the level of price advertising dishonesty in North America is baffling

state tax, tourist tax, city tax, resort fees, booking fees, ticket delivery fees, service charges, etc

plus the semi-mandatory tipping on top of it all

so that $20 steak promotion easily turns into a $20 * 1.10 * 1.15 = $25.3 expense

immigration queues at LHR have gotten so long that Virgin Atlantic is handing out drinks and snacks: blog.virginatlantic.com/…

@ZachLipton imagine what it would look like if the UK starts treating EU and non-EU passengers in the same manner

@JonathanReez US taxation is complicated, because not only is there state tax in most states, but each county and city can add percentage points to the tax rate in most states. Plus, it's common for there to be some sort of destination marketing fee that is charged by lodging establishments to promote travel to that area (I'm not sure under what legal basis this is done).

It would make it very complex for websites to know all those constantly-changing tax rates and report a bottom line.

Resort fees, I think these should be included. They're charged by the establishment and they're not avoidable.

Tips, well, that's just a cultural thing. And a 15% tip in the U.S., for a meal, is on the chintzy side. :)

@ZachLipton Wow. The last time I was in the UK (May 2015) I think our wait was about 20 minutes. Although, to be fair, I haven't had even a 20-minute wait for customs and immigration at any airport outside of LHR for years. (I have NEXUS though, which lets me fast track in both Canada and the U.S.)

Maybe it's time the UK had juxtaposed air controls at some US/Canadian airports, akin to US preclearance in Canada and some other countries.

and akin to the juxtaposed controls for Eurostar.

@JimMacKenzie As shown in the new answer posted to that question since then, it is possible - Kayak somehow does this :)

there's probably a database somewhere with tax levels charged by every county in the US. Once that database is set up, any site in the world can easily do the math :)

and if you're advertising something that's only sold in one city (e.g. an ad for Disneyland Florida), you surely know it in advance :)

@JimMacKenzie Vancouver airport took me 1 hour to clear immigration once as a non-nexus non-Canadian citizen

@JonathanReez Yes, I know my North American experiences are skewed. NEXUS was worth every penny of the $50 I paid for it.

I would pay $500 for it easily but I can't for now :)

Not unless you get permanent resident status in Canada or the U.S. (or somehow acquire citizenship of either one; or of Mexico, and acquire their trusted traveler card)

I'm actually uncommonly at border crossings where I can use it in a separate lane/lineup, but I use my card in lieu of a passport even at border crossings that don't have dedicated trusted traveler facilities

@JimMacKenzie I found out you need to be a PR for 3 years to get it

@JimMacKenzie I waited forever in Santiago earlier this year, it was well over an hour all told between immigration and customs

Maybe I'm glad that I do 90% of my international customs/immigration clearances at a pretty quiet rural border crossing on the Montana/Saskatchewan border :)

driving down on August 19 last year, there was a big line (for us; maybe 6 vehicles). when I pulled up the guy asked "So you're going to see the eclipse too?"

I said "Yup! Plus getting my mail. Then going to Portland and Seattle." "Have a nice day." Done.

I cross there monthly, which probably doesn't hurt.

@JimMacKenzie Aww man we just answered that at the same minute

@ZachLipton Heh. But we each said stuff the other didn't, so it's all good.