Benjamin Edelman

Supplemental Filing

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BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF AVIATION ENFORCEMENT AND PROCEEDINGS

WASHINGTON, D.C.

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)

Benjamin Edelman, )

 third-party complainant )

)

v. ) Docket DOT-OST-2013-0024

)

American Airlines, Inc. ) 

)

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SUPPLEMENTAL FILING OF BENJAMIN EDELMAN

Comments with respect to this document should be addressed to:

Benjamin Edelman

169 Walnut St.

Brookline, MA 02445

E-mail: ben@benedelman.org

Dated: September 20, 2013
Benjamin Edelman

Supplemental Filing

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BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

OFFICE OF AVIATION ENFORCEMENT AND PROCEEDINGS

WASHINGTON, D.C.

---------------------------------------------------------------)

)

Benjamin Edelman, )

 third-party complainant )

)

v. ) Docket DOT-OST-2013-0024

)

American Airlines, Inc. ) 

)

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I. American Employees Continue to Mischaracterize Carrier-Imposed Surcharges as 

“Tax” in Quoting Award Travel ......................................................................................... 3

II. American Employees Continue to Mischaracterize Carrier-Imposed Surcharges as 

“Tax” in Quoting Ordinary Paid Travel.............................................................................. 4

III. American Employees Continue to Mischaracterize Carrier-Imposed Surcharges as 

“Tax” in Quoting Around-TheWorld Travel ...................................................................... 5

IV. American Employees Continue to Charge Telephone Ticketing Fees without 

Disclosure to Consumers and without Consumer Consent................................................. 6

V. Contrary to AA’s Own Statements, AA.COM Continues to Present Fuel 

Surcharges Within “Taxes & Fees” and not Fare ............................................................... 7

SUPPLEMENTAL FILING OF BENJAMIN EDELMAN

1. I offer this supplemental filing to provide additional evidence, postdating 

my February 4, 2013 complaint and April 5, 2013 reply, showing ongoing American 

Airlines price advertising practices that I believe to be impermissible. 

2. American has argued that “the conduct complaint of has been addressed” 

(Answer at p.2) and that no DOT response is necessary or appropriate. In contrast, I have 

argued that the problems are ongoing, including as detailed in this supplemental filing.
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Supplemental Filing

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I. American Employees Continue to Mischaracterize Carrier-Imposed 

Surcharges as “Tax” in Quoting Award Travel

3. American employees continue to mischaracterize carrier-imposed 

surcharges as “tax” in quoting award travel. 

4. On August 31, 2013, I called American Airlines telephone reservations to 

make an award booking for BOS-LHR. The representative quoted “tax” that was 

primarily a carrier-imposed surcharge. From the digital call recording (emphasis added)1:

AA recording: Welcome to the Advantage Executive Platinum Desk! ... This call 

may be recorded. 

Agent: American Airlines (inaudible). 

Edelman: Yes, hi, for a new award travel, please. 

Agent: Okay, Mr. Edelman, traveling from?

Edelman: From Boston.

Agent: Okay.

Edelman: To London. 

Agent: What day are you looking at, and for how many passengers? 

Edelman: One passenger, September 22, first class please.

Agent: Let me check availability, first class. 

Edelman: There’s just BA nonstop on that route now, so that would be fine.

Agent: I am checking availability on BA. The 10:15 in the evening flight is 

available; I have the last first class seat.

Edelman: Good. That would be perfect. Thank you.

Agent: Is there a return flight also?

Edelman: No, just one way. And the passenger is a friend, I’ll give you the name 

when you’re ready. 

...

Agent: And do you want me to automatically deduct 62,500 [miles] from your 

account, Mr. Edelman?

Edelman: Yes, please.

Agent: I am ready for a credit card for his tax of four hundred thirty eight dollars 

and twenty cents, plus the twenty five dollar handling fee for a total charge of four 

hundred sixty three twenty.

 

1

I have full call recordings and can provide the original MP3 files upon request. I have posted audio 

recordings to http://www.benedelman.org/airfare-advertising/americanairlines.html.
Benjamin Edelman

Supplemental Filing

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5. The majority of the quoted “tax” is actually a carrier-imposed surcharge, 

which is not a tax.

6. The agent quoted “tax” without any inquiry or request from me. The 

agent was the first to use the word “tax,” and the agent did so entirely unprompted. 

These facts make inapposite the portion of the AA’s Response, April 19, 2013 at p.2, in 

which AA argues that an agent’s false statement of “tax” is not cause for concern, or is 

cause for reduced concern, if the agent’s false statement occurs only in response to a 

customer’s specific inquiry.

