Mandatory Hotel Fees Are Deceptive, Harmful & Illegal
The FTC should require that all hotel-imposed mandatory fees be included in advertised room rates.
What are mandatory resort fees?
Mandatory resort fees are costs added by hotels to a traveler’s bill. Hotels say these fees pay for use of a pool or gym, newspapers and coffee, on-site Internet, and even towels. These fees are charged regardless of whether a traveler uses these services.
How widespread is this deceptive mandatory hotel fee practice?
Travelers United found 1,671 hotels online that listed daily rates that excluded mandatory hotel fees in 2015, a 40 percent increase over 2014. These hotels are highly concentrated in major tourist destinations such as California, Florida and Hawaii.
Where is the harm in mandatory hotel fees?
Consumers cannot comparison shop or know what costs to expect when hotels can advertise a lower price in search results, and later add required fees of an average of $25. Consumers paid $2.04 billion in resort fees in 2015, or 35 percent more than in 2014, Travelers United estimates.
The FTC should require all mandatory hotel fees be included in advertised room rates.
Ten members of Congress wrote the FTC in December 2015 urging it to use existing authority to ban mandatory resort fees. Legislation introduced in the Senate makes clear the FTC already has this authority. And, 80 percent of registered voters in a nationwide poll agreed that mandatory fees should be included in the base rate.
Travelers United, founded in 2009, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit with 50,000 members and is the leading voice of consumers nationwide on air, rail, cruise and other travel. For more information, e-mail [email protected]. To join us and help our crusade to make travel easier and be your voice in Washington, click on the logo to the right.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
