Disclosure Of Fees and Charges - Ancillary Revenues

Heads up everyone - the bun fight has started.

last month in Washington - Mr Oberstar held hearings on the subject of Airline Fees.

There are several issues - taxes charged, the amount of fees and the type, the manner of charge and exceptions etc etc.

What some want - such as Kevin Mitchell - is a full disclosure and an easy way to buy the products and services equally in all channels. This challenges the core precept that airline pricing is designed to be as complex and obfuscated as possible.

This seems to have been lost in the warring factions.

In my view the way that a product is charged should be at the decision of the person who sells the product subject to things like lying and dishonesty.

At stake is a lot of money but there is clearly a set of influences at work.

So here is my view on the subject. I feel strongly that the consumer should be able to see what he is buying. But in travel he has been lied to for so long as to what the product is and what the price really is as to have been accepted as being clear.

So what do you think?

Cheers