Congress
Did you manage to outsmart the airlines before they outsmarted all of us on Saturday? Travelers had about 17 hours to book tickets without paying most government taxes, because of Congress’ failure to authorize funding for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) by midnight on Friday. Most carriers started pocketing that money at the very first opportunity they had.
I did book a ticket and saved about $50, but I must admit I didn’t expect the airlines to raise fares so quickly and deprive customers of any savings.
So what exactly happened? Shortly after midnight Eastern time (ET) on Friday, when the FAA lost its prerogative to collect taxes, airline reservation systems began dropping those taxes from ticket prices. I issued a $164 one-segment ticket on Friday — on Saturday, that same ticket was being offered for $150, with everything else the same, including the fare bases. I bought the ticket on Friday, because I wasn’t sure that taxes wouldn’t be charged the next day.
When I found out that they were indeed excluded, I decided to book another ticket — this one with seven segments, hence the $50 savings.
If you’ve read my book, “Decoding Air Travel,” you know that domestic fares are filed three times a day on weekdays, and once a day on weekends. That weekend feed at 5 p.m. ET was the first chance the airlines had to change fares — and they did, except for Alaska Airlines and Spirit Airlines. They seem to have refiled most fares to include the amounts they previously charged as taxes.
In other words, for 17 hours on Saturday, consumers were the beneficiaries of tax-free tickets. After that, the airlines hijacked the opportunity created by the FAA situation and have been making lots of money since. I’m actually rather impressed by the speed and scope by which they did it.
I should note that some smaller government taxes, such as those collected by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), are still being charged.
Is it fair for the airlines to exploit a government fiasco for their financial benefit? At this point, it doesn’t appear that anyone can stop them.
Related stories:
My book ‘Decoding Air Travel’ is out
When airfares jump on you for no reason
Airlines find new way to overcharge fliers
A dispute over the State Department budget has pitted the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, against a fellow Democrat and head of the Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, and the Obama administration.
Mr. Conrad led an effort to slash President Obama’s $58 billion international affairs request for 2011 by $4 billion, a cut his committee approved last week. Despite protests from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and all her living predecessors, the senator stood his ground on Wednesday.
“The fact is that international funding has grown significantly in recent years,” he said. “Budgets are about setting priorities. Our budget provides a responsible and balanced approach”…
Continue reading about Cuts to State Dept. budget ignite interparty row
The United States has made new concessions as part of its civilian nuclear agreement with India, further angering arms control advocates, while New Delhi has yet to make it possible for U.S. companies to benefit from the unprecedented deal.
In the most recent accord completed late last month, Washington agreed to Indian demands to increase the number of plants allowed to reprocess U.S.-supplied nuclear fuel from one to two, with the option of another two if India’s needs grow in the future.
At the same time, India thus far has failed to pass legislation that would release U.S. companies from liability in case of accidents related to equipment they have provided for two reactors expected to be built under the 2007 U.S.-Indian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. That effectively prevents those firms from starting businesses in the South Asian country…
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The Obama administration is shifting the focus of U.S. public diplomacy efforts to play down the past emphasis on countering violent extremism in order to avoid offending foreign audiences opposed to terrorism.
Judith A. McHale, undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, said in an interview with The Washington Times that “a very narrow segment” of the world’s population is at risk of turning to extremism, and the policies adopted by the Bush administration should be broadened.
“Looking back, there was such a focus on countering violent extremism that everything got swept into the same category or the same bucket,” Ms. McHale said. “So if you were teaching English in many countries around the world, it was described as part of our [counter-extremism] effort, whether or not the individuals you were teaching were ever at risk of becoming violent extremists”…
Continue reading about U.S. downplays extremism in foreign outreach
