Airfares With Fewer Strings

From Tara:

Good news for travel bargain-hunters like us:

As of January 24, airlines will be required to include in listed airfares the various surcharges, taxes, and fees that they have been in the habit of hiding behind asterisks and in small print.  This won't include the now nearly-universal baggage fees, as those are technically "optional." (Jeff and I will tell you how "optional" they really are after we carry on our bags for a week-long trip to Ireland in February.)

Some carriers (Spirit, Allegiant, and Southwest, according to the New York Times) have objected and filed lawsuits, claiming that their first amendment rights are being trampled.  They have also labeled the custom of hiding fees "political speech."

Eugene Volokh, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that although the practice of advertising prices without taxes was “utterly routine,” he did not believe the court would find that the government’s new rule violated the First Amendment. 

“To the extent that this simply requires that the full price be in a more prominent format, it’s very likely constitutional,” he said. “The Supreme Court has said in the context of commercial advertising, the government has a very broad right to mandate speech that is reasonably aimed at preventing people from being misled.”