Dive Brief:
- President Joe Biden vowed to continue his crackdown on “junk fees” in his State of the Union speech Thursday.
- Referring to fees tacked on to a consumer’s bill at checkout, the president said his administration has “proposed rules to make cable, travel, utilities and online ticket sellers tell you the total price up front so there are no surprises.”
- While he spoke more concretely about credit card fees, Biden has called out fees in the hotel industry before. His remarks are part of a broader increase in support for legislation targeting pricing practices that many consumers feel are deceptive.
Dive Insight:
In his speech, Biden pledged to get “rid of junk fees, those hidden fees at the end of your bill that are there without your knowledge.”
It’s not the first time Biden has brought up travel fees in his State of the Union speech. Last year, the president criticized the hotel industry directly, saying: “We’ll ban surprise ‘resort fees’ that hotels tack on to your bill. These fees can cost you up to $90 a night at hotels that aren’t even resorts.”
Biden isn’t the only government figure pushing to end hidden fees. Over the past year, officials at the state and federal levels alike have called for legislation that would mandate more transparent pricing.
Last year saw the introduction of the bipartisan Hotel Fees Transparency Act in the Senate and the No Hidden FEES Act in the House of Representatives. It also saw the passing of California’s anti-“junk fee” law — which state officials claim is the strictest in the country. The law will go into effect in July.
Some hotels are already changing how their room rates are advertised. Last month, Marriott International agreed to update pricing info on its portals in a settlement with Colorado’s attorney general, echoing a similar agreement it made the year prior in Pennsylvania.
Some hoteliers, however, bristle at the “junk fee” term, countering that resort fees are used to fund amenities available on-property.
“I think hotel companies have done their best to show that if you’re paying me $30 as a resort fee, I’m giving you more than that back in value,” Bryan Mohler, a partner at law firm Pryor Cashman’s Real Estate, Hotel + Hospitality and Litigation Groups, previously told Hotel Dive.
