Numerous hotel chains service the travel industry around the country.
Whether traveling a couple of hours from home or across the country, you may find yourself in a hotel for various reasons. One of the downsides to staying at hotels can be the pricey amounts you have to pay to stay there. Often, these prices aren’t straightforward, and it’s only after the booking process that you find out how much you’ll owe in total, which may be way more than the price you initially saw. But that annoying and semi-deceptive hotel issue is being fixed in one U.S. state.
According to the Omaha World-Herald, the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office has been filing lawsuits against popular hotel chains since 2019. And now, after a four-year fight, a settlement has been accepted between the AG and Hilton Hotels, among others.
The lawsuits have been pressed due to what is called “drip pricing”, which is the slow disclosure of hidden fees and pricing as you go through the booking process instead of just showing the total cost upfront.
Hilton has now agreed to “clearly and conspicuously” show all of their mandatory fees upfront in the total price in advertisements and offers. The company will also be required to disclose which amenities are covered with the mandatory fees. Last, they have to pay $300,000 in attorney fees to the AG’s Office.
Hilton is only one among other hotel chains such as Omni, Marriott, and Choice Hotels that have agreed to settlements, each with similar deals. Hilton made all necessary changes to their websites and apps in 2023, which now display the appropriate totals upfront.
A spokesperson for Hilton stated, “We know consumers prioritize transparency and Hilton has long been supportive of ensuring that mandatory fees charged by hotels in our system are fully disclosed before booking on our websites and all other distribution channels.”
The Nebraska AG, Mike Hilgers shared, “These settlements will benefit not only the residents of Nebraska but also consumers nationwide.” It is unclear if this settlement will affect the hotels around the country or just the ones in Nebraska, but the agreements certainly look similar to what President Joe Biden has been working towards.
In February 2023, Biden shared that they had written up a Junk Fee Prevention Act to address these same issues. The President said they are working to “ban surprise resort fees that hotels charge on your bill. Those fees can cost you up to $90 a night at hotels that aren’t even resorts.”
Regardless of whether you’re visiting Nebraska or Florida, these settlements could have a major impact on the hotel industry. The changes to “price dripping” may save travelers lots of money, and we’re certainly ok with that.
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They still need to address “resort fees”. That’s one reason I stay in-world at Disney – no hidden fees.