Trump plan may make it harder to compare airfares and find the best price — but you can still sound off on the proposal

The Trump administration's Department of Transportation (DOT) has proposed loosening a 2011 Obama-era rule that requires airlines and travel sites to show the total price travelers actually pay.

The current " full fare advertising rule ," which centers on consumer protection, requires both U.S. and foreign air carriers and ticket agents that advertise airfares to "state the entire price to be paid by the customer, inclusive of all mandatory taxes and fees," (including both government and carrier surcharges) at the first mention. The rule also prohibits any sellers of air transportation from "displaying in airfare advertisements charges that are included within the airfare more prominently or in the same or larger font size than the total single price."

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However, the Trump administration now wants to allow more flexibility in how airfare prices are advertised. While the total price would still have to be displayed, the proposal would allow airlines and agencies to give equal prominence to the tax and fee breakdown alongside the total fare, rather than requiring the total fare to be visually dominant.

"From a consumer standpoint, the rules may make it more difficult to accurately compare fares across different airlines," Meghna Maharishi, airline reporter at Skift , told Moneywise. "When they see an airfare costing $75 … But then, at checkout, if a consumer sees $25 in taxes and fees, and the ticket actually costs $100, it gets confusing."

Under the 2011 full fare advertising rule, when you search for a flight on a carrier site like United or Delta — or on a third-party ticketing platform like Skyscanner or Omio — the first price that pops up for that flight is the price you'll pay at checkout. You'll only pay more if, of course, you choose optional add-ons like checked baggage fees, reserved seats, priority boarding, in-flight Wi-Fi, preordered meals or travel protection plans.