End the "Parent Tax": Stop Predatory Airline Pricing During School Holidays!
End the "Parent Tax": Stop Predatory Airline Pricing During School Holidays!
The Issue
The Goal:
To urge the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) and the European Commission to implement a "Family Fair-Price Cap" on flights during official school holiday periods.
To: Volker Wissing (Federal Minister for Digital and Transport) and the European Commission
Every year, millions of families in Germany and across Europe face the same injustice: the moment school holidays begin, flight prices skyrocket by 200%, 300%, or even more.
As parents, we are caught in a legal trap. In Germany, compulsory schooling (Schulpflicht) is strictly enforced. We cannot simply take our children on vacation a week early to save money without facing heavy fines. Yet, airlines exploit this legal obligation by using dynamic pricing algorithms that specifically target these mandatory travel windows.
This is not just "supply and demand"—it is a penalty on families.
While the German government has recently moved to reduce aviation taxes to support the industry, these savings are not reaching the people who need them most. Instead, families are being priced out of seeing their relatives or taking a much-needed break, simply because they follow the law.
We demand:
- Price Transparency: Airlines must be transparent about how their algorithms calculate holiday surges.
- Holiday Price Caps: A legal limit on how much a fare can increase during official state-mandated school holidays compared to the seasonal average, or atleast a fair policy for parents with school going kids.
- Family Protection Clauses: Lower-tier "family fares" must be protected from extreme volatility during holiday peaks.
- EU-Wide Action: Since this is a cross-border issue, we call on the European Commission to investigate these practices as a form of consumer exploitation.
Why now?
In 2026, mobility should be a right, not a luxury reserved for those without school-aged children. We are tired of being "fined" by the travel industry for being parents.
Sign this petition to tell the German government and the EU: It’s time to ground predatory pricing and support families!
3
The Issue
The Goal:
To urge the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) and the European Commission to implement a "Family Fair-Price Cap" on flights during official school holiday periods.
To: Volker Wissing (Federal Minister for Digital and Transport) and the European Commission
Every year, millions of families in Germany and across Europe face the same injustice: the moment school holidays begin, flight prices skyrocket by 200%, 300%, or even more.
As parents, we are caught in a legal trap. In Germany, compulsory schooling (Schulpflicht) is strictly enforced. We cannot simply take our children on vacation a week early to save money without facing heavy fines. Yet, airlines exploit this legal obligation by using dynamic pricing algorithms that specifically target these mandatory travel windows.
This is not just "supply and demand"—it is a penalty on families.
While the German government has recently moved to reduce aviation taxes to support the industry, these savings are not reaching the people who need them most. Instead, families are being priced out of seeing their relatives or taking a much-needed break, simply because they follow the law.
We demand:
- Price Transparency: Airlines must be transparent about how their algorithms calculate holiday surges.
- Holiday Price Caps: A legal limit on how much a fare can increase during official state-mandated school holidays compared to the seasonal average, or atleast a fair policy for parents with school going kids.
- Family Protection Clauses: Lower-tier "family fares" must be protected from extreme volatility during holiday peaks.
- EU-Wide Action: Since this is a cross-border issue, we call on the European Commission to investigate these practices as a form of consumer exploitation.
Why now?
In 2026, mobility should be a right, not a luxury reserved for those without school-aged children. We are tired of being "fined" by the travel industry for being parents.
Sign this petition to tell the German government and the EU: It’s time to ground predatory pricing and support families!
3
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Petition created on 4 April 2026