To Fee or Not to Fee

   We clicked on an Aer Lingus banner ad this afternoon that promised us low fares to London. 

     It brought us to a web page that listed sample fares from Boston, Chicago and New York.

     The fares did look pretty good (not cheap, by any means, but easily half the going rate these days). But something else caught our eye:

In the upper right of the page, Aer Lingus was promoting its "Total Pricing" policy. It promised "No surprises" and that "Our fares now include all taxes & fees." We liked this idea! Too often, you select a fare only to find that the actual price you pay is tens or even hundreds more when airport fees and taxes are included.
     Imagine our surprise then when we scrolled down and found the following disclaimer copy:

     Since you may not be able to read the screen grab, here's what we learned:

* Terms & Conditions

Fares are per person, round-trip including carrier and government imposed fees and taxes including the September 11th Security Fee of $2.50 per enplanement originating at a U.S. airport. Fluctuations in exchange rates may affect some taxes and fees.

Additional Fees:

Fares are an additional $20 each way when traveling Friday through Sunday. There is an additional $20-$40 each way surcharge for fares purchased at an Aer Lingus airport ticket counter or through (800) IRISH-AIR.

    So, apparently their "No surprises" policy is only good four out of seven days a week. Too bad. The $2.50 fee that's included is considerably less than the $20-$40 fee that is not. Bit o' bait and switch, mate?
     If you can really (really, really, we mean really) live up to a "No Hidden Fees" policy, by all means do promote it. If you can't, then by all means ... don't. Thumbs-down from the b's at B Direct I'm afraid.