TALKING POINTS FOR

ERIK HANSEN, U.S. TRAVEL ASSOCIATION

JUNE 28, 2012 

U.S. Travel Association Background 

 The U.S. Travel Association is a national non-profit that represents almost all aspects of 

the travel and tourism industry. 

 Our mission is to grow travel to and within the United States. 

 In order to do that, U.S. Travel advocates for federal policies that will eliminate barriers 

to travel and improve the entire travel process – from beginning to end. 

 This is a unique approach because we believe our view of travel aligns with the consumer 

– we see “travel” as a single product or a single experience. 

 Today, I will discuss two aspects of the travel process that we believe need to be fixed. 

And these two issues should be considered by the Advisory Committee for Aviation 

Consumer Protection.

Fee Transparency 

 For consumers, the travel process doesn’t start at the airport gate, at the hotel lobby or at 

the entrance to an amusement park. The travel experience starts when a consumer plans 

and purchases travel. 

 In 2010, our association conducted a survey of air travelers which found that consumers 

consider the price of travel first – above all other aspects of travel – when deciding 

whether or not to book a trip. 

 Unfortunately, in today’s environment, it is not always easy to determine the full price of 

flying and compare services among carriers because of the way ancillary fees and a 

multitude of new services offered by airlines are disclosed. 

 Being surprised by a fee or being unable to accurately budget for travel can have a 

negative impact on a traveler’s entire experience. And it can have an impact on a 

person’s willingness to travel in the future. 

 This, in turn, has a trickledown effect to all businesses in the travel industry. 

 This is the first issue we hope the committee will consider and put forth 

recommendations to solve.

Significant Increase in Carry-on Bags 

 The same 2010 survey found that air travelers consider “hassle” as the second factor 

when deciding whether or not to take a trip. And, as anyone will tell you, the hassles of 

travel are growing. 

 Since 2008, the number of carry-on bags has exploded: 

o In March 2011, it was reported that TSA screened an estimated 59 million more 

carry-on bags in 2010 than in 2009.1

o TSA estimates that carry-on bags increased by 87 million from FY10 to FY11. 

 

1 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/business/29bags.html
 TSA also reports that passengers are densely packing carry-on bags, making it harder for 

TSA to identify dangerous items.

 This is concerning because TSA is already finding 4 to 5 handguns, in addition to other 

dangerous items, in passenger luggage each day.

 Security is not the only concern – carry-on bag increases are leading to longer wait times 

at passenger checkpoints.

 TSA also estimates that the increase in carry-on bags costs the American taxpayer $260 

million per year in extra security costs.

 A survey conducted by TNS in 2011 found that the most commonly cited frustration of 

air travelers is the increased number of carry-on bags. 

o 72 percent of all air travelers chose carry-on bags as one of their top 5 

frustrations. 

o By comparison, only 62 percent chose removing shoes, belts and jackets as 

one of their top 5 frustrations. 

 We believe that this committee should consider innovative ways to solve the issue of 

increases in carry-on bags and to incentivize traveler to check their luggage whenever 

possible. This would benefit the consumer by improving the efficiency and security of 

the air travel process.