New tools at Expedia's online travel sites designed to show the true cost of flying

BELLEVUE, Washington — Expedia's online travel sites are introducing tools designed to show the true cost of flying.


The features announced Tuesday, October 20th will list the fees for checking bags and cancelling a reservation in addition to the ticket fare. Those fees typically remain hidden until a traveler is ready to buy a ticket.

Expedia is hoping the additional transparency will help its sites, which also include Travelocity, Orbitz and Hotwire, to stand out from rivals like Priceline.com's Kayak and Google's extensive index of flight information.

Added airline fees have been a sore spot for travelers since American Airlines began charging to check bags seven years ago, but they are here to stay.

Baggage and cancellation fees generated $6.5 billion in revenue for airlines last year.