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Coverage

Hidden fees

United States — DOT airline fee disclosure and refund rules

NationalUSDOTDerived or secondary source

United States — air transportation (Department of Transportation)

Rule id
fees.us-dot-air
Version
1.0.0
In force from
January 24, 2012
Last read against its sources
August 5, 2026
Countries bound
United States

In plain language

What this regime says.

Airline pricing is policed by the Department of Transportation, not the FTC. The advertised fare must be the total including taxes and mandatory carrier charges, ancillary fees must be disclosed, and a fee for a service you did not receive must be refunded.

Who is covered

Anyone buying air transportation to, from or within the United States.

What you get

A refund of fees for services not provided, and a cash refund rather than a voucher where a flight is cancelled or significantly changed. No statutory damages: there is no private right of action under § 41712.

Where claims go wrong

  • Citing 16 CFR Part 464 to an airline. It does not cover them.
  • Accepting a voucher when a cash refund is due.
  • Not itemising the ancillary fees for services that were not provided.
  • Assuming a court claim is available. Most state-law claims about airline prices are preempted; the DOT complaint is the real route.
The official claim route

Authority

Every citation,
with its pinpoint.

A claim that cites “EU law” gets filed. A claim that cites Article 7(1)(c) gets answered. These are the exact coordinates this entry rests on.
  1. 14 CFR Part 399 (DOT statements of general policy)Code of Federal Regulations, Title 14 (Aeronautics and Space), Part 399URL verified 2026-08-05§ 399.79 — the Department's definitions of unfair and deceptive practices in air transportation, under which the full-fare advertising requirements and ancillary-fee disclosure obligations are enforced; Subpart G — price advertising, requiring the total price to be the most prominent figure in any advertisement of air fare
  2. 14 CFR Part 259 (enhanced protections for airline passengers)Code of Federal Regulations, Title 14, Part 259URL verified 2026-08-05Customer service plans, contingency plans for lengthy tarmac delays, and the obligation on carriers to adopt and adhere to a customer service plan addressing refunds and baggage fees
  3. 49 U.S.C. § 41712United States Code, Title 49 (Transportation)URL verified 2026-08-05§ 41712(a) — the Secretary of Transportation may investigate and decide whether an air carrier, foreign air carrier or ticket agent has been or is engaged in an unfair or deceptive practice or an unfair method of competition in air transportation, and order it stopped. Enforcement is by the Department; there is no private right of action

Sources

Where a figure is indexed, converted or published by a regulator rather than fixed in the instrument, the provenance is recorded separately. Anything marked as a modelled estimate is exactly that — a model, not a statutory number.

What it imposes

Clocks, defences and the ladder.

A rule module builds these while it evaluates, because a limitation period depends on which forum is open to you. What follows is the structure this regime produces — deliberately with no dates and no figures, because those belong to your facts rather than to the law.

Documents

What this regime can produce.

Every one of these is a document you send yourself, in your own name. Duesday never writes to anybody on your behalf and is never anyone’s agent.

The same claim type elsewhere

European Union — price indication, drip pricing, pre-ticked extras and surchargingEUSupranational — 27 countriesDirective 98/6/EC, arts. 2(a) and 3(1)Confidence: highEuropean Union — air fare all-inclusive pricing, Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008 art. 23EUAIRSupranational — 31 countriesRegulation (EC) No 1008/2008, art. 23(1)Confidence: highUnited Kingdom — drip pricing under the DMCCA 2024 and the CPUTRGBNational — United KingdomDigital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Part 4Confidence: mediumCalifornia — SB 478 Honest Pricing Law and the Consumers Legal Remedies ActUS-CASub-national — United StatesCal. Civ. Code § 1780Confidence: highCanada — drip pricing under the Competition ActCANational — CanadaCompetition Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-34), ss. 52, 74.01 and 36Confidence: mediumColorado — Consumer Protection ActUS-COSub-national — United StatesC.R.S. §§ 6-1-105, 6-1-113Confidence: mediumConnecticut — Unfair Trade Practices ActUS-CTSub-national — United StatesConn. Gen. Stat. §§ 42-110b, 42-110gConfidence: mediumMassachusetts — junk-fee regulations and Chapter 93AUS-MASub-national — United StatesM.G.L. c. 93A, § 9Confidence: medium

Other rights in the same countries

Alabama security deposit return — Ala. Code § 35-9A-201US-ALSub-national — United StatesAla. Code § 35-9A-201Confidence: mediumAlabama unclaimed property — Ala. Code §§ 35-12-70 to 35-12-99US-ALSub-national — United StatesAla. Code §§ 35-12-70 to 35-12-99Confidence: mediumAlaska security deposit return — Alaska Stat. § 34.03.070US-AKSub-national — United StatesAlaska Stat. § 34.03.070Confidence: mediumAlaska unclaimed property — Alaska Stat. §§ 34.45.110–34.45.780US-AKSub-national — United StatesAlaska Stat. §§ 34.45.110–34.45.780Confidence: mediumArizona security deposit return — A.R.S. § 33-1321US-AZSub-national — United StatesA.R.S. § 33-1321Confidence: highArizona unclaimed property — Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 44-301 to 44-341US-AZSub-national — United StatesAriz. Rev. Stat. §§ 44-301 to 44-341Confidence: mediumArizona surprise out-of-network bill dispute resolution (A.R.S. § 20-3111 et seq.)US-AZSub-national — United StatesA.R.S. § 20-3111 et seq.Confidence: mediumArkansas security deposit return — Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-306US-ARSub-national — United StatesArk. Code Ann. § 18-16-306Confidence: medium

Does this one reach your facts?

The engine runs every regime that could apply at once and reconciles them, rather than making you guess which page to read.

Run your factsBack to the catalogue

Not a law firm. Not legal advice. You send it yourself. This page describes a law; it is not advice about your situation and no outcome is promised.