Are resort fees fraud: Congress may finally agree…
The U.S. Congress has put forth new bipartisan legislation that would change the way online travel agencies display hotel resort fees, many say are misleading and fraudulent. eTurboNews had disclosed this scam since 2014 starting with a report on Hilton Hawaiian Village charging for mandatory Hula lessons.
Five years later Democratic Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas and Republican Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska introduced the Hotel Advertising Transparency Act of 2019 to protect consumers.
If the legislation were to pass, hotels would not be able to charge travelers any more than the initially advertised room rate. plus any government-imposed taxes and fees. Any hotel that continues to charge such hidden fees would be penalized. According to Lauren Wolfe, attorney for Travelers United, a consumer nonprofit organization backing the initiative, resort fees are “the most-hated fee in travel.”….