It will be prohibited to secretly add 'mysterious extra fees' to hotel accommodation and concert ticket prices
When you try to make a hotel reservation or buy tickets to a live event online, you may find that the final price is excessively high because of the 'resort fee' that was not there when you pressed the reservation button or the 'fee' for a service that you do not remember adding to your cart. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced new rules to crack down on these unfair 'junk fees'.
Federal Trade Commission Announces Bipartisan Rule Banning Junk Ticket and Hotel Fees | Federal Trade Commission
The FTC is officially banning hidden junk fees from hotel and ticket prices - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2024/12/17/24323274/ftc-hidden-junk-fees-ban-hotel-ticket-prices
The 'junk fees' that are now subject to regulation are opaque fees that are not clearly stated in advance, even though they must be paid.
Junk fees mean that users are attracted by a great price in an ad or on a site, only to be disappointed when they are about to press the checkout button and realize that it actually isn't reasonable at all.
On December 17, 2024, the FTC
The rules, which will come into effect in May 2025, will not ban junk fees themselves in order to maintain flexibility in setting prices based on seasonal factors such as peak periods and booking situations, but will require companies to do two main things.
First, when companies display or advertise the price of tickets to live events or hotel rooms, they must clearly and upfront disclose the total price, including all mandatory fees.
Additionally, this total must be displayed more prominently than any other price information. That is, the most prominent price number in your ad is the total price the customer must pay. You are not prohibited from displaying terms or optional fees, but you cannot hide the total price.
'People have the right to know up front how much they'll be asked to pay, without worrying about unavoidable and mysterious unbudgeted fees later,' said FTC Chairman Lina Khan. 'Our new rules will save Americans countless dollars and time by eliminating junk fees on things like live event tickets, hotel rooms, and vacation rentals.'
The FTC has been preparing to enact this new 'junk fee regulation' since 2022, and announced a draft in October 2023 based on more than 12,000 public comments. The final rules were then formulated based on more than 60,000 comments collected in the second comment period, and the rules were enacted by a 4-1 vote in the committee.
The FTC estimates that the junk price regulation could save people up to 53 million hours a year in wasted time researching ticket and hotel prices, equating to $11 billion over 10 years.
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