Make it transparent, travellers say

In its survey of summer travellers, Open Allies for Airfare Transparency found that 94% of Americans who recently used an online travel company (OTC) to book their travel this summer agreed that “all airline fee information should be available to travel agents and online travel web sites.” The survey of 2,310 US adults aged 18 and older, was conducted online by market research firm, Harris Interactive. It found that 95% of Americans who used an OTC to book their summer travel agreed that “it would be easier to comparison shop if all airline fee information was available on online travel web sites and to travel agents.” David Kelly, executive director of Open Allies, observed that: “These results should be a wake-up call for the Department of Transportation. Consumers do not like to be held captive by the airline industry, whether stuck on the runway or shopping for a summer vacation. The survey data demonstrates that consumers expect airlines to share fees in a transparent and purchasable format in all the channels where they sell their fares, and if the airlines will not do this on their own, then the Department of Transportation should exercise its authority to require it.” Go to http://www.faretransparency.org for more.