by Herb Weisbaum, The ConsumerMan

Last updated January 9, 2025

It’s difficult to comparison shop online when prices displayed don’t include mandatory fees—commonly called “junk fees”—tacked on at checkout.

Listen to audio highlights of the story below:

“Junk fees are an enormous scourge in the American economy,” said Erin Witte, director of Consumer Protection at the Consumer Federation of America. “Everyone can think of a time when they’ve been charged a fee that they didn’t expect, didn’t think they should have to pay for, or felt was unjustified.”

This deceptive practice is a common trap for those booking hotel rooms and vacation rentals or buying tickets to concerts and sporting events. Whether they’re called “service fees,” “convenience fees,” or “resort fees,” these added costs drive up the total price of rooms and tickets.

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Junk Fees Rule, which was announced in mid-December and will take effect in mid-2025, prohibits such “bait-and-switch pricing” and other tactics “used to bury junk fees and hide total prices” for live-event ticketing and short-term lodging.

“People deserve to know up front what they’re being asked to pay, without worrying that they’ll be saddled with mysterious fees that they haven’t budgeted for and can’t avoid,” said FTC Chair Lina Khan.

The commission said its Junk Fees Rule will ensure that pricing information for live events and short-term lodging is presented “in a timely, transparent, and truthful way.”

This up-front disclosure will make comparison shopping easier and save consumers “billions of dollars and millions of hours in wasted time,” searching for the actual prices of rooms and event tickets, Khan said.

Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, the country’s largest ticket seller, applauded the new rule. Following congressional hearings and proposed legislation in the aftermath of the ticketing meltdown for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour in 2022, Ticketmaster voluntarily adopted an all-in pricing policy.

Making it Easier to Find the Best Rates on Rooms

Booking a hotel room is frustrating when some hotels don’t advertise their all-in pricing. Maybe you’re searching for a room and find several hotels with comparable rooms. One hotel is $200 a night, the other is $175. So, you choose the one for $175.

After you fill out all the information and are ready to make the reservation, you discover a $50 fee added to the nightly rate. What do you do? Maybe that other room really is $200 with no fee, so it’s actually cheaper?

Research shows that you’re likely to shrug your shoulders and pay the higher price, rather than starting the process over again.

Requiring accurate pricing on hotel websites will result in honest competition and give people “the ability to know what they're paying upfront, instead of hiding information and hoping to trap them into paying more than what [was] advertised,” CFA’s Witte said.

New Rule Does NOT Prohibit Added Fees

While the Junk Fee Rule requires disclosing the total price for live-event tickets and short-term lodging, it does not limit the add-on fees that can be charged by hotels and ticket vendors. The only requirement is that the true price is “clearly and conspicuously” disclosed.

Companies that exclude tax or shipping charges from advertised prices must clearly disclose the purpose and amount of those fees before consumers enter their payment information.

Consumers Hate Junk Fees

Hidden fees are a hot-button issue with consumers. When the proposed rule was announced, in 2023, the FTC received more than 60,000 comments.

Susan Baker, a retiree who lives on a fixed income in Galveston, Tex., said resort fees “are ridiculously high and often offer nothing in return.” Her stay often costs “hundreds of $$ more than I budgeted,” she said.

Tobe Wood of San Jose, Calif., called junk fees “a terrible business practice” that needs to be stopped. “The fact that I might not know how much I need to pay for a service up front is insane,” he wrote.

Peter Ayres of Naperville, Ill., told the commission he doesn’t go to concerts anymore because the tickets are too expensive, and the added fees sometimes equal the amount of the ticket. “It is pure gouging the customer, he wrote. “It is sad to not support performers I would like to see, but I will not pay these extra fees.”

Why So Limited?

As initially proposed, the Junk Fee Rule would have provided broader protection from hidden fees, including those charged by cable TV, internet and phone companies, movie theatres, and car rental agencies. However, as The Washington Post reported, FTC Chair Khan “narrowed the agency’s scope to secure bipartisan support among her five-member commission, which approved the proposal in a 4-1 vote.”

Republican Commissioner Andrew Ferguson cast the lone “no” vote. President-elect Trump plans to nominate Ferguson to head the FTC, which raises questions about how the new rule will be enforced—assuming it is not challenged in court, as have other rules recently issued by the FTC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

As Checkbook previously reported, the airline industry has gone to court to block a Transportation Department rule announced in April that would have required airlines and ticket agents to tell consumers upfront about extra fees for checked bags, carry-on bags, seat selection, and canceling or changing a reservation. The rule is on hold until the lawsuit is settled.

California Leading the Way

In July, new junk fee laws took effect in California that require transparent pricing on most purchases, including hotel rooms, event tickets, and food delivery services, when the stay, concert, or delivery takes place in California. Short-term rental companies, such as Airbnb and Vrbo, must now disclose all mandatory fees, such as cleaning, service, and host fees.

Because of its large market size, California’s junk fee laws are having a ripple effect nationally. Some large national hotel chains, including Choice, Crowne Plaza, Hilton, Kimpton, and Marriott, have modified their websites to display all-inclusive pricing for all U.S. listings.

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Contributing editor Herb Weisbaum (“The ConsumerMan”) is an Emmy award-winning broadcaster and one of America's top consumer experts. He has been protecting consumers for more than 40 years, having covered the consumer beat for CBS News, The Today Show, and NBCNews.com. You can also find him on Facebook, Twitter, and at ConsumerMan.com.