Good news for autoworkers - travelers hate airlines.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today fined the online ticket agent Orbitz $60,000 for violating federal aviation laws and the Department’s rules prohibiting deceptive price advertising in air travel.
“Consumers have a right to know the full price they will be paying for air fares,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.
“We established airline price advertising rules to protect the consumer and will take enforcement action when these rules are violated.”
In early 2011, Orbitz’s web homepage displayed advertisements that did not provide any information on additional taxes and fees, violating advertising rules. Consumers clicking on an advertisement were not notified of the additional charges until after they arrived at the following page and scrolled down to the bottom of the page, where information – in fine print – about the taxes and fees could be found.
In addition, consumers selecting discounted fares advertised by Orbitz found that these fares were no longer available, and they were instead taken to a page where a different fare was displayed – the classic bait and switch ploy.
