So-called cheap air travel being challenged

Calcutta News.Net
Wednesday 14th July, 2010

The Consumer Travel Alliance, which is a non-profit organization that promotes consumer travel interests, has revealed that hidden fees charged by airlines on popular routes can increase the base cost of an airline ticket by an average of 54 percent.

The typical charge for a traveler with two checked bags and extra legroom takes the ticket up by an average of 26 percent against a comparable one-bag traveler.

Consumer Travel Alliance executives have said the analysis reveals that hidden fees charged by airlines now rival the cost of the tickets themselves.

The alliance has said individuals and families are often not well informed about the extra fees.

It has suggested that if airlines want to charge additional fees for their services, they should be required to disclose all the fees through every ticketing channel so consumers can compare complete travel costs.

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