Quote:
Originally Posted by Boltfan
I view this as a free market thing. I do not think the government need be involved in pricing issues.
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Fully agree.
Airlines ought to be allowed to pursue all the stupid price-gouging practices they wish. Travelers tend to find out about these things soon enough and punish companies that try to sneak cheap practices through the back door while nobody's looking. When they try this, they usually just find that they've shot themselves in the foot.
A few years ago, after a rapid increase in electric bills, one of the major hotel chains catering to business travelers responded with a room surcharge of a few bucks per night. Problem was, they failed to notify hotel guests and their employers until check-out time. That pissed people off, and as I recall the chain ended up issuing an apology and handing out a number of discount coupons in an effoert to do a little damage control.
When gasoline prices shot up in 2008, a number of courier and delivery services imposed "fuel surcharges" to cover some of their increased costs. I read that the ones who were open and transparent about it didn't suffer, but those who tried to be sneaky were punsihed in the marketplace. Of course, some managers are notoriously slow learners. Many in the airline industry fall into this category.
In any event, I don't see any reason that congress should involve itself in such minutia. I was only half-kidding earlier when I suggested that this might just be another way for congresscritters to deflect attention from the fiscal kamikaze mission they're been pursuing for the laast few years.
