The views of European TMCs on whether airline ancillary charges should be made available to bookers are being sought by the US Department of Transportation (DOT).
The Departments wants to make carriers provided all information on its ancillary fees on their websites for all passengers who book online.
But it also wants to hear from travel managements companies which book flights for business travellers as to whether this information should also be available to GDSs.
The DOT requires the information by September 23.
But the US-based Business Travel Coalition (BTC) has launched a letter calling for such a tightening of airline rules.
In a statement, the Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the BTC said its petition "will emphatically tell DOT that we need full transparency into the total cost of air travel."
The letter will be sent to the DOT, the EC and members of the European Parliament who have shown an interest in the matter.
Mitchell said: "Without timely and efficient access to these fee data, travel programs cannot be effectively managed.
"It is virtually impossible to budget and control air travel spend; exceedingly difficult to effectively verify travel policy compliance; problematic to audit travelers' purchases; and challenging to negotiate contracts with airlines without full visibility into air spend.
"What's more, travelers are often surprised to find hidden fees - often adding 30% or more to the price of a ticket - upon arrival at the airport."
He said a change in the rules forcing airlines to provide the data would solve the vast majority of problems associated with ancillary charges.
www.businesstravelcoalition.com www.dot.gov