New rules that require airlines to include taxes and fees in quoted prices went into effect Thursday. While hardly a panacea, the change should make it a bit easier for travelers to shop for airline tickets.

The Department of Transportation now mandates that prospective ticket buyers be shown an “all-in” price, one that includes all required taxes and fees. Charges incurred at the ticket buyer’s option, such as fees for checked bags or an in-flight wireless Internet connection, are not covered by the rule.

Both supporters and critics of the new rule overstate its impact and importance. On balance, however, it should be more convenient for travelers. And given the current state of air travel – and how little thought the airline industry gives to passenger comfort or convenience – that is reason enough to enact it.

Charlie Leocha, a founder of the Consumer Travel Alliance in Springfield, Va., told Bloomberg news, “This is about truth in advertising, and it won’t be as deceptive anymore. They will have to show you the prices you actually buy a ticket for.”

That is a bit of a reach, of course. Most travelers of any experience know that they can expect to pay taxes and fees on top of the advertised price.

Not to be outdone, Spirit Airlines invoked both government conspiracy and the First Amendment in decrying the new rule. It said, “If the government can hide taxes in your airfares, then they can carry out their hidden agenda and quietly increase their taxes.”

Then, when Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., wrote the airline about what she said was Spirit’s “deliberate attempt to deceive the flying public” about the rule, a spokeswoman replied, saying, “We would normally expect senators to encourage First Amendment protection.” The rule, she said, “is wrong, and we will fight for consumers.”

Oh, please. The airline industry is actively trying to charge extra for every aspect of air travel beyond the amenities FedEx affords its packages. Checked bags, meals, drinks, Wifi, the use of headsets, even the failure of passengers to print out their own boarding passes – all have had fees attached by one airline or another. And it certainly seems as if all will all the time – and then some – as soon as the industry gets it fully figured out.

The airlines complain that such pricing rules do not apply to other industries. Menu prices do not include sales tax. Neither do ads for clothing, shoes or hardware.

But with sales tax, the difference is generally small and well understood. As George Hobica, a travel writer for Fox News, points out fees and taxes on airfares can be quite large and unexpected. And in any case, there are other industries where applying the airline rule might also make sense, such as cellphone or cable TV bills.

International flights are the worst. Hobica uses the example of a $169 “come on” price for a trans-Atlantic flight that really represents only a one-way fare. But a round-trip purchase is required and with taxes, fuel surcharges and government fees, the total cost ends up being more like $900. That is a bit more meaningful than leaving the sales tax off the advertised price of a T-shirt.

He also points out that because of differing airport fees, a flight from New York to Los Angeles could have different total costs depending on whether it was nonstop or where it connected. That could contribute to a traveler’s ticket-buying decision.

In that this rule does not change the actual cost of travel, it should have little affect on ticket sales. It just might make shopping for them a little more convenient. Aggravating an airline or two is just gravy.