Two new rules were just released by the Biden Administration that will affect people who fly in the United States. One rule says planes have to be clear about the extra fees they charge customers. The second rule from Biden is that they have to give cash returns right away, instead of waiting for a customer to ask for one.
These rules were put out by the Department of Transportation. They will be fully put into place in six months to two years. If an airline cancels or changes a flight, when customers don’t get the services they paid for, like WiFi, or when their bags are returned late, they are required by law to give passengers their money back.
People who are owed money by airlines should be able to get it back without any problems, said Pete Buttigieg, who is the Secretary of Transport for the United States. Then he said that the DOT’s consumer protection team had fined airlines “multi-million dollar penalties” for not giving customers their refunds.
Airlines would have to explain all extra fees “clearly, conspicuously, and accurately” on their websites under the rule about surprise fees. This also includes cheap strategies used by airlines that seem to apply to the whole flight but only do so for a part of it.
Not surprisingly, Buttigieg said, “We want the airline industry to do well.” And that’s why these rules were made, he said: to be more serious about protecting passengers.
The Biden Administration also made a rule that parents who want to sit next to their children would not have to pay extra. They want to make this even bigger by making some services required and making it easier for people in wheelchairs to get on the plane.
