DOT fines Orbitz for price violations

{mosads}”We established airline price advertising rules to protect the consumer
and will take enforcement action when these rules are violated,” he continued.

DOT recently adopted a requirement that even government fees be included in price advertising beginning in January of next year.

Orbitz is a popular website that aggregates fares for multiple airlines, as well as hotel and car rental information, into searches initiated by visitors to the site. 

The agency says the site has 1.5 million searches for airline flights per day.

DOT is accusing the company of not notifying passengers of taxes and fees on searches until passengers click through to a second page in the beginning of 2011. The agency said Orbitz also listed low prices for flights, but told customers who clicked on them on the next page that seats were no longer available.

Orbitz did not respond immediately Monday to requests for comment from The Hill.