Latest news with #junkfees
New York Times
25-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Some Sneaky Fees Can No Longer Hide. But Watch Out for Others.
Everyone who has shopped online for hotel rooms, vacation rentals or plane tickets has had the experience of finding a reasonable upfront price that then skyrockets at checkout because of undisclosed fees. Common culprits include the dreaded resort fee, vacation rental cleaning fees and, on some airlines, the cost of choosing seats. Such annoying costs that creep in at the end of the transaction are widely known as junk fees, which complicate the process of making apples-to-apples price comparisons. A Federal Trade Commission rule went into effect this month preventing hotels, vacation rentals and ticketing services for live entertainment events from obfuscating extra costs. Those types of businesses are now required to show an upfront price that includes all fees, and they are not allowed to tack on any at the end. This win for consumers will radically change the way we make bookings online for travel and entertainment. The F.T.C. estimates that Americans waste 53 million hours a year comparing prices on live-event tickets and short-term lodging. Now, we can do a quick web search to get a price comparison across multiple vendors and pick the option that suits our budget. But — and I'm sorry to be a buzzkill — this is where the good news ends. Hidden fees still lurk in other areas, like airfares, car rental reservations and movie tickets. In other words, the experience of online booking has improved for some categories but not all. 'People really feel nickel-and-dimed to death,' said Chuck Bell, a director at Consumer Reports, who has lobbied against junk fees for years. Here's what to know. Deal Hunting for Hotels and Event Tickets Is Much Easier Because of the new F.T.C. rule, sites that aggregate booking information for hotels, like and Expedia, are now showing total room rates including taxes and all fees. On for example, the site quoted $825 for a two-night stay at a hotel in Midtown Manhattan. After I clicked through, the checkout page showed the breakdown, which included a $60 resort fee and taxes. Similarly, when I'm browsing vacation homes on Airbnb, the total price appears, including the service fee that users pay to the site as well as the cleaning fee charged by a host. Sites selling tickets for live events, including Ticketmaster and StubHub, now show a total cost including their service fees. While the fees themselves have not gone away, the true costs are now transparent. That makes it easier to stick to a budget when shopping around. Brian Kelly, founder of The Points Guy, a blog that follows travel deals, advises that travelers use third-party hotel aggregators like Expedia to compare prices, then book directly with the hotel. If something goes wrong with your hotel reservation, the issue can be resolved more efficiently by the hotel's support staff than by the aggregator, which is essentially a middleman, he added. The F.T.C. said in a statement that it focused on two industries that had a history of deceptive pricing practices. 'Consumers were frustrated with shopping for event tickets or hotel stays, only to be hit with expensive and mysterious fees when they go to pay,' according to the agency's statement. 'Consumers now will have the whole truth.' But Hidden Fees Remain Elsewhere Online bookings get more complicated for other categories, like plane tickets. A search on Alaska Airlines' website showed a flight from New York to San Francisco in June for $320. Only after I clicked through did it become clear that selecting my own seat would cost an extra $200, bringing the total to $520. Airlines were not included in the F.T.C.'s junk fees rule because they are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation, but that agency has been making similar pushes for greater price transparency. Last month, the department announced a rule requiring airlines to display upfront any fees for checked bags and seat selections. The airlines sued the department this month, arguing that the rule would confuse consumers by giving them too much information. As a result, the rule has not yet gone into effect. 'This is an industry that lives on sticker shock,' said William McGee, an aviation expert at the American Economic Liberties Project, a nonprofit that fights corporate monopolies. 'The gotchas just never stop.' He added that consumers would have to continue working diligently to understand the true price of a plane ticket. One useful technique to streamline the research process is to become familiar with the types of fees a business typically adds at checkout. Budget airlines, for example, typically charge for extras. If you're using an airfare comparison tool like Google Flights, you can filter out budget airlines from your search and look for tickets only from brands with simpler pricing structures. Junk fees are still hiding in lots of our online transactions. The total cost of a movie ticket, including the so-called convenience fee for booking online, is often not shown until after you've picked a showtime and seat. Some rental car companies add a charge for operating at an airport, among other fees. Long story short, stay on guard. Long Term, Transparency May Force Prices Down Even though the new rules sound like small wins, consumers may have bigger changes to look forward to, Mr. Bell said. Now that hotels and live event services have to be clearer about their pricing, they may face competitive pressure to lower their fees. 'It'll be nice to see some of the fees reduced or eliminated,' he added.
