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The push for full transparency of hotel fees\u2014which can add hundreds of extra dollars to your final receipt\u2014has taken the form of a House bill that passed the GOP-controlled chamber with overwhelming bipartisan support.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The No Hidden FEES Act<\/a> would create a single standard to transparently display fees across the entire long- and short-term lodging industry. It will require all added fees to reservations for hotels and short-term rentals\u2014including \u201cresort fees\u201d<\/a> that even hotels without resort amenities tack on\u2014to be listed and disclosed up front so people have a realistic idea of lodging prices and can compare options as they see fit. <\/p>\n The House bill, passed on June 11 in a 384-25<\/a> vote, was introduced<\/a> by Representatives Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) in December, a few months after Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) introduced the Hotel Fees Transparency Act<\/a> in the Senate.\u00a0<\/p>\n The legislative efforts are in line with President Joe Biden\u2019s crackdown on hidden fees, which first targeted the airline industry <\/a>in the summer of 2021<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The House bill also gives the Federal Trade Commission and individual states the authority to enforce violations and failures to disclose all hotel fees as unfair or deceptive business practices. It has also been praised by prominent industry trade groups, including The American Hotel & Lodging Association<\/a> (AHLA) and the Asian American Hotel Owners Association<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes sense for all lodging businesses\u2014from short-term rentals to online travel agencies, metasearch sites, and hotels\u2014to tell guests up front about mandatory fees,\u201d AHLA\u2019s interim president and CEO Kevin Carey wrote in a statement<\/a>, adding the group has \u201cthe goal of establishing a uniform standard across the industry as law.\u201d<\/p>\n The Asian American Hotel Owners Association called passage of the bill a \u201csignificant win,\u201d according to a statement<\/a> released on June 12. Chairman Miraj S. Patel wrote that the legislation can help people make better-informed decisions on where to stay, adding that the group looks forward to seeing the bill move through the Senate.<\/p>\n The move is one of several meant to reveal hidden fees that many industries, including the airline, housing, ticketing and events sectors, often bury throughout the checkout process. Last month, the House passed another bill<\/a> meant to target junk fees in the concert industry called the TICKET Act<\/a>. Last October, the FTC proposed a rule that would ban hidden junk fees<\/a> and other \u201cbogus\u201d fees, which are fees that \u201cdishonest businesses routinely misrepresent or fail to adequately disclose the nature or purpose of,\u201d the regulator said in a statement<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Senate\u2019s Hotel Fees Transparency Act<\/a>, which would require full transparency of all required hotel fees with the exception of government or quasi-government entity-imposed fees, has been introduced and still needs to pass the chamber. If it does pass, it would need to be reconciled with the House bill before Biden can sign it into law.\u00a0<\/p>\n Biden\u2019s push to disclose hidden junk fees has been one of the most consistent priorities of his presidency. In his 2024 State of the Union speech<\/a> in March, he said his administration had \u201cproposed rules to make cable, travel, utilities and online ticket sellers tell you the total price up front so there are no surprises.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n