CBS News
Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorks, a consultancy that has advised U.S. airlines, agrees that drip pricing makes comparing airline ticket prices more complicated. But he still thinks it can benefit consumers by letting them pay for the extras they want, while leaving behind those that aren’t important to them. “The outcome is of course that it’s more difficult to compare between different products and airlines,” he said. “While that’s true, airlines, as profit-seeking companies, are under no obligation to make it easier to compare with their competitors.” Sorensen compared the experience of booking airfare today to shopping for groceries. “You roll in with your shopping cart, and as you walk through the aisles you toss stuff in your cart,” he said. “You buy a base fare, and as you go through the booking path you add things to the cart, like a checked bag, seat assignment, or pay to book a meal or other services,” he said. “That’s dramatically different from the way travel was once sold in U.S.”
