DOT Wants to Let Airlines Show You the Taxes and Fees Later, Not Upfront

A federal proposal would roll back the rule requiring airlines to display the full ticket price, including taxes and fees, at the start of a search.

By THRYV Travel Desk·Published August 13, 2026·Updated August 13, 2026·3 min read

DOT Wants to Let Airlines Show You the Taxes and Fees Later, Not Upfront

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The takeaway

The U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed letting airlines advertise only a ticket's base fare, with taxes and fees revealed at checkout instead of upfront, reversing a current requirement to show the full price from the start. Public comments on the proposal, filed under docket DOT-OST-2025-0831, are open through August 21, 2026.

The Department of Transportation has proposed rolling back the rule that requires airlines to display a ticket's full price — including taxes and government fees — from the moment a traveler starts searching for flights. Under the proposal, filed as docket DOT-OST-2025-0831, airlines could instead show just the base fare up front, with taxes and fees added in later at checkout.

What changes for travelers

Currently, federal rules require airlines and ticket agents to display the total price travelers will actually pay, taxes and fees included, whenever a fare is quoted. The DOT's proposal would let carriers instead advertise a lower headline number and reveal the rest of the cost later in the booking process — closer to how many other retailers price add-on fees.

How to weigh in

The DOT is accepting public comments on the proposal through August 21, 2026, via the federal eRulemaking portal at regulations.gov, by mail to the DOT Docket Management Facility, or by hand delivery to the department's Washington, D.C. office. The proposal does not yet have a finalized effective date.

Why this matters

All-in pricing was adopted specifically to stop travelers from being lured in by low headline fares that balloon at checkout. If this proposal is finalized, expect comparison shopping to get harder again — the sticker price you see first may not be what you pay.

Sources

This article is original writing by THRYV. We link to primary reporting and official documents rather than reproducing them.

Airline ticket prices could show taxes and fees later under federal proposal — Spectrum News

Why you can trust this article

Written and edited in-house by the THRYV Travel Desk. We do not republish or reword agency copy, and we do not invent quotes, statistics, testimonials or ratings. Where figures move frequently, we point you to the primary release rather than printing a number that will be out of date. Advertising and affiliate partnerships have no influence on our reporting — see our editorial standards, fact-checking policy and affiliate disclosure. Spotted an error? Write to newsroom@thryv-news.com.

General information only. Not personalised financial, medical or legal advice.

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