The War on Resort Fees Gets Hotter

March 8, 2016 | rjmcgarvey | Travel

The War on Resort Fees Gets Hotter

 

by Robert McGarvey

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US Senator Claire McCaskill – the senior Senator from Missouri – is on your side.  She has introduced legislation that, if enacted into law, would put a fast end to sneaky, greedy resort fees that are ever more popular with hoteliers looking to goose their margins.

 

“It’s clear there’s a bait-and-switch going on when it comes to these hidden hotel fees, and consumers are paying the price,” said McCaskill, the former Chairman of the Consumer Protection Subcommittee, in a press statement. “What I heard from Missourians was clear—families who’ve saved for a well-deserved vacation are too often facing sticker shock when they’re slapped with their final bill. This legislation provides a commonsense solution, requiring hotels to be upfront about mandatory costs by including them in room rates.”

 

Understand, McCaskill is not saying the Senate should get involved in regulating hotel room rates.  Her beef is simple. When a hotel tells you the rate is $199, but at check out another $10 to $50 is slapped on in a resort fee, that practice is plain wrong, suggested McCaskill.

 

The FTC, last year, after some waffling on resort fees had asked Congress to take some definitive action.  The McCaskill bill is a step in that direction.

 

McCaskill’s bill, S 2599, has been referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

 

The language of the bill pulls no punches.  Pricing that does not disclose mandatory fees is “deceptive,” according to the bill.

 

That, by the way, is indisputable fact.  Imagine a restaurant where the menu says “hamburger, $4.99.” You are later given a bill that says $4.99 plus $3.00 “facility fee” to cover a dish, a napkin, silverware, and possible use of the lavatory.  Absurd? Indeed. But that is what hotels are doing with their resort fees.

 

What is especially irksome about them is the rampant lack of disclosure.  Try to find a resort fee when booking on mobile (which ever more of us do).  At check in, did the front desk advise you about the resort fee in clear, unmistakable language? It probably did not.

 

Worse: what is the logic of a hotel that clearly is a resort charging an extra fee for guests using the stuff that brought them to the place in the first instance? That’s swimming pools, towels, a fitness center, etc.

 

And know that at most resorts the good stuff – the premium hikes, tennis lessons, yoga with good teachers – well, all that comes with premium fees. It’s not included in the resort fee which, generally, includes a bunch of banal stuff that had always been free such as parking (at suburban resorts) and pool towels.  

 

What’s the probability McCaskill’s bill will become law?  In this fraught year it is perilous to make predictions.

 

But whether it becomes law or does not, the good news is that simply putting it in the hopper has warned the hotel industry that there are watchdogs who question resort fees.

 

Hoteliers will tell you – they have told me – that “no one complains about resort fees.” That is rubbish and McCaskill’s bill makes it clear there are antagonists.  

 

It also has to have empowered Federal Trade Commission mandarins who wanted a signal from Congress about resort fees. McCaskill’s bill is an unmistakable signal.

 

You don’t want to wait for Congressional action. That raises this sharp question: What can you do to fight back against resort fees?

 

Know that it is a tough fight in some towns – notably Las Vegas where ever more hotels charge ever more fees.  Even worse, usually what’s included in a Vegas resort fee is free local calling – I have never used the in-room phones in Vegas – and also WiFi which, if you have been on the Strip, you know is generally wretched.  I do not even use it to read newspapers.  I’ll bring up my own hotspot which is faster and more secure.  The Las Vegas resort fee generally delivers absolutely no value.

 

You can fight back.  Many travelers say they have ducked resort fees – in Las Vegas too – and even when they haven’t, they feel better because they protested.

 

Complain at checkout. Raise a stink. Insist the resort fee was not fully disclosed, either at booking or at check-in.  If you have not used any of the “amenities” covered by the resort fee, get specific.  Many hotels will fold at that point and void the charges.

 

Email the Federal Trade Commission.  They are said to be keeping files on resort fees. Help the files get thicker.

 

Email your US Senators, expressing support for McCaskill’s bill and urging them to do likewise.  It couldn’t hurt to also email your member of the House.

 

If the property won’t budge and forced you to pay a resort fee, put up a snarky review on TripAdvisor which has emerged as perhaps the single more important review site in travel.  Be clear, be honest, and in a few words explain why this property’s resort fee is a rip off.

 

Hit hotels in the pocketbooth and they just may retreat on resort fees.  But unless consumers raise a protest, they will continue to grab the money.  That is fact.

