It has been bone-chilling cold around here lately. So, it was not surprising that my eye was caught by an advertisement for Air Tran hyping the discount fare to Sarasota, FL of $89 In smaller type was the qualifier "One-way". So it was a great rate for a terrorist or someone planning to expire in Florida.
Then I noticed that the price had a small asterisk. So I read the footnote which was printed in faint microscopic letters. It was a disclaimer that the price * doesn't include a segment cost of $3.20 or a 9/11 security fee of $10 or a charge that they call Airport Passenger Facility Charge of up to $18. Hmmn. Now, we are talking about a one-way ticket that costs no less than $120. Further, the weasel words included "limited availability" of seats at this price, and two weeks advance booking was required for these non-refundable tickets, if you could get one.
How come the government doesn't protect consumers from lying marketing bastards?
We should teach our kids to read ads as follows: "Sonny, when you see an ad with an asterisk it means 'we are lying.' fine print= Lies. Fast talking= liar."
Talk about liars, Air Tran used to be called ValueJet before the big crash a few years ago. They have the worst safety record in the industry.
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