by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:05 AM ET, Fri February 3, 2023
United States President Joe Biden announced two actions further advancing his administration's agenda of promoting competition in the American economy and highlighted steady progress in eliminating or limiting junk fees.
As part of an effort to reduce fees and increase transparency, President Biden is pushing the Junk Fee Prevention Act to provide relief to consumers and make the economy more competitive.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) introduced new rules requiring airlines and online booking services to show the full price of plane tickets up front, including baggage and other fees, as well as forcing carriers to make changes to their compensation policies when flights are delayed or canceled.
The Biden administration is also working to ban airlines from charging fees for family members to sit with young children.
In addition, the President is working with officials to eliminate resort and destination fees, which they said "harm consumers by preventing them from the seeing the true price when they pick out a hotel and by limiting their ability to comparison shop."
Data showed that over 33 percent of hotel guests reported paying surprise fees, with the total being in the billions. President Biden is urging Congress to ban the fees by requiring hotels to include them in the price of the room.
The administration is also working to crack down on excessive fees for concerts, sporting events and other entertainment ticket fees. A government study found that service charges averaged more than 20 percent of the ticket's face value and fees reached more than half the cost.
As for the two implemented actions, Biden said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is proposing a rule that would slash excessive credit card late fees, while the Department of Commerce is assessing the barriers to competition in the mobile app store ecosystem and providing recommendations to level the playing field.
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