[bullfightonmars]

1. I'm not convinced by this argument, airlines compete on list price. If they can add a bunch of fees after winning on list price, they can move more and more of their costs into the fees and are no longer competing on the real price.

2. Let airlines compete on transparent pricing. I think this alone is enough of a benefit to this move.

[ghaff]

They do. On the other hand, I'm typically exempt from a lot of the airline add-ons for various reasons.

Airlines are probably not the best example. A lot of people probably want cheaper airfares even if it means less/poorer service in a lot of ways.

But it should be as transparent up-front as possible. Even if infrequent travelers may not always understand the details.

[bobthepanda]

I think airlines are a great example because the fees are often actually paying for something materially different.

When purchasing concert tickets recently I got a "mobile convenience fee" for an e-ticket even though the venue doesn't operate a physical box office. A recent hotel had a "resort fee" that was not opt-out even if you didn't use the amenities it allegedly paid for. These kinds of BS fees should go away.

[ghaff]

Non-opt-out resort fees and facility fees and the like are especially annoying. They're also (presumably deliberately) a small enough portion of the total amount that they're not really worth getting into a big lather about.

I think we're agreeing. While a lot of airline fees are nickel-and-diming, they're also over and above transporting people from A to B, in many cases for as little money as they want to spend as possible.

[bobthepanda]

These days they’re not that small. I recently paid $20+ in fees for a $60 face value concert ticket.

[ghaff]

Booking fees for events are probably especially a large proportion and annoying.