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![\"Scott](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/author-logo-lg-88x88.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nRecently, virtually every news outlet in American proclaimed the FTC has banned resort fees and other junk fees. They all got it wrong. Let us help.<\/p>\n
Yes, the FTC has a new rule about nuisance fees (including resort fees) but it doesn\u2019t really ban anything, it just ensures companies are transparent about their junk fees.<\/p>\n
In a fun twist, some Las Vegas visitors are using the FTC rule to their advantage, convincing hotels to waive resort fees.<\/p>\n First things first. Why did all the news headlines say \u201cFTC Bans Junk Fees\u201d when that\u2019s not the case? Well, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) announced its new rule with this headline<\/a>: \u201cFederal Trade Commission Announces Bipartisan Rule Banning Junk Ticket and Hotel Fees.\u201d<\/p>\n News outlets to what they due: Regurgitate. In this case, though, reading helps.<\/p>\n The same announcement has this clarification: \u201cIt does not prohibit any type or amount of fee, nor does it prohibit any specific pricing strategies. Rather, it simply requires that businesses that advertise their pricing tell consumers the whole truth up-front about prices and fees.\u201d<\/p>\n Resort fees aren\u2019t going anywhere.<\/p>\n This new FTC rule doesn\u2019t change much of anything for Las Vegas hotels or ticket sellers. They all have fairly transparent ways of displaying fees along with room and ticket prices.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no real hiding of fees or \u201cbait-and-switch\u201d going on anymore in our experience.<\/p>\n There are deceptive and hidden fees in Las Vegas, of course, but it\u2019s unclear if the FTC rule covers those businesses (it\u2019s focused on the hotel, short-term lodging and live event industries), and it\u2019s even more unclear how FTC rules are implemented or enforced.<\/p>\n We personally boycott any venue with a \u201cconcession fee\u201d or service charge, and we\u2019ve been railing against them<\/a> since at least 2016.<\/p>\n Some of the concession fee culprits on The Strip include: Cabo Wabo Cantina at Planet Hollywood, Hexx at Paris Las Vegas, Beer Park at Paris Las Vegas, Alexxa\u2019s Bar at Paris Las Vegas, Chayo Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Bar at Linq Promenade, Flights at Miracle Mile Shops, Blondie\u2019s at Miracle Mile Shops, Dick\u2019s Last Resort, Kassi Beach House at Virgin and S Bar at Mandalay Bay.<\/p>\n Hexx and Beer Park literally hide their junk fee behind an elastic band used to hold the menu in place. Don\u2019t get us started.<\/p>\n Our advice? Ask to have these fees removed. They\u2019ll do it. Restaurants know these charges are shady. They take advantage of tourists too drunk or distracted to notice them, which is why they\u2019re so predatory.<\/p>\n So, if junk fees aren\u2019t banned, what does the new FTC rule actually accomplish? The announcement says, \u201cThe Junk Fees Rule will ensure that pricing information is presented in a timely, transparent, and truthful way to consumers of live-event tickets and short-term lodging, two industries whose pricing practices the Commission has studied in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n A noble effort.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also some numbers being pulled out of butts in the announcement, something watchers of Las Vegas are very familiar with, especially when it comes to crowd size for New Year\u2019s Eve, revenue generated by F1 and the projected number of people who will be attending games at the ballpark that isn\u2019t being built on the Tropicana site.<\/p>\n \u201cThe FTC estimates that the Junk Fees Rule will save consumers up to 53 million hours per year of wasted time spent searching for the total price for live-event tickets and short-term lodging. This time savings is equivalent to more than $11 billion over the next decade,\u201d says the FTC. Or, as laypeople call it, \u201cbullshit.\u201d<\/p>\n The rule is more of a guideline at the moment, and a new administration could withdraw it for review or kill it altogether.<\/p>\n That\u2019s all sort of boring compared what\u2019s been happening at Las Vegas hotels.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/junk_fees_banned-845x563.jpg\"\/)
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