FrequentFlier.com - News & Analysis::
"Why doesn't someone do something about the false advertising of Southwest Airlines. The advertised fares do not exist and they are not what they say they
http://www.frequentflier.com/ffc-current.htmHOME |
From:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7496677.stm
"Euro MPs get tough on airline ads
The European Parliament has agreed to ban airlines from advertising fares that do not include the taxes and charges passengers have to pay.
The assembly heard that the "common position" of the parliament had been approved, which meant the issue was not formally voted on.
The new regulation is expected to come into force across the EU by the end of this year.
The 35-member Association of European Airlines (AEA) welcomed the changes. "
Does the problem sound familiar?
Let's hope the Canadian Parliament is listening!!
I am sure if airlines started to show the actual and final price..people would start paying more attention to those seal sales ads etc..cuz right now..i could careless if ac promotes a 50cad to anywhere because i know what's waiting for me at check out..i rather see a 200cad TOTAL FINAL PRICE ..no BS just straight to the freaking PRICE I NEED TO PAY..i could careless if they even promote a 10$ fare i know it's ALL A CATCH..this is why OIL is up and everything else in this world is becoming a joke because corporations are getting BY..
Ryanair DO NOT quote the total ticket price in their ads or promos. Try to book a ticket with them and you will see.
For example, they currently have a promotion on flights from London Stanstead for 12.99 pounds. That's what's shown on the web site.
However, when you actually try to book the flight you will quickly see that in addition to the 12.99 UKL fare you will also be slapped with additional taxes and fees. For flights to Rome, the taxes and fees amount to over 25 pounds. So the actual fare is really about 38 pounds and not 12.99 that's advertised.
Clearly this is a very deceptive practice, no matter what the price of the flight ends up being (this is to pre-empt the Ryanair appologists who will rush to defend them with the usual "it doesn't matter since the ticket is so cheap anyway").
To get back to AC, though, a recent Montreal Gazette article showed how ridiculous the current practice of quoting 'teaser' fares really is. The Gazoo compared ticket prices for a Montreal-Orlando flight from different airlines and in the case of AC it showed that while the advertised fare was about $240, taxes, fees and surcharges amounted to over $300, in addition to other extras like US border security fees etc. The total price ended up being about $750, three times (!) the promoted amount.
Carnival Cruise Lines::
(c) Cruise Fare does not include Government taxes and fees imposed or .. any and all civil rights, the ADA, trade practices and/or advertising.
http://www.carnivalcruise.co.uk/CMS/Static_Templates/ticket_contract.aspxHOME |
COUNCIL OF BETTER BUSINESS BUREAUS, INC::
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTMLfares but disclose none of the taxes, fees, or surcharges that apply. Not all consumers have easy access to the Internet .” 70. Fed.Reg. 73964.
http://www.bbb.org/alerts/DOTFinalComments.pdfHOME |
There is absolutely no reason why airlines could not quote the complete price since they have all the information. There is no question of not knowing what extra costs might be incurred due to passenger choices. If Travelocity can display the total price of an Air Canada ticket, why can't Air Canada do the same?:( Jet2.com | Online Booking Terms & Conditions::
Fares do not include ground transport service to/from your departure and destination . 6.1.13 You have not paid the applicable fare, taxes or charges or
http://www.jet2.com/Terms.aspxHOME |
This has been de facto law here for a while anyways. Ryanair has been threatened several times for some of the more borderline sales techniques but even they do give the full upfront ticket price everywhere, assuming you can find the precise days that have the lowest price and don't need to check bags, check in in person, pay by credit card, etc.
If Travelocity can display the total price of an Air Canada ticket, why can't Air Canada do the same?:(
if u input ur country of residence as united kingdom, then aircanada.com can, and does, show all-in prices on the flight selection page, even for flights that originate in canada. the prices are in GBP, so u have to double the numbers shown to convert to CAD.
ian. :)
In my opinion the current policy is very counterproductive, commercially.
AC (and the others) would sell more seats if they were honest.
