{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-slams-dot-proposal-promoting-deceptive-and-misleading-advertising-hurting-consumers", "Blumenthal Slams DOT Proposal Promoting Deceptive & Misleading Advertising Hurting Consumers", "2026-09-17", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "CT", "Richard Blumenthal", "B001277", "www.blumenthal.senate.gov", "blumenthal", "https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press", "scraper", "[WASHINGTON, D.C.] \u2013 U.S. Senator Richard Blumental (D-CT) wrote to U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy opposing a proposed rule that would weaken consumer protections by allowing airlines to advertise misleading ticket prices. DOT\u2019s proposed rule would gut the existing Full Fare Rule, which requires airlines and ticket agents to display the total cost of a ticket at least as prominently as its subcomponents\u2014making sure consumers aren\u2019t misled by deceptive pricing.\n\nIn his letter, Blumenthal highlights how DOT\u2019s proposed rule prioritizes airline companies, promoting advertising that hurts consumers, writing, \u201cThe proposed rulemaking contemplates repealing the Full Fare Rule entirely \u2013 eliminating longstanding requirements that airlines clearly and transparently disclose the total price consumers must pay. Put simply, enacting this rule would only serve the interests of airfare advertisers at the direct expense of consumers.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn addition to inflating costs, implementing the proposed rule would upend decades of settled expectations in the transparency of airfare, enabling more confusing and deceptive advertising,\u201d continued Blumenthal. \u201cAmericans should have confidence that the price they see advertised is the price they will pay when they get to check out. DOT\u2019s proposed rule serves the opposite result.\u201d\n\n\u201cAt a time when the cost of airfare has skyrocketed in significant part due to the war of choice that President Trump initiated against Iran in February, 2026, now is the worst possible time to empower airfare advertisers to return to an era of extracting more money from consumers through confusing and deceptive airfare advertising,\u201d concluded Blumenthal.\n\nBlumenthal is a longstanding advocate for consumer protections and transparency in air fare pricing for travelers, leading legislation such as the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights and the Junk Fee Prevention Act and releasing a report with the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations regarding sky high airline junk fees.\n\nBlumenthal\u2019s full letter to Duffy can be found here and below.\n\nDear Secretary Duffy,\n\nI write to provide comments and express my strong opposition to the Department of Transportation\u2019s (DOT) proposal to weaken consumer protections by allowing airlines to advertise confusing or misleading ticket prices. DOT\u2019s proposed rule titled Enhancing Flexibility of Air Fare and Price Advertising (\u201cthe rule\u201d) would permit airlines and other travel vendors to obscure the total cost of travel by allowing them to advertise individual components of the airfare, including mandatory fees, with the same prominence as the total fare.[1] Even more concerning, the proposed rulemaking contemplates repealing the Full Fare Rule entirely \u2013eliminating longstanding requirements that airlines clearly and transparently disclose the total price consumers must pay. Put simply, enacting this rule would only serve the interests of airfare advertisers at the direct expense of consumers. Accordingly, I urge DOT to reverse course and withdraw the notice of proposed rulemaking immediately.\n\nThe proposed rulemaking would gut DOT\u2019s 2011 Full Fare Rule, which requires airlines and other vendors to advertise the total price of airfare to consumers and prohibits displaying individual component fees as or more prominently than the total fare.[2] This rule addressed the common airline practice of relying on deceptive base fare advertising \u2013 often called \u201cdrip pricing\u201d \u2013 to attract budget-conscious travelers before presenting them with a higher total cost of travel at the conclusion of their purchase.[3] The simple motivation behind the Full Fare Rule is just as valid today as it was in 2011: \u201cIn order to understand the true cost of travel, consumers need to be able to see the entire price they need to pay to get to their destination the first time the airfare is presented to them.\u201d[4]\n\nDOT\u2019s proposal to dismantle the Full Fare Rule would increase costs for consumers. The Department\u2019s poorly reasoned Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) presents a distorted cost-benefit analysis of the proposed changes.[5] Air carriers have complied with the Full Fare Rule for more than a decade; more importantly, consumers expect airfare advertising to prominently present the total cost of travel.[6] Contrary to DOT\u2019s conclusory statements, if the rule is implemented, it is inevitable that more consumers will need to invest additional time searching for the full fare or government charges, and will be surprised by unexpected, mandatory fees.[7] And as DOT admits, the consequences of scrapping the Full Fare Rule would be even more dire by inviting the re-emergence of \u201cdrip pricing\u201d practices that impose \u201csignificant costs\u201d on consumers.