US President Joe Biden on Monday will announce a proposed new rule that would let customers see a more complete price for airline tickets before they go through with a purchase.
Under the rule, any additional fees when booking a flight, including baggage and change fees, must be disclosed up front.
This would not only apply to airlines — which the White House said made about $700 million in cancellation and change fees last year — but to booking sites as well.
The White House said the Transport Department's new rule will protect consumers from surprise fees and promote competition.
“Airline passengers deserve to know the full, true cost of their flights before they buy a ticket,” Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg said.
Mr Biden revealed earlier this month that his administration was working to push airlines to provide fairer treatment to passengers.
Under the proposal, airlines and ticketing agents must disclose customer- or itinerary-specific baggage fees, change or cancellation fees and family seating fees. This information must be presented clearly whenever consumers search for flights within, into or out of the US.
Airlines must also provide accurate information on fees to booking agents that sell or display the airline's fare and schedule information.
The president is scheduled to make the announcement during the White House Competition Council meeting later on Monday.
He is also expected to address how customers are unfairly treated by credit overdraft and internet provider fees.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
