Dive Brief:
- U.S. Representatives Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) introduced the No Hidden Fees on Extra Expenses for Stays Act of 2023 — or the No Hidden FEES Act — in Congress on Friday.
- The bill would prohibit “unfair and deceptive” advertising of room rates at hotels and other short-term lodging options. It would forbid hotels from advertising or marketing reservation prices that don’t include each mandatory fee.
- The act, supported by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, is the latest piece of proposed legislation targeting hotel fees, or what critics call “junk fees” — the additional costs that get tacked on to a room rate at booking that often leave travelers surprised.
Dive Insight:
“The No Hidden FEES Act creates a single standard for mandatory fee display across the lodging industry – from short-term rental platforms to online travel agencies, search engines, metasearch sites, and hotels,” said AHLA President and CEO Chip Rogers, in a statement. “This legislation would ensure that wherever consumers shop for lodging, mandatory fees are included in the price they see.”
AHLA increasingly supports legislation that would impact how hotel fees are advertised. In July, the association issued a statement in support of the Hotel Fees Transparency Act, a similar piece of bipartisan legislation that would require hotels to clearly show the final price of rooms they advertise.
If enacted, the No Hidden FEES Act would be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. The bill is currently in the House of Representatives.
Hotel fee legislation has been gaining steam at the federal level in recent months, with even President Biden voicing disdain for hidden fees in his 2023 State of the Union speech. His administration took aim at banks’ hidden fees in October of last year.
At the state level, California recently passed a bill that will ban deceptive rate advertising starting in 2024. State officials say the legislation will be the nation’s strongest against junk fees when it takes effect.
