Originally Posted by
hoppingabird
lowfare,
Which is why I have stated that my wording of "deception" was a poor choice in words. I have since taken that statement back and changed it to "unconscionable" business practice.
I did not book the ticket from a brick and mortar travel agency, nor did I use one of the popular internet travel web sites. Instead, I purchased the ticket through American Express Business Travel program "Concur." Nothing ever mentioned these fees. Oh well, I was just really taken by surprise that someone would 1) charge for a carry on bag, and 2) charge $100 at the gate. UN-CON-SCION-ABLE!
Then you should contact American Express to let them know they are in violation of the law. From DOT regulation
14 CFR 399.85 (emphasis mine):
(b) If a U.S. carrier, a foreign air carrier, an agent of either, or a ticket agent has a website accessible for ticket purchases by the general public in the U.S., the carrier or agent must clearly and prominently disclose on the first screen in which the agent or carrier offers a fare quotation for a specific itinerary selected by a consumer that additional airline fees for baggage may apply and where consumers can see these baggage fees. An agent may refer consumers to the airline websites where specific baggage fee information may be obtained or to its own site if it displays airlines’ baggage fees
(c) On all e-ticket confirmations for air transportation within, to or from the United States, including the summary page at the completion of an online purchase and a post-purchase email confirmation, a U.S. carrier, a foreign air carrier, an agent of either, or a ticket agent that advertises or sells air transportation in the United States must include information regarding the passenger’s free baggage allowance and/or the applicable fee for a carry-on bag and the first and second checked bag. Carriers must provide this information in text form in the e-ticket confirmation. Agents may provide this information in text form in the e-ticket confirmations or through a hyperlink to the specific location on airline websites or their own website where this information is displayed. The fee information provided for a carry-on bag and the first and second checked bag must be expressed as specific charges taking into account any factors (e.g., frequent flyer status, early purchase, and so forth) that affect those charges.
You can easily do one or both of the following:
1) Contact American Express/Concur and ask for a credit for any carry-on fees you encounter during this trip as they did not properly inform you of them. Take screenshots and mention the law above that they are in violation of. CC Frontier so they can apply pressure to AmEx as well (so more customers are not affected like you were.
2) Write the Department of Transportation about this. Take screenshots showing the violations, including your e-ticket confirmation and the fare quotation screen (you should be able to re-create it by searching again) and send it to the DOT using their
consumer complaint form, available here. I would do it, but I'm not a Concur member so you would be the one with proof. It should take less than ten minutes, and will do much more to bring changes vs. a rant on an internet forum.
I would be interested to see the screenshots, as this law has been in effect for close to 2 years now, and I'm shocked AmEx would violate them like this, especially given that the DOT has fined airlines for similar violations. You can easily upload screenshots to imgur.com if you need somewhere to host them.