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SWA: the kings of deceipt?

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  • SWA: the kings of deceipt?

    "Forcing airlines to include taxes will also make air travel 'look' more expensive when in reality it's not," Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Brandy King said via e-mail last month about the move to roll mandatory taxes and fees into advertised fares.
    "Our main objection ... is that there is no justification for treating air travel differently from just about everything else that consumers purchase, i.e. they pay for the price of goods and services and then pay tax," King said. "And that's how everything is advertised, as the price of the item separately from the tax on that price." (http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/18/travel...tml?hpt=hp_bn7)



    yeah, except that airline tickets have about 7 different taxes, fees and surcharges than say, a plasma TV. Sure you know you're gonna pay tax on the TV, but you also know that the tax rate is whatever it is in your neck of the woods. no govt surcharges, 9-11 fees, tsa fees, excise tax, etc etc etc.


    good job SWA. let the world know you WANT to keep your customers in the dark!

  • #2
    Originally posted by TeeVee View Post
    "Forcing airlines to include taxes will also make air travel 'look' more expensive when in reality it's not," Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Brandy King said via e-mail last month about the move to roll mandatory taxes and fees into advertised fares.
    "Our main objection ... is that there is no justification for treating air travel differently from just about everything else that consumers purchase, i.e. they pay for the price of goods and services and then pay tax," King said. "And that's how everything is advertised, as the price of the item separately from the tax on that price." (http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/18/travel...tml?hpt=hp_bn7)



    yeah, except that airline tickets have about 7 different taxes, fees and surcharges than say, a plasma TV. Sure you know you're gonna pay tax on the TV, but you also know that the tax rate is whatever it is in your neck of the woods. no govt surcharges, 9-11 fees, tsa fees, excise tax, etc etc etc.


    good job SWA. let the world know you WANT to keep your customers in the dark!
    Airport rental car pricing is similar to that previously used by airlines - find a great rental rate then discover another 20% to 50% added to cover a wide variety of fees and taxes.

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    • #3
      I must say i got rather annoyed when i was in the states. I'd see things advertised for $X only to find out i had to pay $X+Y because of tax. As a consumer (or maybe as a kiwi) I dont see something and think, I'd value that as that price plus tax, or that price plus tip, Im only interested in what comes out of my wallet.
      Sam Rudge
      A 5D3, some Canon lenses, the Sigma L and a flash

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Highkeas View Post
        Airport rental car pricing is similar to that previously used by airlines - find a great rental rate then discover another 20% to 50% added to cover a wide variety of fees and taxes.
        I think it's even worse. Anything between a $5 airport facility fee to an $80 "optional" insurance.
        [SIGNATURE GOES HERE]

        Felipe Garcia

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        • #5
          yes, rental cars are just as bad as airline tickets. in florida, we actually have a mandatory state "tire recovery" fee i think it's called. afaic there should be legislation on all this crap.

          except for places like south beach, tipping is voluntary. if the service is good, you tip. also, what some non-americans might not know, in this country servers get paid BELOW minimum wage, which is around $8.00 per hour. they are called tipped employees. therefore our government allows them to be paid a pittance like $3.25 per hour or something like that.

          and as far as pricing + tax is concerned, outside of the US where there is VAT, IVA or whatever they wanna call it, damn near everything i've ever seen is advertised without VAT, IVA etc. so, don't rag on our sales tax! at least it aint 15%. not yet anyway...

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          • #6
            One of the few good points about the UK is that advertised prices generally include VAT.

            But flight prices !!! Whooo boy, what a con. I priced a trip to Malta.

            I checked costs of British Airways against Air Malta. Both airlines add taxes at the time that you check for the flight and give a total cost very early in the booking procedure. Air Malta came out cheapest but then I thought, "These are scheduled carriers, let's see what LowCost easyJet come out at."

            The first page quoted a price waaaaaay below the scheduled airlines.

            Looking good so far..

            Then the second page added taxes,
            Then the next page added baggage,
            Then the next page added card fees.....

            .....until I finally got a price that was more than BA and Air Malta....and flight times that REALLY didn't suit me.

            I was going to be patriotic and fly BA.....

            ...but their service isn't as good, their flight times don't suit me, they fly crappy old 737-400's out of Gatwick, their club class is just an expensive economy seat with the middle seat unsold and the food is poor.

            I eventually flew Air Malta club class for a very reasonable price on an A320 with a wider seat, a narrower middle seat fitted with a tray and a very good meal service. I now always use Air Malta for my flights to the island.

            Did somebody mention Ryanair !!

            DON'T....unless you want to make me VERY annoyed. Their biggest con is their credit/debit card surcharge for online bookings....but hang on....online is the ONLY way you can book with them !
            If it 'ain't broken........ Don't try to mend it !

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            • #7
              Originally posted by brianw999 View Post
              Did somebody mention Ryanair !!

              DON'T....unless you want to make me VERY annoyed. Their biggest con is their credit/debit card surcharge for online bookings....but hang on....online is the ONLY way you can book with them !
              Ryanair carried over 76 Million passengers in 2011. If don't like Ryanair fine. You can always take your Vauxhall on your next holiday.

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