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Airlines To Post Fees, Exxon Awarded $900 Million

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with the cost of airline tickets.

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WERTHEIMER: A new transportation rule strikes at the way airlines price the tickets you buy. Starting later this month, the Transportation Department is requiring airlines to advertise prices which include all of the non-optional fees. That way, passengers know the full amount they'll have to pay for a ticket. Airlines have done everything possible to reduce what they call the base fare so that you'll choose them when looking for the cheapest fare online. But now they'll have to add back some of the fees they charge. The price does not have to include baggage fees.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Some other news: Exxon Mobil received the judgment from an international panel arbitrating a dispute between the U.S. company and Venezuela. A few years ago, Venezuela's government took over oil projects in the country. It decreed that its state-run company would control joint ventures with foreign partners. So Exxon left Venezuela and sued for $7 billion.

Over the weekend, the panel awarded Exxon only about $900 million, a ruling seen as a victory for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.