Biden stated Congress ought to prohibit airline seat-assignment fees for households making an attempt to sit down collectively, lodge resort fees and exorbitant ticket service costs.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden took swipes at airways and hotels Wednesday as he known as on Congress to restrict sure additional costs they impose on customers.
“These unfair fees add up,” he stated, talking simply earlier than a gathering of the White House Competition Committee.
Biden stated Congress ought to prohibit airline seat-assignment fees imposed on households making an attempt to sit down collectively, so-called resort fees that many hotels now tack on to the invoice, extreme service costs on tickets for concert events and sporting occasions, and fees to modify or cancel web, cable or cellphone service.
“Some airlines charge extra to pick your seat, including for parents who just want to sit next to their child on a plane,” Biden stated. “They charge extra — you don’t know that going in though — and it’s wrong.”
A spokeswoman for Airlines for America, a commerce group that represents the most important U.S. carriers, stated its members — together with American, United, Delta and Southwest — do not cost family-seating fees, though some funds airways do.
The bigger airways “make every effort to accommodate customers traveling together, especially those traveling with children, without additional charges, and consumers are offered a range of choices at the time of ticket purchase, including various seating options,” stated the spokeswoman, Marli Collier.
Congress beforehand advised the Transportation Department to overview airline seating insurance policies and think about how to make sure that kids underneath 14 sit with an older member of the family at no additional value. The division issued steering final July urging airlines to do so “to the maximum extent practicable.”
Biden additionally took goal at hotels for including resort fees, “which can be over $50 a night, when you check out.”
A spokesman for the American Hotel and Lodging Association stated 94% of hotels don’t cost resort fees. For people who do, “it covers unique and tangible amenities such as food and beverage credits, special events, access to pools and beaches, transportation and spa services,” stated the spokesman, Curt Cashour.
On ticket fees, Democrats and Republicans on a Senate committee known as final week for more transparency after Ticketmaster scrapped a general-public sale for Taylor Swift concert events.
Separately, Biden touted a proposed new regulation from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that he stated would limit credit-card late fees from $31 on common to $8.
The White House contends that laws accredited throughout the Obama administration lets the bureau regulate extreme bank card fees, whereas Biden’s different proposals would wish congressional approval, which could possibly be troublesome due to opposition from enterprise pursuits.
story by Source link