that's simply not true, E. There is a page with baggage fees for every airline that is linked directly to the booking process and also explained during the booking process.
here is aa's
http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInformation/baggage/main.jsp?anchorEvent=false&from=Nav
http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/baggage.html
http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/baggage/default.aspx
just as an example, UA's contains this text at the beginning of the itinerary search with hyperlinks for details.
"Fares listed are for the entire trip per person and include taxes and fees. Additional bag charges may apply.
"The fare displayed is the lowest available for the dates requested; however some flights may not be in the cabin you requested.
"United flights include those operated by our Express partners."
other carriers have similar disclosures.
here is a page from DL regarding onboard services and the types of products by cabin
http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/onboard-experience/main-cabin.html
including
"Like the extra room of the exit row? Or prefer an aisle seat toward the front? Preferred Seats give you the choice of an aisle or window seat toward the front of the plane, as well as bulkhead and emergency exit row seats. Medallion® members can select Preferred Seats for no additional charge.'
along with this page specifically for Basic Economy, DL's most basic product which could incur the greatest amount of fees if a passenger chooses to "buy up" to other services.
http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/support/faqs/planning-reservations-faqs.html#BasicEcon
http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/onboard-experience/main-cabin.html
I'm not going thru the ULCCs but the big 3 ALL have very clear disclosures about what is included in the price and what is not. I have looked at Spirit's website enough to know that they disclose what is included and what is not.
The government's problem is that they want it all included because some consumers don't want to bother to read.... and yet virtually every type of business has some degree of unbundling from home internet and phone service to different shipping speeds for internet shopping. Rental cars and Megabus all follow a similar unbundled pricing model - you pick and pay for what you want.
Bundled pricing might be what some companies want to use for marketing purposes but it is not the norm for most industries.
and the legacy airlines at least all do a pretty good job of disclosing what is included and what is not.
Of course, the irony is that the government won't allow airlines to show the fare WITHOUT taxes so that consumers can see how much of the price of their ticket price is in taxes even though that is exactly the way most other purposes are made on the internet.
If the government is so interested in FAIR FARE disclosure, allow the airlines to reveal to passengers how much of their ticket price is government taxes - it is FAR larger than the add on fees that airlines impose for the vast majority of passengers.
