Originally Posted by WHBM
Actually I feel that just because something is a tax doesn't justify it being outside the quoted price either. That's the US (only) approach to sales tax, derided above.
Airlines should quite simply quote the price that you have to put down on the counter for their product, just like anyone else.
Every US state has its own sales tax rate. Indeed, even different cities within states may have significantly different sales tax rates. Therefore, it would be quite challenging for a large corporation to advertise any price if it had to disclose the final price.
Most extra airline surcharges are on a per-ticket basis, and apply equally to all similar tickets across the board. Therefore, it should be pretty easy for an airline to advertise an actual price instead of luring potential customers with the bait and switch. "Bait and switch" is exactly what's going on now and the government ought to crack down.