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Just Say No To Hotel Cancellation Fees – Talking at You, Hilton

March 1, 2016 | rjmcgarvey | Consumer affairs, Travel

Just Say No To Hotel Cancellation Fees – Talking At You, Hilton

 

by Robert McGarvey

 

 

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Hilton acknowledges the obvious: we “hate” cancellation fees, said CEO Chris Nassetta in the company’s fourth quarter earnings call.  He quickly added: too bad.  The chain intends to keep charging such fees.

Said Nassetta: “I think what you will see us do…is different ways of pricing our products both short, long, lead and more and less flexibility. And to some extent not unlike what the airlines and other industries have done. What we want to do is make sure that on behalf of ourselves and our owners that we’re not tying up inventory unnecessarily without customers having to take any risk or have any cost.”

That means buckle up for more – and harsher – cancellation fees.

Expect the other big hotel companies to follow suit.

Fight back.

In the old, glory days of travel basically just about any hotel reservation could be cancelled, with no penalty, up to shortly before arrival (often 6 p.m. the night of arrival).

Not today.

Hilton for instance has imposed a hard cutoff of midnight before arrival – cancel later and you are on the hook for a day’s room rate.

The chain also has experimented with a $50 fee for any cancellation after booking – no matter how long in advance.

Some properties impose still longer cancellation lead times.

Marriott does likewise. Some of its properties impose a 72 hour cancellation notification to avoid penalty. Many have the midnight the night before deadline.

So does Starwood.  

Intercontinental, meantime, as been slapped with a class action suit triggered by its cancellation policies.

There is no logic behind such charges. Hoteliers see airlines doing similar and their envy and greed kick in and they want their cut of the easy money. That’s the totality of the “logic.”

For a business traveler in particular, these fees are toxic.  How often have I had trips cancelled the day before? Let me count the times. Even, sometimes, the same day.  

But hotels want the cancellation monies.  

They will get them if we don’t fight back.

I am looking at a resort in Northern Arizona and its cancellation policy is even more obnoxious: “Cancellations are accepted until 7 days prior to arrival. Cancels within 7 days will forfeit deposit,” which equates to one night’s fee, pushing $600 when tax and the resort fee are added in and, yep, you probably will be whacked for the resort fee even if you won’t set foot on the property.

Crazy? You bet.  But so profitable.

I have a foolproof way around ever paying a cancellation fee – and note: I never have.

Stop making reservations in advance.

The last time I went to New York – during the UN General Assembly hubbub, when just about every room in Manhattan is booked – I did not book until the morning I flew out. I used HotelTonight, got a lovely room at the Bryant Park Hotel, and I knew there was no doubt I would use it.

What if the hotel you want is full? Bet that it won’t be. Few hotels sell out, ever.  The odds are strongly in your favor.

Of course also have backup options. In the case of the UN General Assembly, I had a hotel in mind in Jersey City I had been meaning to try, also one in the Bronx, so I knew I would not sleep on a plastic bench at Port Authority.

In the case of the Arizona property there are two or three similar hotels – and, understand, the vast majority of hotel rooms are what economists call fungible, that is, there are essentially identical alternatives.  Don’t get hung up on a specific hotel and you can – safely – laugh at the cancellation fees.

Think about this. You are driving cross-country. You will stay in probably five or six motels along the way.  How many room nights do you reserve? Probably exactly none.  You drive until you are tiring, you see a sign you trust – Holiday Inn Express or maybe La Quinta or whatever – you pull in.  And you get a room.  How rare is it to see a sign saying there is no availability?

Right. It doesn’t happen often enough to worry about.

Will we do grievous damage to hotel revenue management programs if we all suddenly stop making reservations? Probably.  Their pricing will revert to to haphazard guesswork and they will complain.

But they have only themselves to blame.

They gave us no choice but to resolve to stop reserving rooms, except early the day of arrival.

Why don’t we do likewise with airlines? Two reasons. (1) Prices for last minute bookings are exorbitant; and (2) flights – increasingly – do sell out.  If we play chicken with the airlines, many times we will be the losers.

Not so hoteliers.  Most hotels rarely – never – sell out. When they do there are similar rooms nearby. And if anything room prices go down – never up – at the last minute.  Hoteliers have incentivized us to not reserve because they punish us when we do.  And they charge us less for last minute bookings.

That’s the smart way to travel in 2016.

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