Hidden ‘Junk’ Fees Must Be Disclosed, F.T.C. Rule Says

Travel|Hidden ‘Junk’ Fees Must Be Disclosed, F.T.C. Rule Says

It is a common scenario for anyone booking online: That affordable hotel room or concert ticket suddenly gets pricey at checkout, when service and other fees get tacked on.

The Federal Trade Commission announced a final rule on Tuesday to end that practice. The rule requires hotels, short-term rentals and event ticketing vendors to include service fees, cleaning fees and resort fees — often characterized as “junk fees” — in the total prices that are advertised to consumers.

The rule, which becomes effective 120 days after it’s published in the Federal Register, prohibits companies from hiding the mandatory charges that often get tacked onto travel accommodations and live-event tickets. This means that instead of being able to advertise a $100 hotel room that has an added $50 resort fee, businesses must show the full $150 rate.

“Generally speaking, this is really good news for customers,” said Sally French, a travel expert with the online financial site Nerdwallet. “Often we would see an advertised room rate for $200, and then as you click through and get to the reservation stage, suddenly it’s $250.”

“People deserve to know upfront what they’re being asked to pay — without worrying that they’ll later be saddled with mysterious fees that they haven’t budgeted for and can’t avoid,” Lina M. Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, said in a statement announcing the rule.

Here’s what you need to know.

What’s included?

Chuck Bell, a director at Consumer Reports who has opposed junk fees for years, said that the original scope of the rule was broader, so it would have covered things like broadband internet fees and fees for movie tickets, which he called “highly frustrating to consumers.”