When you buy an airline ticket, there are several questions you should ask yourself. First of all, is the price you are being charged inclusive? For example, does it include VAT or an airport service charge? Also, if you change the date or time of your flight, will you have to pay a financial penalty? You should also be aware that you might be required to pay a surcharge before you fly, for example, to pay for unexpected rises in fuel costs. Many tour operators, airlines, etc, have a policy of backward pricing, meaning they check their competitors' prices before setting their own. This can result in serious price cutting, which is great news for travelers. Sometimes they charge different prices for different groups of people: this policy of price discrimination can result in very low prices for travelers Some operators have recently been accused of predatory pricing in order to prevent their competitors from succeeding in the market. When travel agencies sell vacation packages or tickets for travel, they either receive a commission from the tour operator, or have a fee-based pricing system.