Date: September 6th 2010

Dear Family Members, Friends and Colleagues,

Tomorrow, along with two other prominent travel industry organizations, we are launching a grassroots campaign concerning airline hidden fees that can surprise us at the airport ruining our holidays, or vanquishing our business travel budgets. For example, check baggage fees can add 30%, 40% or more to the price of a ticket. The campaign is in support of the U.S. DOT’s Notice of Proposed Rule Making regarding airline passenger protections.

Central to this initiative is a petition urging the DOT to take action on hidden fees. We hope to deliver on September 23 (designated Mad As Hell Day!) thousands of petition signatures to DOT Secretary Ray LaHood urging him to require airlines to fully disclose their fees, whether airfares are purchased on an airline’s website or through an online or brick and mortar travel agency. It is imperative that we as consumers have the ability to comparison shop and know the full cost of a trip before committing to a purchase.

The initiative will be kicked off via expected coverage in The New York Times, USATODAY, Bloomberg, Aviation Daily and MSNBC, among other news outlets, tomorrow, Tuesday. Our website is http://madashellabouthiddenfees.com/. I would greatly appreciate it if you would visit the website and consider signing the petition. And be sure to check out the YouTube video by life-long traveler Betty Stewart, and share your story about being surprised by hidden airline fees in the comments section.

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP

1. If you want to be really creative, you can make your own YouTube video and post it to our Mad As Hell About Fees YouTube channel.

2. Post a link to our website on your Facebook page, Twitter feed or other social network.

3. If you are a corporate travel manager, post a message on your corporate Intranet and provide your travelers with an opportunity to directly engage this issue. Empower your internal customers to make their own lives on the road easier.

4. If you are a travel agency, provide your clients with the opportunity to weigh in on an industry issue that directly effects them, and you! Add value to you client relationships, they will appreciate it.

5. If you are a travel industry or consumer group, let your members know of this campaign, and your support, and ask them to sign the petition. Provide them with a platform and bullhorn to have their voices heard in Washington!

MOST IMPORTANTLY, please forward this email to your friends, family members and colleagues telling them about this issue and asking them to visit the website and sign the petition.

Join me in this campaign and together we can make a difference for all consumers of air travel! We only have a few weeks left to gather petition signatures so every day counts. Help us change the system!

If you have any suggestions on how to make this campaign really take off, I would love to hear from you.

Many thanks,

Kevin Mitchell
Business Travel Coalition
610. 999. 9247




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