[8] In sum, DOT falls short of providing a minimum of evidence and sound reasoning on which to base the proposed, drastic changes to airfare advertising consumer protections.[9]\n\nIn addition to inflating costs, implementing the proposed rule would upend decades of settled expectations in the transparency of airfare, enabling more confusing and deceptive advertising.[10] Given that fees can constitute a significant portion of the total cost of travel, allowing advertisers to present airfare components more prominently will inevitably mislead and confuse many consumers.[11] The risk of consumer confusion and deception has only grown since the Full Fare Rule was implemented in 2011. Americans should have confidence that the price they see advertised is the price they will pay when they get to check out. DOT\u2019s proposed rule serves the opposite result.\n\nInstead of undermining significant consumer and passenger protections, DOT, the airline industry\u2019s sole regulator, should complete implementation of its regulation to improve the transparency of airline ancillary fees and robustly enforce the statutory prohibition on unfair and deceptive practices in air travel.[12] Moreover, at a time when the cost of airfare has skyrocketed in significant part due to the war of choice that President Trump initiated against Iran in February, 2026, now is the worst possible time to empower airfare advertisers to return to an era of extracting more money from consumers through confusing and deceptive airfare advertising.[13]\n\nThe proposed rule makes clear who DOT intends to benefit. As one commentor noted, \u201cthe major airline lobby groups love this.\u201d[14] The Department of Transportation must defend the interests of the American public \u2013 not corporate profits. That is why I strongly urge DOT to expeditiously withdraw the notice of proposed rulemaking and return to acting in the interest of the traveling public.\n\nThank you for your attention to this important matter. I look forward to monitoring the status of this proposed rule and hope to see action taken that will protect and promote the interests of the flying public.\n\nSincerely,\n\n-30-\n\n[1] 91 FR 39932; Docket No. DOT\u2013OST\u20132025\u20130831.\n\n[2] 76 FR 23110, Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections; Allyson Versprille, \u201cTrump\u2019s DOT Moves to Roll Back Obama-Er Airfare Marketing Rule,\u201d Bloomberg News, June 30, 2026, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-30/trump-s-dot-moves-to-roll-back-obama-era-airfare-marketing-rule.\n\n[3] Mateusz Maszczynski, \u201cAirlines May Soon Be Allowed to Advertise Just the Cheaper Base Fare Excluding Taxes or Fees Under DOT Proposal,\u201d PYOK, July 5, 2026, https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2026/07/01/airlines-may-soon-be-allowed-to-advertise-just-the-cheaper-base-fare-excluding-taxes-or-fees-under-dot-proposal/.\n\n[4] 76 FR 23143.\n\n[5] Enhancing Flexibility of Air Fare Price Advertising Regulatory Impact Analysis, RIN 2105-AF37 (Feb. 2026) [hereinafter RIA].\n\n[6] See Comment from National Consumers League, et al. (Aug. 21, 2026), https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOT-OST-2025-0831-1336.\n\n[7] RIA at 7.\n\n[8] RIA at 9. Indeed, eliminating the Full Fare Rule would, as the American Society of Travel Advisors explains, \u201crisk introducing unnecessary inconsistency into the marketplace and could make comparison shopping more difficult for consumers.\u201d Comment from American Society of Travel Advisors, Docket No. DOT-OST-2025-0831, (July 30, 2026), https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOT-OST-2025-0831-0105.\n\n[9] RIA at 6 (\u201cThe benefits of the proposed rule are qualitative in nature.\u201d); id. at 7 (\u201cthe economic effects of the proposed rule are unquantified\u201d); id. at 8 (\u201cThe implications of repealing the FFAR in whole or in part, particularly regarding future advertising requirements and enforcement policies, are highly uncertain.\u201d); id. at 9 (\u201cThe effects of repealing the FFAR in whole or in part are unquantified and uncertain.\u201d).\n\n[10] See Comment from National Consumers League, et al. (Aug. 21, 2026), https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOT-OST-2025-0831-1336.\n\n[11] See The Sky\u2019s the Limit, The Rise of Junk Fees in American Travel, Majority Report, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (Nov. 24, 2024), https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024.11.25-Majority-Staff-Report-The-Skys-the-Limit-The-Rise-of-Junk-Fees-in-American-Travel-1.pdf.\n\n[12] 89 FR 34620.\n\n[13] Rajesh Kumar Singh, Alessandro Parodi, Joanna Plucinska, \u201cAirline ticket prices may stay high as carriers bank fuel relief from Iran deal,\u201d Reuters, June 22, 2026, https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/airline-ticket-prices-may-stay-high-carriers-bank-fuel-relief-iran-deal-2026-06-22/.\n\n[14] Gary Leff, Airfare Prices Could Get More Confusing As DOT Moves To Weaken Full Fare Advertising Rules, View From the Wing (June 30, 2026), https://viewfromthewing.com/airfare-prices-could-get-more-confusing-as-dot-moves-to-weaken-full-fare-advertising-rules/.", 1, "2026-09-18T09:27:43Z", "2026-09-18T09:29:09Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-slams-dot-proposal-promoting-deceptive-and-misleading-advertising-hurting-consumers"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7512599006295204, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}