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Cloudy · Jul 25, 2011

http://news.yahoo.com/flyers-may-not-see-savings-expired-taxes-185327278.html

Some airline customers won't see savings this weekend even though several federal taxes on tickets have expired.

US Airways and American Airlines raised fares to offset the tax savings.

That means instead of passing along the savings from expired taxes, the carriers are pocketing the money while customers pay the same amount as before.

But other airlines left their prices unchanged on Saturday. Consumers could save money by shopping around.

The expired taxes can total $25 or more on a typical $300 round-trip ticket. For a September trip between Dallas and San Francisco, the cheapest American flight on Travelocity.com was $24 higher than offerings from United, Continental, Delta and Virgin America, which did not raise fares.

The taxes expired after midnight Friday night when Congress failed to pass legislation to keep the Federal Aviation Administration running.

That gave airlines a choice: They could do nothing and pass the savings to customers or they could grab some of the money themselves.

"We adjusted prices so the bottom-line price of a ticket remains the same as it was before ... expiration of federal excise taxes," said American spokesman Tim Smith. US Airways spokesman John McDonald said much the same thing passengers will pay the same amount for a ticket as they did before the taxes expired.

Smith declined to say whether the increase would be rescinded if Congress revives the travel taxes.

So much for trickle-down economics lol

Grimm Fandango · Jul 25, 2011

So glad the government bailed these fuckers out :/

Smiles and Cries · Jul 25, 2011

damn such greed

BobLoblaw · Jul 25, 2011

I'm both shocked and appalled that a company would take advantage of it's customers.

Cereal KiIIer · Jul 25, 2011

lol what were you expecting?

Superman00 · Jul 25, 2011

So basically US Airways and American Airlines are greedy bastards. It's funny that both airline have either US or American in them. lol

DR2K · Jul 25, 2011

Why give them the option?

Jarmel · Jul 25, 2011

I'm surprised they didn't raise the price. Corporations are one of the worst things from the 20th Century.

fudgey_lumpkins · Jul 25, 2011

Jarmel said:
I'm surprised they didn't raise the price. Corporations are one of the worst things from the 20th Century.

They did raise the price.

entremet · Jul 25, 2011

The free market will provide cheaper and higher quality services, guys, don't fret.

TheSeks · Jul 25, 2011

fudgey_lumpkins said:
They did raise the price.

He means the ones that didn't/"raise" to the post-tax-gone prices that were the pre-tax-gone prices.

Also with the FAA gone, safety checks are also gone? Eep.

mj1108 · Jul 25, 2011

Let the free market handle it lol
Trickle down lol
The companies know what is best. lol

Silly Republican ideology.

TheNatural · Jul 25, 2011

mj1108 said:
Let the free market handle it lol
Trickle down lol
The companies know what is best. lol

Silly Republican ideology.

No, Republican ideology is they're going to use it to expand their business and create more jobs!

ReBurn · Jul 25, 2011

mj1108 said:
Let the free market handle it lol
Trickle down lol
The companies know what is best. lol

Silly Republican ideology.

You're right. Government airlines all the way!

SouthernDragon · Jul 25, 2011

I, for one, am shocked that companies are pocketing the extra revenue instead of passing on the savings to customers or creating new jobs and services.

Shocked.

ReBurn said:
You're right. Government airlines all the way!

Yes, that's exactly what he was suggesting. That was very astute of you.

Randolph Freelander · Jul 25, 2011

If the tax goes back in place, these same airlines will "sadly be forced to raise prices," don't you know.

sly2thefox · Jul 25, 2011

ReBurn said:
You're right. Government airlines all the way!

Cause that's what he was getting at right???
And also Obama is a socialist and he hates democracy.

QuickSilverD · Jul 25, 2011

says right in the article that some airlines will be passing down the savings to their costumers, so it will be up to them custumers to not get ripped off

quaere · Jul 25, 2011

US Airways has made zero profit so far in 2011. Q1 was a loss, Q2 an equal profit, net nothing. American has lost over 600 million dollars in 2011.

All the companies with record profits can rightly be criticized for not passing it on to the consumer, but these are not two of those companies.

ReBurn · Jul 25, 2011

sly2thefox said:
Cause that's what he was getting at right???
And also Obama is a socialist and he hates democracy.

Why would you say that Obama is a socialist and hates democracy? That's just not true.

Clearly the right thing to do is immediately reinstate the tax.

Neuromancer · Jul 25, 2011

Fucking assholes

TheSeks · Jul 25, 2011

aswedc said:
US Airways has made zero profit so far in 2011. Q1 was a loss, Q2 an equal profit, net nothing. American has lost over 600 million dollars in 2011.

All the companies with record profits can rightly be criticized for not passing it on to the consumer, but these are not two of those companies.

And they'll continue to lose more money if people wisen up and buy the lesser ticket prices tickets.

videogamer · Jul 26, 2011

Cereal KiIIer said:
lol what were you expecting?

uh not raising prices? what is the point of removing taxes if you end up paying the same

mellowyellowod · Jul 26, 2011

This is just basic supply + demand, tax cuts don't just mean consumer surplus..

Spokker · Jul 26, 2011

The reason the taxes are expiring is because Congress failed to reauthorize FAA funding, something they did 20 times prior without much controversy. A lot of funding for airports is being lost here as well.

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/173423-amid-furloughs-lahood-presses-for-faa-funding

mellowyellowod said:
This is just basic supply + demand, tax cuts don't just mean consumer surplus..

It wasn't a deliberate tax cut. It was a failure of Congress to do its job.

FStop7 · Jul 26, 2011

That means instead of passing along the savings from expired taxes, the carriers are pocketing the money while customers pay the same amount as before.

But other airlines left their prices unchanged on Saturday. Consumers could save money by shopping around.

Sounds like a non-story to me.

Spokker · Jul 26, 2011

FStop7 said:
Sounds like a non-story to me.

Many people are glad to know which airlines did raise prices to take advantage of the tax expiration. We will not patronize those companies.

videogamer · Jul 26, 2011

Spokker said:
Many people are glad to know which airlines did raise prices to take advantage of the tax expiration. We will not patronize those companies.

It is not a surprise that US Airways took advantage of this. They used to charge for water... not joking.

timetokill · Jul 26, 2011

Southwest isn't doing this, right? Because generally Southwest is awesome.

XiaNaphryz · Jul 28, 2011

timetokill said:
Southwest isn't doing this, right? Because generally Southwest is awesome.

The article says Southwest is raising their fares about $8 roundtrip.

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