This is a very interesting observation. Currently, as others here have noted, the advertised price bears no relation to the final price, and since fuel surcharges have gone up and down it is hard to predict what an actual final price will be by looking at the advertised fare. I wonder whether some consumers have been scared away by all the press about the need for fuel surcharges when, in fact, current fare sales in some markets end up with cheaper final prices than before (for example, YQR-SFO, YQR-SAN, YQR-SEA are 10-25% cheaper for the lowest final price than they were a few months ago--I paid less that $500 all in for a recent SFO trip, and the SAN and SEA prices are so good that I will take another unplanned trip later this month). I would expect that the average consumer would tell you that ticket prices are higher now than before, which is of course to a degree true, but in the end it would be helpful to be able to easily compare price changes from day to day or week to week. A fare drop from $199 to $142 one way, for example, means little to me in the current extra charges, fees, etc., climate: I need to know what it all adds up to to see that I am or am not getting a fare that I am willing to pay for.
I would think that Air Canada could afford to take the high road here and announce all-in fares as a kind of "we are honest" marketing ploy. People might just go for it.
From:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7496677.stm
"Euro MPs get tough on airline ads
The European Parliament has agreed to ban airlines from advertising fares that do not include the taxes and charges passengers have to pay.
The assembly heard that the "common position" of the parliament had been approved, which meant the issue was not formally voted on.
The new regulation is expected to come into force across the EU by the end of this year.
The 35-member Association of European Airlines (AEA) welcomed the changes. "
Does the problem sound familiar?
Let's hope the Canadian Parliament is listening!!
One thing is not clear thought; is BA, AF and LH, just to name the most important players to fly in Canada from Europe, will have to show their full price, INCLUDING ALL TAXES AND CHARGES? If so, what the Parliement of Canada may not be doing for it's citizen, maybe the free market will force it to happen, at least partially for those flying to Europe!:eek:
One thing is not clear thought; is BA, AF and LH, just to name the most important players to fly in Canada from Europe, will have to show their full price, INCLUDING ALL TAXES AND CHARGES? If so, what the Parliement of Canada may not be doing for it's citizen, maybe the free market will force it to happen, at least partially for those flying to Europe!:eek:
LH already does this to a degree. If you do a search by fare they give you a date grid which shows the all in price which they then break down on the next page.
I hope that one day this nonsense will come to an end.
If I see an ad for a $99 flight to Fort Lauderdale I just don't pay attention since I know it is a lie. I will automatically assume that the all inclusive price will be $500 or $700 while it may very well be only $300. It can be anything.
On the other hand if I see an ad with the real all inclusive price, then I will take notice.
In my opinion the current policy is very counterproductive, commercially.
AC (and the others) would sell more seats if they were honest.
Now there's an airline that knows a thing or two about "the letter of the law" and how to extract the most money possible out of their victi.....er, passengers. "Taxes, Fees, & Charges" is such a misleading term anyway, when your entire business plan is based on ancillary charges anyway. I'm pretty sure that the "fare" you see is the profit FR makes off of your ticket.
It's only their free-for-all boarding that doesn't let them also add the AerLingus "pay more to preselect the good seats" plan.
Anyway, to relate this to AC, this is one place where I'd really like them to at the very least emulate a bit of the FR business model (or, something they have done in the past) and show the "fare" and the "total fare" in smaller print nearby. I don't even care if it's all-in, just listed somewhere to save few clicks to find out what the full fare would be.
This, mind, is the ONLY TIME I'd like to see AC do anything to emulate the FR model.
I hope that one day this nonsense will come to an end.
If I see an ad for a $99 flight to Fort Lauderdale I just don't pay attention since I know it is a lie. I will automatically assume that the all inclusive price will be $500 or $700 while it may very well be only $300. It can be anything.
On the other hand if I see an ad with the real all inclusive price, then I will take notice.
In my opinion the current policy is very counterproductive, commercially.
AC (and the others) would sell more seats if they were honest.
Agree. See this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=843192&highlight=) with AC advertising $100 OW pricing YEG-SFO but the total winds up at $426.
 What dress should i wear for an interview ?
 Financial Representative =Insurance salesman?
|
Fares that do not include all taxes and charges are false advertising