Texas AG Paxton Books A Win: $9.5M Settlement For Hiding Hotel Fees
The agreement marks the largest state recovery against any hotel or travel agency for 'junk fee' practices. The settlement addresses deceptive pricing tactics that misled Texas consumers and gave Booking unfair advantages over transparent competitors, according to a press release from Paxton's office.
Paxton's lawsuit accused Booking.com, Priceline.com, and Kayak.com of enticing customers with artificially low room rates. The company allegedly buried mandatory fees within 'Taxes and Fees' line items at checkout.
'Deceiving Texans by hiding fees is both a deeply unethical business practice and a violation of the law,' said Paxton. 'Yet, that's exactly what Booking chose to do, and now it's time for the company to pay for their unlawful actions.'
The settlement requires Booking to disclose all fees upfront when displaying hotel room prices. This change allows consumers to compare actual costs across platforms efficiently.
'I will always stand up for Texas consumers and ensure that corporations are fully complying with state law,' Paxton continued. 'Texans deserve transparency when looking at prices, and there will be accountability for any company that chooses to unlawfully mislead consumers.'
Paxton has previously reached similar agreements with Marriott, Omni, Choice Hotels, and Hilton. His efforts helped spur new federal regulations targeting hidden fees across industries.
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USA Today
a day ago
- USA Today
Booking.com parent agrees to $9.5 million settlement in Texas hotel fee lawsuit
The parent of and other travel websites will pay $9.5 million to settle a Texas lawsuit claiming it deceptively marketed hotel rooms by omitting mandatory "junk" fees, enticing consumers with artificially low prices. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Tuesday the settlement with Booking Holdings BKNG.O is the largest by a U.S. state related to junk fee practices against any hotel or online travel agency. Booking also operates the websites and Kayak. In case you missed it: An Airbnb for backyard pools? With this app, you can rent them by the hour. Paxton accused Booking of "drip pricing" in which it improperly bundled hotels' resort fees, amenity fees, destination fees and utility fees in a taxes and fees line item at checkout. The practice gave Booking an unfair advantage over rivals that avoided such "bait and switch" tactics, he said. The settlement agreement requires Booking to disclose fees up front. A copy was not immediately available. Paxton said he reached similar settlements in 2023 with the Choice CHH.N, Hilton HLT.N and Marriott MAR.O hotel chains. Booking, headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, denied wrongdoing and said it remained committed to transparency and providing accurate information. It also said that while hotels typically set and keep resort fees, "we are aligned with recent Federal Trade Commission efforts to bring greater consistency to price displays." Cracking down on fees that boost consumer costs without visible benefits had been a goal of former U.S. President Joe Biden. In December, the FTC announced a final Junk Fees Rule requiring hotels, ticket sellers and vacation rental operators to disclose total prices up front. Current FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson dissented, saying Biden was about to leave office and the incoming Trump administration should decide which rules to adopt. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Franklin Paul, Leslie Adler and Sandra Maler
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Texas AG Paxton Books A Win: $9.5M Settlement For Hiding Hotel Fees
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a $9.5 million settlement with Booking Holdings Inc. for hiding mandatory fees from consumers. The agreement marks the largest state recovery against any hotel or travel agency for 'junk fee' practices. The settlement addresses deceptive pricing tactics that misled Texas consumers and gave Booking unfair advantages over transparent competitors, according to a press release from Paxton's office. Paxton's lawsuit accused and of enticing customers with artificially low room rates. The company allegedly buried mandatory fees within 'Taxes and Fees' line items at checkout. 'Deceiving Texans by hiding fees is both a deeply unethical business practice and a violation of the law,' said Paxton. 'Yet, that's exactly what Booking chose to do, and now it's time for the company to pay for their unlawful actions.' The settlement requires Booking to disclose all fees upfront when displaying hotel room prices. This change allows consumers to compare actual costs across platforms efficiently. 'I will always stand up for Texas consumers and ensure that corporations are fully complying with state law,' Paxton continued. 'Texans deserve transparency when looking at prices, and there will be accountability for any company that chooses to unlawfully mislead consumers.' Paxton has previously reached similar agreements with Marriott, Omni, Choice Hotels, and Hilton. His efforts helped spur new federal regulations targeting hidden fees across industries. Solve the daily Crossword
The Hill
a day ago
- The Hill
Paxton's lead over Cornyn nearly cut in half: poll
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's (R) lead over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in the state's Senate primary is narrowing, according to a new survey from Texas Southern University's Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center survey. The poll showed Paxton holding a five-point lead among likely primary voters, 44 percent to 39 percent, in a two-way race with Cornyn. Another 17 percent said they were undecided. The last Texas Southern University poll released in May showed Paxton with a nine-point lead over Cornyn. The five-point gap between Paxton and Cornyn remains the same in a hypothetical three-way race with Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas), who has been considering a primary run. Paxton leads with 35 percent while Cornyn trails at 30 percent. Hunt comes in with 22 percent support. Another 13 percent said they were unsure. The poll released on Wednesday comes after a separate Emerson College survey released last week showed the incumbent senator and attorney general locked in a dead heat. That poll showed Cornyn leading Paxton 30 percent to 29 percent, with five percent saying they prefer another candidate and 37 percent saying they were undecided. Most polls released before last week's Emerson College poll showed Paxton with a double-digit lead over Cornyn, leading to questions about the incumbent senator's electability in a primary. Cornyn's allies have pulled out all of the stops in an effort to boost him. According to The Texas Tribune, the Senate GOP leadership-affiliated One Nation has spent more than $4 million in advertising, while Texans for a Conservative Majority, another pro-Cornyn group, has spent $3.2 million. The pro-Cornyn Conservative Majority Project has spent roughly $500,000. The latest poll from Texas Southern University's Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center was conducted from Aug. 6 to Aug. 12, 2025 among 1,500 likely Texas Republican primary voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.53 percentage points.
