According to a report from Reuters, the outgoing Clinton administration has warned airlines and travel services against advertising airfares on the Internet that are incomplete or misleading.
“We are reminding sellers of air transportation that their obligation to provide complete and accurate fare information applies to Internet advertisements just as it does to other media,” Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater said in a statement. Transportation Department regulations require that air fares advertised by carriers or agents must include all extra charges, excluding taxes or tax-related fees.
A spokesman for the agency said the department recently examined fare displays on a number of Web sites that listed a fare as well as a separate “fuel charge” assessment. Sometimes the assessment amount was not shown until consumers selected an airline or an itinerary, the department said.
The department said the practice was becoming more common on a number of sites, which have been notified separately by regulators.
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