Hidden Fees

SmarterTravel.com reports that airfare shopping could soon include all fees shown up-front, instead of being hit-up during seat selection, or at the airport.   Sabre Travel Network (which hosts and operates reservations systems for over 60 airlines, including American, JetBlue, and Frontier) announced it will launch new technology, called Total Air Pricing, that displays full-fare prices including ancillary fees.  In a statement, the company said, “online travel agencies worldwide (like Travelocity) can now view specific air ancillaries based on their customer’s preferences, provide a summary of ancillary fees and access ancillary charges based on a passenger’s frequent flier status.  This includes an all-inclusive price for air travel, including both the traditional fare as well as the charges for things such as checked baggage, seat selection, and lounge access.”

However, before you let out a collective “bout’ time!”, know this:  It will be quite some time before major online travel agencies will present this “total-cost-of-airfare” pricing to consumers.  There’s lots of engineering required of the online travel agencies before they can deliver upon the new technology.

Here’s some more travel news you can use:

  • Here’s one for those who like to island hop in the South Pacific.  Island Air is currently offering a three-day special fall rate on one-way fares. These fares are currently available for either $59 or $72 via the Island Air Website depending on the destination. The one-way $59 fares are for Honolulu-Molokai; Honolulu-Lanai; Honolulu-Kapalua; Molokai-Kahului. The $72 one-way fares are for Kahului-Lihue and Kahului-Kona.
  • Boeing has won an $89 million government contract to build and fly an unmanned solar-powered plane that can–eventually–stay aloft continuously for up to five years.  Yes, five years.