India is having a moment. And Skift has been there documenting it for the last few years as it is ready to shape the future of the global travel industry. The India outbound traveler is poised to become the biggest global force in coming years, and the Indian domestic market is one every major global brand is now clamoring to be part of.
The Travel Industry Won’t Win This Junk Fee Fight
25.08.2023 - 13:06 / skift.com / Pete Buttigieg / Rafat Ali
You may have heard the term “junk fees” a lot these days. They are these hidden fees across many industries: cable, finance, banking and particularly, the travel industry – airlines and hotels. Since last year, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has done many press conferences about the issue. President Biden brought it up in his State of Union speech.
A term that really didn’t exist less than a year ago has now gone mainstream.
How should the travel industry think about this? The answer is clear: It cannot win this battle. It cannot fight back. There’s no chance it will win. Companies can’t ignore it. They’ll have to tackle it head on and give in to what the government is asking. In most cases, that’s transparency. In some cases, it’s doing away with certain fees altogether.
It’s just how it will be. It’s a bipartisan issue, and the public sentiment is 100% with it.
I remember when we were starting Skift and there was the issue of baggage fees. There was a lot of consumer resistance. It became normal. People pay for that.
There was a conversation about overcharging for Wi-Fi in the early days of the technology in hotels, airlines, airports, and elsewhere. The travel industry — the hotel industry, in particular — fought and said it should charge for it.
The hotels lost that battle. Consumers 100% wanted free Wi-Fi and almost everybody in the hotel space now gives it away for free if you are a loyalty member. And it’s becoming free on airlines too.
Companies themselves have at times voluntarily reacted and put more transparency up front on pricing. Airbnb is an example: Earlier this year, it started showing the full price when you search.
Airlines, by regulation during the Obama administration, had to start showing the full price when people are searching. Airlines can’t just say basic fare and then hide the taxes and other fees.
Now there is more focus on hotels, particularly around resort fees.
It’s an issue the travel industry shouldn’t push back on and even if the regulation doesn’t come, it should voluntarily at least put price transparency in the game.
Some extra fees may be legitimate. A travel company could unbundle the price so people can pay for a basic ticket and then pay extra just for things they need.
But adding fees for things people are used to and blatantly trying to just get more revenue per use won’t work. It is something that would have been fine 10, 15, or 20 years ago. But in an age of social media, in an age of polarization, and in an age where activism against corporate issues gain prominence very quickly, these fees will not pass.
The travel industry should not fight to keep junk fees and be very cognizant that this is a real issue. CEOs should be ahead of it in
The website maxtravelz.com is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.
Top Autors
Popular Topics
travelandleisure.com
13.09.2023 / 18:33
Airline Executives Warn Air Traffic Control Problems Will Plague Industry for ‘Years’
Air traffic control staff shortages have plagued the air industry all summer, and now airline executives are warning travelers it could take years to fix.
skift.com
25.08.2023 / 14:42
The Short Booking Window Is Not Only Holding Strong, It Is Increasing Share
The short booking travel booking windows that became the predominant mode of booking in the pandemic — for obvious reasons with lots of uncertainty around Covid & travel plan — are holding strong and in fact increasing in the 0-21 days window, according to the latest quarterly data from Expedia Media Solutions.
skift.com
25.08.2023 / 14:40
Disney Cutting Business Travel and Meetings-Related Travel After Belt Tightening
The first tremors of economic slowdown are beginning to be felt in the travel industry: even though Disney Parks had a record quarter, the overall parent company had a disappointing quarter in its other businesses and is now planning a hiring freeze, job cuts and other expense cuts. As part of that, CNBC reports that in a memo sent by Disney CEO Bob Chapek today, the company is cutting back on business travel as well as travel for events and internal meetings.
skift.com
25.08.2023 / 14:38
The U.S. Finally Has a Senior-Level Position for Tourism
It took 28 years, and when it came this Friday evening before Christmas holidays, it slipped under the cover of a historic “bomb cyclone” weather catastrophe playing out over the continental United States.
skift.com
25.08.2023 / 14:35
The 2.56 Million Flyers Screened Sunday at U.S. Airports Was a Pandemic High
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it screened 2.56 million air passengers on Sunday, the highest number since December 2019 and the busiest day since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
skift.com
25.08.2023 / 14:31
AI in Travel Became Very Real This Weekend
Something shifted this weekend, the zeitgeist on the real possibilities of artificial intelligence (AI) became excitingly, palpably and perhaps scarily real these past few days, with the launch of the first large-scale, general purpose chatbot using OpenAI‘s GPT3 AI engine.
skift.com
25.08.2023 / 14:30
U.S. Thanksgiving Airline Travel Demand at Highest Level Since 2019
U.S. airlines and airports are preparing for a surge in passengers over the Thanksgiving holiday, with the number of travelers expected to hit the highest level in three years.
skift.com
25.08.2023 / 14:28
Hilton CEO on Balancing the Luxury Push in the Middle East
CEO Christopher Nassetta said Hilton expects to organically develop its own new brands rather than chase costly acquisitions in part because “we don’t want to have to fix other people’s problems.”
skift.com
25.08.2023 / 14:27
Generative AI Is the Travel Industry's Future, Get Used to It
Something shifted in the last two weeks on the zeitgeist about the use of artificial intelligence in our daily personal and professional lives.
skift.com
25.08.2023 / 14:26
Hertz CEO Interview: EV and AI Are All Tailwinds For the Business
Hertz has been a remarkable turnaround story of the pandemic, during which it went into a massive bankruptcy, came out of it under an investor group led by Knighthead Capital and Certares, and then went public a year ago.
skift.com
25.08.2023 / 14:24
Full Video: Dubai and the Future of Travel at Skift Global Forum East 2022
Dubai will play an outsized role in the United Arab Emirates aim to attract 40 million visitors annually by 2031, so what can it do to improve its tourism industry? Four panelists — Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths, Kerzner International CEO Philippe Zuber, Emirates Airline Chief Commercial Officer Adnan Kazim, and Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing CEO Issam Kazim — discussed at the recent Skift Global Forum East in Dubai what local tourism officials need to do to continue to attract visitors.