Disclosure of 2nd Bag Fees a Must

(May 16, 2008 - Travel Weekly) -- The Department of Transportation will begin requiring airlines and travel agents to disclose fees for checking a second bag in their Internet and print ads and before anyone purchases a ticket.

All of the U.S. hub-and-spoke carriers have begun charging coach passengers a $25 fee for checking a second bag.

Fee disclosure for second bags was one of two new consumer-protection rules addressed today by Transportation Secretary Mary Peters. She also said the DOT issued a final rule to require airlines to report new and more complete data on the time passengers spend on the tarmac. Peters said that in the past, airlines sometimes did not have to disclose how long aircraft were delayed after leaving the gate.

The new rule will require airlines to provide complete on-time and tarmac delay data about flights that may depart from a gate more than once, flights that are canceled after having left the gate and flights that are diverted to another airport.

“Passengers should know whether it will take as long for their flight to get to the runway as it will to land at their destination,” Peters said.

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