Ray Kelly wanted his three grandkids home for Christmas, so he made a deal with his daughter and son-in-law: If they planned their weeklong European getaway around Thanksgiving instead, he would pick up the tab on the airfare as a holiday gift.

It was a generous present, totaling more than $3,300, but did he know what he had paid for? Could he provide a breakdown of the cost in basic airfare, surcharges, fees and other airline add-ons? He shook his head. Okay, ballpark figures? He laughed.

"No way," he said. "I know what the total cost was, but if you ask me how much I paid for this or that, how much for the fees they nickel-and-dime you with, or how much the bags cost, nope."

Yesterday, as Grandpa Kelly waited for his upstate New York family in Terminal B of Newark Liberty International Airport, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) was a few yards away at a podium announcing the "Clear Airfares Act." His bill would require airlines to provide passengers with an itemized ticket price before they pulled out their credit cards.

Airline add-ons for security, baggage, meals, pets, unaccompanied minors and added leg room, among others, often are hidden and difficult to decipher. The fees differ from airline to airline, which makes comparison shopping virtually impossible.

"A passenger trying to figure out just what they’re paying is like a pilot trying to land a jumbo jet in a thunderstorm without electronic instruments or a map," Menendez said.

Menendez’s bill — which he will introduce this week and hopes to pass next year — would require the transaction to be "straightforward, simple and transparent." Many times, a low basic airfare lures in customers, who later discover that fine-print fees have increased the overall price by 25 percent or more.

Under Menendez’s bill, as each passenger selects from a list of options while booking online, a cost will appear for each item — the basic airfare, security tax, a holiday surcharge (if applicable), baggage, meals, pets and so on.

The principle is simple: Passengers should know what they’re paying for when they buy a ticket. It’s basic consumer protection. And, like many arriving flights at Newark Airport, it’s long overdue.