If you're like me, you're signed up for the e-mail service of one Canada's major airlines.  You know the e-mail.  "Cheap travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays!  50% off!  Book by 11:59pm tonight!"  But once you go to book the flight... you learn that your trip isn't nearly as cheap as you thought it'd be.

Case in point... One major airline is running a "50% off Tuesdays" campaign today.  Saskatoon to Edmonton - $79 each way.  (I know, who would want to go to Edmonton... but work with me here for a second.)  2 legs at $79 each leg is $158.  But that's just the start.

Tack on a $32 fuel surcharge for each leg.  Add $25 in Airport Improvement fees for the trip.  Pay $4.67 each direction for the AWESOME experience of getting patted down by a Transportation Security person.  And then tax the crap out of it with GST.  Your final total... a whopping $269.15.  To go to EDMONTON.  Per person.  That's an extra $111.15.

So why not just advertise the flight as being $134 each way?

The airlines say they'd be at a competitive disadvantage.  (Begin playing the world's tiniest violin.... now.)  And... in fine form as always... Canada's New Government is complicit in making sure that airlines don't have to play fair with their advertising.  Canada's Transport Minister says it'd be "foolish" to institute all-in advertising laws without a national 'consensus'. (Consensus of who?  The airlines?)

In this day and age when it's costing me over $50 to fill up my little Ford Focus... in this day and age when No Money Down, No Payments, No Interest comes with a $99 administration fee... it'd be nice for at least one business sector to be up front and honest about how much it's going to cost me to do business with them.  Trust me... I'll still fly... I need to, and I want to.  Driving to get where I want to go is a pain in the rear... I want my holiday, and I want it NOW!  But don't get my hopes up of a cheap-o flight somewhere... only to hose me after the fact. 

What's funny in all of this is that online travel services like Expedia have NO PROBLEM telling me what the entire cost of the flight is going to be when I do a search.  If I want to go from Saskatoon to Chicago (which is a trip I'm planning right now), I know it'll be just under $700... round trip... all in.  Period.  (And, I don't feel bad about that price... seems pretty reasonable to me.)

So why the hesitation? Where is the harm?  Why are Canada's airlines so afraid of being HONEST about what it's going to cost to fly with them?

Given the high quality of service and packed-like-sardines nature of the last couple of flights I've taken on my favourite airline (I love how you guys are owners...), I'm still going to fly and they're not hurting.

Honestly... I'm bad with math... make it easy for me to figure out how much I have to spend.  PLEASE!

John Himpe is the Program Director of News Talk Radio in Saskatchewan.