Originally Posted by Clincher

I am reviving this thread to get further thoughts on what janetdoe suggested to possibly involving DOT. To be honest I don't mind paying a service fee to an agency. However, I would like to know what that fee is upfront.
Over the last two weeks I purchased eight one-way tickets where I was provided a 'final' cost. It was not until I received my credit card bill at the end of the month did I notice a separate service fee charge in addition to the airline charge. These were one-way non-stop tickets on one airline and the fee was $21.98 per person. That is $175.84 more than if I had purchased directly with the airline or other OTA.
Yes I do realize that had I gone straight to the airline and compared I would have noticed the difference in costs. However, I did not compare since I trusted the final purchase price was the airfare. Since it was not disclosed on the final purchase page I did not know until my credit card indicated the service fee charges (totaling $175.84 for 8 tickets) and by then it's too late to make a different decision.
I have asked Orbitz customer relations about this before and was told it only confuses the buyer when there is more than one line outlining the charges. I find it more confusing to see an unknown and unexpected charge on my credit card.