Tag Archives for fees.
Consumer group Travelers United has sued Avis Budget Group under the Washington, D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act for egregious junk fees charged on top of advertised rental car prices, characterizing the practice as “bait and switch” and “drip pricing.”
One of the more egregious examples of hidden, undisclosed fees I’ve seen has to be the Hyatt Place St. Augustine / Vilano Beach which reportedly adds a “Mandatory Valet Parking Fee” of $25 per night.
DOT should certainly enforce refunds for services charged but not provided. But they shouldn’t lock airlines and airfare search sites into displaying specific charges in a standardized way, the same everywhere. We should be encouraging competition in meeting consumer needs, not making airline sites and Expedia displays the same forever. It’s not only seat and bag fees that matter – and even those don’t always matter!
With the whole world talking about the President’s debate performance Thursday night, whether he should still be running, and whether he’ll be replaced at the top of the ticket the campaign would very much like a return to normal discourse. So they’re back to talking about middle class pocket book issues. And nobody ever loses points beating up on airlines.
We’ve finally found it: the hotel with the most egregious add-on fees in the country. Every other hotel can stop trying, because the 31 Street Broadway Hotel in New York cannot be beaten.
On top of the room rate, they charge 49% Destination fee, 47% Bed linens fee, and a $120.00 Property service charge per stay.
CEO Barry Biffle has been willing to try a lot of things, and it’s interesting to watch. He’s also a great marketer. He was the marketing mind at Spirit Airlines back when their ads went viral for having the sense of humor of a 13-year old boy.
Now the airline says it is eliminating change fees on most fares, and that is… sort of true?
Under new DOT requirements, airlines and ticket agents will have to fully disclose all fees for baggage, changes, and cancellations upfront at first instance of displaying itineraries and fares. Airlines will also have to automatically and promptly refund passengers in cash or their original payment method when services like checked baggage and Wi-Fi are not delivered as promised.
The federal government has issued a final rule for how airlines disclose their fees, and requiring prompt refund of fees when they don’t provide the promised service.
It largely will not change how most passengers experience airlines most of the time. Airlines already disclose their fees, and generally provide refunds for services they don’t provide. There will be a stronger requirement, though, to refund checked bag fees for long-delayed and lost bags.
Guests of the Fairmont Whistler in Canada are required to pay a fee to help cover housekeeping wages, separate from their room rate. And the hotel charges guests an additional fee to manage this fee.
President Biden is calling for airlines to allow families to sit together on flights for free. Now, unlike the previous President he doesn’t run his own social. And no doubt this tests well. But airlines charging families more so that their kids aren’t unsupervised on planes just doesn’t seem to be an actual problem.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