7. I purchased this ticket with the genuine intent that a friend use it, and I 

expect that he will in fact use it later this month. 

II. American Employees Continue to Mischaracterize Carrier-Imposed 

Surcharges as “Tax” in Quoting Ordinary Paid Travel

8. American employees continue to mischaracterize carrier-imposed 

surcharges as “tax” in quoting ordinary paid travel.

9. On June 29, 2013, I put an itinerary on hold on AA.COM at the lowest 

available fare, then called American telephone reservations staff to request that the ticket 

be priced in a “B” fare. (I sought to use a restricted upgrade certificate not valid on the 

initial fare.) I was quoted “tax” that was primarily a carrier-imposed surcharge. From 

the digital call recording (emphasis added):

AA recording: Welcome to the Advantage Executive Platinum Desk! ... This call 

may be recorded. 

Agent: Hello, Mr. Edelman?

Edelman: Yes, could I give you a record locator? 

Agent: Yes, go ahead. 

Edelman: [reads record locator]

Agent: Thank you sir. This is for yourself, party of one. How can I help you?
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Supplemental Filing

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Edelman: I’d like to upfare this to the lowest available fare in booking class B, 

like bravo.

Agent: All segments?

Edelman: All segments, please.

Agent: One moment. 

Agent: I have that priced at one thousand nine hundred ninety five dollars and

forty cents. 

Edelman: Could you confirm the fare and the tax please?

Agent: The fare, yes, one thousand nine hundred ninety five dollars and forty 

cents is the total fare. The base fare is one thousand four hundred thirty five 

dollars. Taxes are five hundred sixty dollars and forty cents. This is in US 

dollars.

Edelman: Got it.

10. I purchased the ticket immediately thereafter, in the same phone call, and I 

began travel on the ticket several days later.

11. The majority of the quoted “tax” is actually a carrier-imposed surcharge, 

which is not a tax.

III. American Employees Continue to Mischaracterize Carrier-Imposed 

Surcharges as “Tax” in Quoting Around The World Travel

12. On or about June 1, 2013, I called the AA Around The World Desk and 

specified flights for a first class AONE3 ticket for a colleague. I did not receive a fare 

quote in the initial call. Instead, consistent with standard ATW Desk practice, I was 

instructed to call back the next day for a fare quote.

13. On June 2, 2013, I called the AA Around The World Desk to obtain the 

fare quote. From the digital call recording (emphasis added):

AA recording: Welcome to the American Airlines Around The World Desk! ... 

This call may be recorded. 

Agent: [agent name], Around The World desk. How can I help you?

Edelman: Could I give you a record locator? 

Agent: Sure, you bet, just one sec. What’s that record please, sir?
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Supplemental Filing

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Edelman: [reads record locator]

Agent: OK, just a second. OK, how can I help you sir?

Edelman: I want to confirm the fare and tax, and if it makes sense, I’ll ticket it 

please.

Agent: Fourteen thousand eight ninety five thirty seven.

Edelman: OK, could I have the fare versus the tax please.

Agent: The base fare is thirteen thousand eight oh eight, and the taxes are one oh 

eight seven thirty seven, for a total of fourteen eight ninety five thirty seven.

Edelman: OK, let’s ticket it please.

14. The majority of the quoted “tax” is actually a carrier-imposed surcharge, 

which is not a tax.

15. I purchased the ticket immediately thereafter, in the same phone call, and 

my colleague traveled on the ticket shortly thereafter.

IV. American Employees Continue to Charge Telephone Ticketing Fees without 

Disclosure to Consumers and without Consumer Consent

16. The prior section transcribes the entirety of AA’s telephone fare quote for 

the ticket there at issue. Nonetheless, AA charged my credit card both the $14895.37 

ticket I agreed to, and an additional $25 that was not disclosed in the fare quote.

17. I first learned of the additional $25 charge when I saw it on the e-ticket 

confirmation email sent after ticketing. The charge was there described as “telephone 

ticketing service.” I also confirmed that the charge appeared on my credit card statement.

18. Thus, the total amount charged to my card exceeded the amount I was 

quoted and the amount I agreed to pay.

19. Throughout the call at issue, I was booking travel for another passenger, 

who is not Executive Platinum and is not entitled to any waiver of telephone ticketing 

fee. At no time did I provide my own Executive Platinum status, nor did I give the agent 

any reason to think that a fee waiver would apply to this ticket.
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Supplemental Filing

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20. On or about February 10, 2012, I booked a separate around-the-world 

ticket for the same colleague. My contemporaneous notes indicate that I was charged a 

$50 ticketing fee on that ticket, and that I was not advised of that ticketing fee during the 

telephone fare quote. I do not have a recording of that call, although I do have the 

contemporaneous emails indicating that I immediately recognized the charge as 

unexpected. I also have credit card records confirming that the charge occurred.

