Order 2012-8-34

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Issued by the Department of Transportation

On the Thirtieth day of August, 2012

 Travel Today, Inc. Docket OST 2012-0002

 Violations of 14 CFR 399.84 and

 49 U.S.C. § 41712 Served August 30, 2012

CONSENT ORDER

This order concerns advertisements by Travel Today, Inc., that violated the advertising 

requirements specified in 14 CFR 399.84 and the statutory prohibition against unfair and 

deceptive practices and unfair methods of competition, 49 U.S.C. § 41712. It directs Travel 

Today to cease and desist from future similar violations and assesses the ticket agent a 

compromise civil penalty of $10,000.

Applicable Law

As a ticket agent, Travel Today is subject to the advertising requirements of Part 399 of the 

Department’s rules. Pursuant to 14 CFR 399.84, airlines and ticket agents advertising airfares 

must state the full price to be paid by the consumer. Prior to January 26, 2012, the Department 

allowed taxes and fees collected by carriers and ticket agents, such as passenger facility charges 

and departure taxes, to be stated separately from base fares in advertisements, so long as such 

taxes and fees were levied by a government entity, were not ad valorem in nature, i.e., not 

assessed as a percentage of the fare price, were collected on a per-passenger basis, and their 

existence and amounts were clearly indicated at the first point in the advertisements where a fare 

was presented so that consumers could immediately determine the full fare to be paid. In print 

advertisements, it was permissible to place an asterisk or other symbol proximate to the 
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advertised fare that referred the reader to the bottom of the advertisement where the nature and 

amount of those taxes and fees that could properly be stated separately were shown.1 

The Department’s post-January 26, 2012, interpretation of the full-fare advertising rule requires 

that advertisements specifying airfares and tour package prices with an air component include in 

the advertised prices all taxes and government-imposed fees and all mandatory airline- and ticket 

agent-imposed fees. Although an advertised price must now include all mandatory taxes and 

fees, air carriers and ticket agents are still free to provide consumers with a description of taxes 

and government-imposed fees and carrier-imposed fees.2

 However, such descriptions may not 

be false or misleading, may not be displayed as prominently as the total price, may not be 

presented in the same or larger size as the total price, and must provide cost information on a 

per-passenger basis that accurately reflects the cost of the item covered by the charge. Violations 

of section 399.84, both before and after January 26, 2012, constitute unfair and deceptive 

practices and unfair methods of competition in violation of section 41712. 

Facts

Travel Today failed to meet the requirements of section 399.84 by advertising fares that did not 

include taxes and fees in its print advertisements and on its website. Specifically, in the fall of 

2011, in Express India, Travel Today advertised fares from Washington, D.C., to India that 

impermissibly separated a carrier-imposed fuel surcharge from those fares, identifying it, as well 

as certain taxes that were also excluded, simply as being “extra”. 

In addition, for a period of time after January 26, 2012, Travel Today’s website failed to comply 

with the Department’s current full-fare advertising rule. The “special offers” section of Travel 

Today’s website advertised fares that did not include additional taxes and fees. Furthermore, for 

a longer period of time after January 26, 2012, in response to consumer searches using the main 

booking path on its website, Travel Today displayed a fare matrix that did not include all taxes. 

Mitigation

In mitigation, Travel Today states that it takes seriously compliance with DOT rules and its 

obligations to advertise and sell airfares to consumers in a transparent and lawful manner, that it 

in no way intended to mislead customers, and that it at all times cooperated with the Department 

in resolving this matter. Upon notice of the non-conforming fare advertisements, Travel Today 

further states that it pulled the advertisements from publication and removed them from its 

website.

 1 See, e.g., Nuevo Mundo Travel Agency, Inc., Violations of 49 U.S.C. § 41712 and 14 CFR 399.80(f) and 

399.84, Order 2010-7-17 (July 22, 2010). 

2 Such descriptions, if accurate, can serve the public interest by allowing consumers to discern the portion of 

the total cost that is attributable to government sources. 
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Decision

The Department views compliance with the Federal aviation statutes and regulations very 

seriously. The Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (Enforcement Office) has 

carefully considered the information provided by Travel Today and continues to believe that 

enforcement action is warranted. The Enforcement Office and Travel Today have reached a 

settlement of this matter in order to avoid litigation. Without admitting or denying the violations 

described above, Travel Today consents to the issuance of this order to cease and desist from 

future violation of 49 U.S.C. § 41712 and 14 CFR 399.84, and to the assessment of $10,000 in 

compromise of potential civil penalties otherwise due and payable pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 

§ 46301.

This compromise assessment is appropriate considering the nature and extent of the violations 

described herein and serves the public interest. 

This order is issued under the authority contained in 49 CFR Part 1.

ACCORDINGLY,

1. Based on the above information, we approve this settlement and the provisions of this 

order as being in the public interest;

2. We find that Travel Today, Inc., violated 14 CFR 399.84 by advertising fares that did not 

state the full price to be paid for the air transportation;

3. We find that by engaging in the conduct described in ordering paragraph 2, Travel Today, 

Inc., engaged in unfair and deceptive trade practices and unfair methods of competition in 

violation of 49 U.S.C. § 41712;

4. We order Travel Today, Inc., and all other entities owned or controlled by, or under 

common ownership and control with Travel Today, its successors and assigns, to cease and 

desist from further similar violations of 49 U.S.C. § 41712 and 14 CFR 399.84;

5. We assess Travel Today, Inc., a compromise civil penalty of $10,000 in lieu of civil 

penalties that might otherwise be assessed for the violations found in ordering paragraphs 2 and

3. Of this total penalty amount, $5,000 shall be due and payable in ten equal installments of $500 

each. The first payment of $500 shall be due and payable on or before October 1, 2012, the 

second installment due and payable on or before November 1, 2012, the third installment due 

and payable on or before December 1, 2012, the fourth installment due and payable on or before 

January 1, 2013, the fifth installment due and payable on or before February 1, 2013, the sixth 

installment due and payable on or before March 1, 2013, the seventh installment due and payable 

on or before April 1, 2013, the eighth installment due and payable on or before May 1, 2013, the 

ninth installment due and payable on or before June 1, 2013, and the last installment due and 

payable on or before July 1, 2013. The remaining portion of the civil penalty amount, $5,000 

shall become due and payable immediately if Travel Today, Inc., violates this order’s cease and 
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desist provision within one year following the date of issuance of this order or fails to comply 

with this order’s payment provisions; and

6. Payments shall be made through Pay.gov to the account of the U.S. Treasury. Payments 

shall be made in accordance with the instructions contained in the Attachment to this order. 

Failure to pay the penalty as ordered shall subject Travel Today, Inc., to the assessment of 

interest, penalty, and collection charges under the Debt Collection Act and to further 

enforcement action for failing to comply with this order. 

This order will become a final order of the Department 10 days after its service date unless a 

timely petition for review is filed or the Department takes review on its own motion.

BY:

SAMUEL PODBERESKY

Assistant General Counsel for 

 Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings

(SEAL)

An electronic version of this document is available at 

www.regulations.gov