Fun fact: In Europe this kind of junk fees mostly do not exist and taxes are included in prices.
It is weird how much easier it gets for customers to compare offers. Comparing political systems, in the US the gov protects revenues and the EU it protects consumer rights.
You can experience this for yourself: try booking a flight with a old fashioned carrier like lufthansa.de and then go to a "we will rip you off for sure" travel-portal from uk to book the exact same flight or a low-cost airline like ryanair. You find the portal by a simple google search, as they are so "cheap" compared to the official price.
The portal shows a price that is 20% less then the carrier price, but somehow you always end up paying at least 30% more, even IF you are really good at the game of "avoid bullshit upsell checkboxes".
It is weird how much easier it gets for customers to compare offers. Comparing political systems, in the US the gov protects revenues and the EU it protects consumer rights.
You can experience this for yourself: try booking a flight with a old fashioned carrier like lufthansa.de and then go to a "we will rip you off for sure" travel-portal from uk to book the exact same flight or a low-cost airline like ryanair. You find the portal by a simple google search, as they are so "cheap" compared to the official price.
The portal shows a price that is 20% less then the carrier price, but somehow you always end up paying at least 30% more, even IF you are really good at the game of "avoid bullshit upsell checkboxes".