Mad as hell

Three groups that represent travelers have issued results from a survey showing that most Americans are “mad as hell” about hidden travel fees.

The Consumer Travel Alliance (CTA), Business Travel Coalition (BTC) and American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) reported that a survey of 1,396 travelers showed “widespread surprise and anger over hidden airline fees for services such as checked baggage, advance seating and priority boarding.”

The groups also announced that they were marking Sept. 23 as "Mad As Hell Day!" and planned to deliver thousands of traveler petitions to the U.S. Department of Transportation on that day.

"As we come to the end of one of the busiest air travel periods of the year, millions of Americans are returning from their summer vacations tanned, rested, and mad as hell," Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, said in a statement. "They are tired of arriving at the airport and finding huge unexpected costs for travel services they thought were part of the ticket price. It’s time for consumers, corporate travel managers and travel agents to stand up and say ‘we’re not going to take it any more!’"

SURVEY FINDINGS
• Two-thirds (66%) of respondents said they had been surprised at the airport by unexpected fees for things such as checking bags, requesting a seat assignment, getting extra legroom, or flying standby.

Nearly a third (29%) said they were surprised often or nearly every time they travel via air by such fees.

• Nearly two-thirds (65%) said such fees placed some or a great deal of unexpected financial strain on their budget for the trip, while more than a quarter (26%) said that those fees placed a great deal of unexpected strain.

• A nearly unanimous 99% of respondents said that they think airlines should be required to disclose all of their fees in advance on every website that sells airline tickets.

• When asked to rank the fees they found most annoying, respondents rated carry-on baggage fees the most annoying, with 91% calling those fees "very annoying," followed by seat reservation fees (88% very annoying), checked baggage fees (74%), and telephone reservation fees (67%).