The Department of Transportation has fined the discount airline Spirit $25,000 for violating the DOT's rule of not allowing deceptive and unfair advertising due to a billboard and Twitter ad from June.
The billboard ad had large print that advertised cheap fares, with an asterisk next to the seemingly low cost fares alerting viewers to study the fine print at the bottom which stated that "additional taxes, fees, terms and conditions apply." This may seem standard operating procedure for ads that craftily divert attention for actual costs, but this does not comply with the DOT's regulation that the full amount of taxes, fees, and associated conditions be clearly disclosed in full.
Spirit Airlines' Twitter feed was equally deceptive in that it provided a link in the advertisement that lead consumers to Spirit's website, where it was first mentioned that the $9 fare did not include taxes, fees, the stipulation that the ticket be a round trip purchase, and the like.
The billboard ad had large print that advertised cheap fares, with an asterisk next to the seemingly low cost fares alerting viewers to study the fine print at the bottom which stated that "additional taxes, fees, terms and conditions apply." This may seem standard operating procedure for ads that craftily divert attention for actual costs, but this does not comply with the DOT's regulation that the full amount of taxes, fees, and associated conditions be clearly disclosed in full.
Spirit Airlines' Twitter feed was equally deceptive in that it provided a link in the advertisement that lead consumers to Spirit's website, where it was first mentioned that the $9 fare did not include taxes, fees, the stipulation that the ticket be a round trip purchase, and the like.
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