Airlines always advertise a low price to get your attention, but when you add on all the required taxes and surcharges, the price often jumps up significantly. I wish airlines and other travel providers like rental car companies would advertise complete prices. That way, the price you see is the price you pay.

When British Airways advertised $219 to London including two nights hotel, MrConsumer thought it would interesting to see what the real total price would be. The actual price of the roundtrip using the advertised fare came to $551.77. Why?

*MOUSE PRINT: The advertised fare is “o/w based on r/t purchase. Taxes and fees extra.” [Banner ad at Bestfares.com June 22, 2006; shown actual size]

Somehow it doesn’t seem like a bargain any longer. How did they arrive at that higher fare?

The $219 advertised fare doesn’t seem to bear any relationship to the $308 actual roundtrip fare shown above. And, the fees, charges, and surcharges of almost $250 account for almost half the price of the ticket.

Now there’s another part to the offer: get two nights free in a London hotel.

*MOUSE PRINT: “**Based on double occupancy.”

What is not disclosed upfront is buried in the mouse print online:  if you are flying solo to London, “Single occupants are entitled to 1 free hotel night only.” 

So to get the advertised offer of two free hotel nights, two people have to go and spend $1103.54 to fly to London. That’s over five times the eye-catching $219 advertised price. The airlines would contend, if they advertised the real price, as shown below, no one would click. I wonder why?