### T ALKING 

### P OINTS FOR



### E RIK 

### H ANSEN 

### , U.S. T RAVEL 

### A SSOCIATION



### J UNE 

### 28, 2012

U.S. Travel Association Background

 The U.S. Travel Association is a national non-profi t that represents almost all aspects of the travel and tourism industry.

 Our mission is to grow travel to and within the Uni ted States.

 In order to do that, U.S. Travel advocates for fede ral policies that will eliminate barriers to travel and improve the entire travel process – f rom beginning to end.

 This is a unique approach because we believe our vi ew of travel aligns with the consumer – we see “travel” as a single product or a single e xperience.

 Today, I will discuss two aspects of the travel pro cess that we believe need to be fixed. And these two issues should be considered by the Ad visory 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 expe rience 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 othe r aspects of travel – when deciding whether or not to book a trip.

 Unfortunately, in today’s environment, it is not al ways 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 d isclosed.

 Being surprised by a fee or being unable to accurat ely 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 busi nesses 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 consi der “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 explode d:

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 mi llion from FY10 to FY11.

1 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/business/29bags.h tml TSA also reports that passengers are densely packin g 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 inc reases are leading to longer wait times at passenger checkpoints.

 TSA also estimates that the increase in carry-on ba gs costs the American taxpayer $260 million per year in extra security costs.

 A survey conducted by TNS in 2011 found that the mo st commonly cited frustration of air travelers is the increased number of carry-on b ags.

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 inno vative ways to solve the issue of increases in carry-on bags and to incentivize trave ler to check their luggage whenever possible. This would benefit the consumer by impro ving the efficiency and security of the air travel process.