Airfare absurdity

Christopher Elliott Travel columnist • Profile • E-mail

The roundtrip airfare from Madison, Wis., to London is a reasonable $305 on American Airlines — until you add taxes, fees and fuel surcharges. Then it’s $691.

Delta Air Lines charges $742. Wait, make that $942 after you add in all the mandatory extras. And Lufthansa? $580. I mean, $1,034.

When Gregory Dyslin, a computer specialist who lives in Madison, found these prices through Orbitz, he was flabbergasted. “How in the name of all that is holy and right can they say this?” he wondered.

Airlines break out their fares in this increasingly absurd way because it makes their prices look lower — at least, at first — and because they’re allowed to. As long as a total fare is quoted at the end of the transaction, the government doesn’t get in the way.

Agencies like Orbitz are caught in the middle of this bizarre pricing game, in a way. But in a way, they also play along. The results of Orbitz’ search, which are displayed as a matrix, yield two fares: a less expensive base fare on top that’s boldfaced, and a “total” fare that appears below it in normal type. Why not just show the full fare?

“We want consumers to know exactly what they’re paying for,” says Orbitz spokesman Brian Hoyt.

What’s so wrong with quoting a pre-tax price? Don’t other businesses do that, and aren’t consumers used to running a few numbers before they buy? Yeah, but how much mental math should be required? It’s one thing to add a 7 percent sales tax, and quite another to more than double the price of the ticket.

Mandatory fees have ballooned in recent months, largely because of fuel surcharges. Never mind the fact that oil prices are well off their record highs. Meanwhile, base fares remain low, presumably to entice more people to fly. If they keep this up, we’ll all be buying zero dollar fares, like they did on Ryanair a few years ago. (Technically, those were zero pound fares, but you get the idea.)

Maybe that’s one reason why Europe recently enacted a tough new price transparency law, which requires airlines to quote a fare including all taxes, fees and surcharges.

If only that solved the whole problem. There’s also a third layer of fees that don’t have to be disclosed, such as charges for the first checked bag and drinks. Airlines may consider these optional, but who goes on vacation without luggage? And who spends a few hours on a plane without asking for a cup of water?

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The airline industry believes these fees have no place in a price quote. Victoria Day, a spokeswoman for the Air Transport Association, described baggage and beverage fees as “separate transactions” that should not be included in the initial fare quote. I asked Day if the industry had any plans to voluntarily disclose those fees at the point of purchase, as part of the total fare. She deferred to the individual airlines, saying advertising and pricing policies were up their members.

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