21. My experience with this ticket tends to confirm disputed allegations in my 

initial complaint. Recall the award booking where I claimed that AA staff did not 

disclose the applicable fee in the first fare quote (Complaint p.8). AA correctly noted 

that I have no call recording to support that claim (Answer p.12: “there is no recording of 

the call to verify the details of this telephone exchange ...”). My experience on this 

ticket is directly probative: Since AA staff failed to disclose the booking fee for this 

ticket, it is particularly plausible that AA staff also failed to disclose the telephone fee for 

the ticket I described at Complaint p.8. 

22. AA argued that my complaints arise solely out of American’s alleged 

failure to “accurately distinguish between taxes and airline imposed fee” (Answer p.2, 

emphasis added). But here my complaint alleges something American charging me an 

amount beyond what American quoted by telephone and beyond what I agreed to pay.

V. Contrary to AA’s Own Statements, AA.COM Continues to Present Fuel 

Surcharges Within “Taxes & Fees” and not Fare

23. When quoting a fare to passengers, AA.COM now presents a total “Your 

Trip Cost” along with an “Average Fare” and “Taxes & Fees.” See Attachment 1. 

Adjacent to “Taxes & Fees”, a “Price and Tax Information” link yields a popup giving 

more information about pricing. The resulting popup is shown in Attachment 2.
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Supplemental Filing

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24. The popup (Attachment 2) specifically states that for international tickets, 

“Fares include: Base fare and carrier-imposed surcharges.” The popup clearly indicates 

that any carrier-imposed surcharge will be included in “fare” and not in “taxes & fees.”

25. In my example, the fare quote (Attachment 1) indicates a “fare” of

$6,859.20 and “taxes & fees” of $657.62 for a business class itinerary MAD-LHR-MIAEZE-JFK-MAD. On information and belief, the $657.62 consists primarily of carrierimposed surcharges. But the popup specifically indicated that carrier-imposed surcharges

would be listed within the “Fare”. 

26. The popup (Attachment 2) uses the term “additional government-imposed 

taxes and fees.” I do not know whether AA intends that term to have the same meaning 

as “taxes & fees” in the fare quote (Attachment 1). The popup appears solely in response 

to a user’s request for “Price and Tax Information,” and I can see no proper reason for the 

popup to use different terminology than page the popup purports to clarify and explain. 

Furthermore, the popup enumerates only bona-fide government-imposed taxes and fees –

telling consumers that the entire amount in the “Taxes & Fees” section of the fare quote 

is in fact government-imposed taxes, although that is not the case. I believe this design

is, at best, needlessly confusing and ambiguous, and probably unfair and deceptive.

VI. AA.COM Presents Contradictory Fare Quotes on a Single Page

27. I previously noted AA.COM presenting fare quotes with arithmetic errors. 

See http://www.benedelman.org/airfare-advertising/americanairlines.html at subheading 

“Arithmetic errors” showing a screenshot wherein AA.COM quoted a “Fare” of $3295.72 

and “Taxes & Fees” of $327.80 – numbers which actually sum to $3624.52, but 

AA.COM instead quotes a supposed total of $3460.02.
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Supplemental Filing

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28. I subsequently noticed AA.COM presenting other inconsistent fare quotes 

on a single web page. See the screenshot shown in Attachment 3 (prepared June 29, 

2013), wherein AA.COM quotes a trip as “Your trip cost” of $1589.40, but immediately 

below indicates “Your total price” of $1260.60 with a possible deduction of $100 for 

obtaining a certain credit card, yielding a net price of $1160.60. As best I can tell, the 

ticket was never available for $1260.60 or $1160.60. 

29. I prepared Attachment 3 from a screen-capture video showing the entire 

fare quote process for that ticket. I can provide the full screen-capture video in 

electronic form if desired.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/

Benjamin Edelman
Benjamin Edelman

Supplemental Filing

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Attachment 1

Attachment 2
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Attachment 3
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Certificate of Service

I hereby certify that I have, this 20th day of September, 2013 caused a copy of the 

foregoing Reply to be served by electronic mail on the following persons:

Robert Silverberg, Esq. rsilverberg@sgbdc.com

Samuel Podberesky, Esq. sam.podberesky@dot.gov

/s/

_____________________

Benjamin Edelman