If you’ve ever comparison shopped for a hotel rate only to find that surprise fees added to your bill blew the bargain you thought you had scored, you’re not alone. And a bipartisan group in Congress is aiming to help.
Consumers have complained for years — and filed several lawsuits that are still pending — regarding the resort fees and other hidden charges that wind up on hotel statements over and above the advertised price of a room, adding sometimes hundreds of dollars to travelers’ bills.
According to a Consumer Reports study, more than a third of travelers say they’ve been hit with unexpected resort charges on hotel bills in the last two years.
So U.S. Reps Jeff Fortenberry, a Nebraska Republican, and Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Texas Democrat, have introduced the Hotel Advertising Transparency Act of 2019, which would require hotels to show consumers the full pretax price of a hotel room. The bill would apply to short-term rentals too, such as those on Airbnb.
Their bill, which should enjoy broad bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, is just the latest attempt to rein in sneaky fees.
A similar bill was introduced in 2016 but failed to get a vote. State officials also are taking aim at the resort-fee problem with lawsuits against several large hotel chains, including Hilton and Marriott International.
And the Federal Trade Commission warned hotels in 2012 and 2013 against deceptive advertising that did not properly disclose all fees on their websites.
Those efforts have yet to bring full transparency in the advertising that lures travelers to book rooms, however.
Consumers shopping to book a hotel stay ought to be able to trust the advertised price they find online, whether it is on the hotel’s website or the site of a third-party booker. Hidden charges and fees that drive up the actual price and that are only revealed after a traveler books a room are nothing less than fraud.
Ohio lawmakers in Washington should join the sponsors of the latest bill attempting to bring transparency to hotel rates and move the measure along swiftly.
First Published November 14, 2019, 5:00 a.m.