Hospitality Net
22-05-2025
- Business
- Hospitality Net
FTC Junk Fee Rule is effective May 12, 2025
After many years of study and proposals, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finally adopted its Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, or junk fees, which takes effect on May 12, 2025. The rule prohibits bait-and-switch pricing and other tactics used to hide total prices and mislead people about fees in the live-event ticketing and short-term lodging industries. The rule also furthers President Trump's Executive Order on Combating Unfair Practices in the Live Entertainment Market by ensuring price transparency at all stages of the live-event ticket-purchase process, including the secondary ticketing market. The FTC has been critically looking at 'junk fees' for a long time. Over several years, it proposed banning 'Unfair or Deceptive Fees' across many industries. However, on Dec.17, 2024, the FTC surprised many when it published a significantly revised version as its final 'Junk Fees Rule' (16 CFR Part 464). The rule was scheduled to become effective 120 days after its publication in the Federal Register. See related blog, 'Junk Fees: FTC finally adopts the Final Junk Fees Rule but with focus on Hotels, Short-Term Lodging & Live Event Ticket Sales.' The FTC published Frequently Asked Questions to provide consumers and businesses with information regarding the agency's rule. NOTE: We represent the owners and operators of hotels, restaurants, and other hospitality facilities. We do not represent consumers making claims against such businesses. When it comes to junk fee laws at the state or national level, we help the owners and operators of hotels, restaurants, and hospitality facilities understand and comply with them. When claims are made against them by consumers or competitors, we advise on strategies and defense of such claims. Jim Butler +1 310 201 3526 JMBM View source
The Verge
13-05-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Ticketmaster will finally show the full price of your ticket up front
Ticketmaster will now show how much you'll pay for tickets — fees included — before checkout. The company announced the 'All In Prices' initiative on Monday as part of its efforts to comply with the Federal Trade Commission's ban on junk fees, which goes into effect on May 12th. Now, when you're shopping for tickets, Ticketmaster will display a ticket's full price, alongside a dropdown menu that you can select to see how much you're paying for the 'Face Value' of a ticket and the service fee. You still won't see local taxes or delivery fees until checkout. Following the Taylor Swift ticketing catastrophe in 2022, lawmakers and regulatory agencies have begun paying closer attention to Ticketmaster. Last year, the Department of Justice sued Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, accusing them of driving up prices as a result of their alleged monopoly. The House also passed the TICKET Act in 2024, a law that would force ticket sellers to show full prices upfront. It's now headed to the Senate. Ticketmaster says it has made some improvements to its queue as well, by offering real-time updates about ticket availability and when wait times are expected to last more than 30 minutes. It also allows customers to see exactly how many people are ahead of them in the queue.
Washington Post
12-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
As Biden-era 'junk fee' rule takes effect, Ticketmaster says it will display fees more clearly
As a Biden administration ban on so-called 'junk fees' took effect Monday, Ticketmaster said it would start displaying the full price of a ticket as soon as consumers begin shopping. Ticketmaster, long a subject of complaints about hidden fees and other issues, was among those targeted by the new rule , which was announced in December by the Federal Trade Commission. The rule requires ticket sellers, hotels, vacation rental platforms and others to disclose processing fees, cleaning fees and other charges up front.
The Independent
12-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
As Biden-era 'junk fee' rule takes effect, Ticketmaster says it will display fees more clearly
As a Biden administration ban on so-called 'junk fees' took effect Monday, Ticketmaster said it would start displaying the full price of a ticket as soon as consumers begin shopping. Ticketmaster, long a subject of complaints about its hidden fees, was among those targeted by the new rule, which was announced in December by the Federal Trade Commission. The rule requires ticket sellers, hotels, vacation rental platforms and others to disclose processing fees, cleaning fees and other charges up front. Ticketmaster said it agreed with the FTC's action. 'Ticketmaster has long advocated for all-in pricing to become the nationwide standard so fans can easily compare prices across all ticketing sites,' Ticketmaster Chief Operating Officer Michael Wichser said in a statement. Ticketmaster said it will also tell customers where they are in line when they log in to buy tickets to an event. It will also give real-time updates to customers whose wait times exceed 30 minutes, letting them know ticket price ranges, availability and whether new event dates have been added. Ticketmaster, which is owned by Beverly Hills, California-based concert promoter Live Nation, is the world's largest ticket seller, processing 500 million tickets each year in more than 30 countries. Around 70% of tickets for major concert venues in the U.S. are sold through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster said Monday's changes would bring North America in line with the rest of the world, where full ticket prices typically are displayed as soon as customers start shopping. SeatGeek, a platform for buying and selling original and resale tickets, said it also updated its features Monday to make 'all-in pricing the default' setting. 'Fans deserve pricing that's clear from the start,' said SeatGeek CEO Jack Groetzinger said. "We're proud to roll this out across our platform and encouraged to see the industry move in this direction.' It has been in the hot seat since 2022, when its site crashed during a presale event for Taylor Swift's upcoming stadium tour. The company said its site was overwhelmed by both fans and attacks from bots, which were posing as consumers in order to scoop up tickets and sell them on secondary sites. Thousands of people lost tickets after waiting for hours in an online queue. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly that drives up U.S. ticket prices and asking a court to break them up. That case is ongoing. President Donald Trump is also eyeing the industry. In March, he signed an executive order that he said would help curb ticket scalping and bring 'commonsense' changes to the way live events are priced. Under the order, the FTC must ensure 'price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process' and take enforcement to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct. 'Anyone who's bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years — no matter what your politics are — knows that it's a conundrum,' said Kid Rock, who joined Trump in the Oval Office as Trump signed the order.
