Judge to Airlines: Keep It Accurate

A nationally recognized reporter, writer, and consumer advocate, Ed Perkins focuses on how travelers can find the best deals and avoid scams.

He is the author of "Online Travel" (2000) and "Business Travel: When It's Your Money" (2004), the first step-by-step guide specifically written for small business and self-employed professional travelers. He was also the co-author of the annual "Best Travel Deals" series from Consumers Union.

Perkins' advice for business travelers is featured on MyBusinessTravel.com, a website devoted to helping small business and self-employed professional travelers find the best value for their travel dollars.

Perkins was founding editor of Consumer Reports Travel Letter, one of the country's most influential travel publications, from which he retired in 1998. He has also written for Business Traveller magazine (London).

Perkins' travel expertise has led to frequent television appearances, including ABC's "Good Morning America" and "This Week with David Brinkley," "The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather," CNN, and numerous local TV and radio stations.

Before editing Consumer Reports Travel Letter, Perkins spent 25 years in travel research and consulting with assignments ranging from national tourism development strategies to the design of computer-based tourism models.

Born in Evanston, Illinois, Perkins lives in Ashland, Oregon with his wife.

See recent posts by Ed Perkins

The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against an airline suit challenging recent Department of Transportation (DOT) rules requiring all-up airfare displays that include both fees and taxes.

Southwest and Spirit specifically challenged the part of the rule that requires airlines to include taxes in the featured fares, but the court ruled against them. The other main points of the rule: When you buy a ticket more than a week before departure, you can cancel it within 24 hours without penalty, and once you’ve bought a ticket, an airline can’t increase either the fare or any applicable baggage fees you’ve paid. Those also remain in effect. Unless the airlines decide to press further appeals, this is now the law—and one that helps protect you against deception and abuses.

In the airlines’ opposition, arguments skirt the truth regarding inclusion of taxes. Although they claim that separate listing of taxes is the “general norm” in the U.S. economy, that claim is true only for state and local sales taxes. Other taxes, such as those on gasoline, alcohol, and tobacco are routinely bundled into the posted prices.

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