who weren’t paying attention before will understand just how similar the airline industry and Ticketmaster are.

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24 Responses to “Airlines ordered to stop hiding fees, give full refunds instead of vouchers”

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  1. JoanCallamezzo says:

    This is one example of why everyone should vote for Biden, people in his administration like the brilliant Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg.

    • Chanteloup says:

      yesss, thank you for covering this @Rosie.
      When Democrats keep getting shit done, working for the people [e.g. recently working to outlaw non-compete clauses for workers, raising the salary limit for mandatory overtime pay for all the workers slaving for free, requiring pay ranges be posted with job ads, et al] —
      it barely gets a mention in the media, which instead hangs onto and breathlessly hypes every insane word out of the criminal traitor’s orange gob.
      Vote for the people on your side!

      • OriginalLeigh says:

        I actually think this a large part of the problem the Biden administration is having. They are just quietly and efficiently getting shit done and all day long and forgetting to really brag about it. They actually make it look easy. They need a better comms strategy because dumb and ungrateful Americans are failing to notice all the good they’re doing. They will probably only notice if/when we return to the days of orange idiocy.

      • BeanieBean says:

        @OriginalLeigh: Yes! Unfortunately, the good & competent stuff isn’t ‘sexy’ enough for the evening news. This is making life better for all Americans.

      • Square2 says:

        @ORIGINALLEIGH. No, the White House SM, Biden(&dark Brandon) and MVP all have done the boasting of their accomplishments during Biden/Harris administration (many times). It’s the big US MEDIA outlets refuse to write/report about those accomplishments, instead blabbing about that Orange45 everyday.

  2. FancyPants says:

    I need a few more details about the instant refunds for cancellations. If my flight home from Phoenix gets canceled and they send me a refund immediately, are they still gonna put me on the next available flight home or am I stranded in PHX now and buying a new ticket that’s extra $$$$ for being one way and same- or next-day flight now?

  3. Inge says:

    I think this is already mandatory here in the EU? GOod.

  4. It Really Is You, Not Me says:

    Telling the public that they are too dumb to want the final price when figuring out fare and schedule options is…a PR choice
    This is why lawyers shouldn’t speak without PR vetting what they say, because he sounds like a vile gaslight. And I say that as a fellow in-house attorney.
    I travel by airplane 10+ times per year for work and leisure and I can tell you that I certainly want to know up front if the fare has extra fees and includes a free checked-in bag, etc. Just like VRBO does, it’s not that hard to list the rate and then underneath it a full cost after taxes and fees. You just made it really clear that you don’t want passengers to know those fees because they’re a huge source of revenue.

    • AMB says:

      ITA – they just called the flying public “dumb mouth-breathing idiots who are incapable of perceiving anything we jam into the fine print”. Thanks very much Airline Spokesperson, this is why people are always saying how much they love airlines! /s

  5. Bumblebee says:

    Just buying tickets from the airline is confusing and there are hidden costs I always ends up paying. No matter how many times I back up and reread screens, hit that ? button for an explanation, read the fine print, decide I will come back in a few hours to think about the tangled web of verbiage I just read…I STILL GET SCREWED. And that’s only airline tickets. Pete is fighting the good fight. Like someone above said, we need Biden, because he hires people like Pete.

  6. Lisa T says:

    As someone who has experience in the travel industry, many airlines already list the fees (many that they are required to collect) on the checkout summary by clicking on the taxes. The tourism tax is built into the ticket and changes without notice (e.g. Dominican Republic). What many passengers do not know is that for many international destinations the majority of the fare is in taxes (London is a prime example). International travel is priced round trip. The existing rule is if the airline cancels a flight is you have the option to rebook or get a refund – not both.

    • BeanieBean says:

      Sure, everything’s listed on the checkout summary as is the true total of what you’re paying; but when you do the initial flight search you see a lower figure & make a decision based on that. Then, surprise! Here’s the taxes & fees & what you really have to pay!

    • Chloe says:

      In my experience, if the airline cancels, they blame weather no matter what the actual reason is and therefore, refuse to give a refund. Pretty sure they can pull that crap on any flight for people who get the nonrefundable tickets. You shouldn’t have to pay more just to be eligible for a refund. That’s predatory.

      • FancyPants says:

        FYI, American Airlines tried to pull the “act of God” line on me in DFW one time, and after a lengthy letter from me about how there’s so such thing as a sky fairy who controls weather and how offensive that must sound even to religious people who are not Christians, I got everything reimbursed and some bonus miles for my trouble.

      • VilleRose says:

        My flight to Santiago, Chile on LATAM was canceled last year for no good reason, the weather at JFK was just fine. My guess is it was a personnel/plane availability issue because the plane never even showed up at the gate. The flight was rescheduled for the next day and took off but the regular flight to Santiago for that da was ALSO canceled which I learned after checking in. Just an airline not being able to get its own stuff together!

  7. Concern Fae says:

    This is fantastic. Now do a minimum seat size that will allow more people to fly.

  8. BeanieBean says:

    Good! And thank you for the link to the consumer dashboard, I didn’t know about that! Got it bookmarked now! And all that nonsense about too much information & how we’re all going to be sooo confused? No! Just bottom line, what am I going to pay once I get to the ‘pay now’ page on your website? That’s all I’m interested in. Don’t show me a set of prices only to end up with me paying a couple hundred extra when it comes time for my credit card info. And FWIW, I just bought a ticket on Hawaiian Airlines a couple of days ago. They’re already telling you the total price right up front when looking for a flight. Yay! Then I made some hotel reservations, and they’re still doing the SOS; which Secretary would be responsible for that? Commerce? Get on it, folks!
    But thank you, Pete Buttigieg! And thank you Pres. Biden for the appointment!

  9. SeemaLikely says:

    Thank you. This is important and helpful content. Personally, I couldn’t give a rat’s a55 about the Royal Family — UK- or US-based — and appreciate information like this.

  10. Jen says:

    “Waahhh, nobody makes the airlines bleed their own blood”

    Omg Rosie thank you for including my favorite movie line of all time. Hysterical!

  11. GrnieWnie says:

    HALLELUJAH f*** stupid vouchers, I hate them!

    I flew from New York to the DR at a time when I was living on the other side of the world. My Jet Blue flight circled JFK airport for four hours before landing again over some air con issue. We ended up arriving in the DR like 10 hours delayed, I missed all of my transport that I had expected (for a wedding), had no clue where I was going and it was like 3 AM.

    How did Jet Blue compensate me? With freaking vouchers! Why would I ever fly your stupid airline again? AND I don’t live in North America nor do I fly there very often so how am I supposed to use the dumb vouchers anyway?

    Like I can still taste the rage.

    • Scorpio says:

      I booked 4 tickets for a Jet Blue cross country flight for my sisters wedding many years ago. That week they had some sort of national meltdown and cancelled ournflight at 4am and didn’t answer the phone when I tried to rebook. I got to airport early that day to try to talk to a human, and they offered me a flight in a week, which was 4 days after my sister’s wedding. They claimed there were no flights to NY, I picked up my phone and booked 4 very expensive tickets on another airline in front of the poor desk representative.

      When the CEO bought a WSJ article to apologize I blasted him on public media for literally costing me thousands of dollars difference in airfare and asked why they had customer service that no one could reach?

      When I eventually used their lousy vouchers (as I am cheap) I was searched by security both ways, which has never happened in my many years of flying, was I targeted, logically yes.

      They have never seen a penny of my money since.