A call for crackdown on rebooking fees

Eric Rose knew that he would take a financial hit when he needed to reschedule a flight home with his wife, Marci, after dropping off their son at college in Tucson, Ariz. After all, he had bought two $160 nonrefundable tickets.

But Rose, a partner in a Los Angeles government relations and communications firm, was caught off guard by the fine print on his American Airlines tickets that said he had to pay $400 in change fees to rebook.

“I’m a pretty savvy consumer and I understand the English language, but this stuff is written in legalese,” he complained. “It’s mindboggling.”

A staff report from the Senate Commerce Committee agrees with Rose. The report, released recently, calls for a crackdown on passenger fees and recommends airlines produce a standardized chart to disclose all extra charges, making it easier for fliers to understand what they must pay.

As far as change fees go, the report suggested the charges be limited to a “reasonable amount” and be reduced or eliminated if a flier cancels with enough lead time to let the airline resell the seat.

The report, written by the staff of Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, noted that booking a round trip on United Airlines from Washington, D.C., to Orlando, Fla., with a stopover in Chicago produced 54 pages of rules and restrictions.

A trade group for the nation’s airlines rejects the study’s conclusions, saying, “It would be difficult to find an industry that is more transparent than airlines in their pricing.”