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Through a settlement with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, which had launched an investigation into “drip pricing” practices that are sometimes not fully revealed until a guest checks in at a property, Maryland-based Marriott has committed to show the sum of its rates and all mandatory fees on the first page of its booking website. Opponents of the practice now expect other operators to do the same, with several other lawsuits pending.
Marriott International has become the first major hospitality operator to formally commit to disclosing its resort fees upfront as part of the total stay price, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, USA Today reported.
Maryland-based Marriott has committed to show the sum of its room rates and all mandatory fees—including resort fees—on the first page of its booking website after reaching a settlement with the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office on November 16th, USA Today reported. Changes are set to be implemented within the next nine months.
The settlement came after Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro had launched an investigation into the practice of “drip pricing,” when fees are gradually disclosed to consumers as they go through the booking process. The total price of the room is not revealed until the final page of online booking or, in some cases, not until the guest checks in at the property.
Shapiro had argued that the practice was a violation of Pennysylvania’s Consumer Protection Law.
“[Hospitality operators] shouldn’t be able to slap hidden fees on top of your bill at the last minute, and thanks to this settlement we’re putting the industry on notice to put an end to this deceptive practice,” Shapiro said in a statement announcing the settlement, USA Today reported.
Resort fees—also referred to as “destination fees” or “amenity fees”—have become a common practice among operators over the past two decades, USA Today reported, to the point where they became such a source of discontent for travelers to generate backlash from government officials and consumer advocacy groups.
The fees are often not included in a hotel’s advertised rate, and opponents argue that they mislead guests, because they are only revealed as customers go through the buying process, USA Today reported.
The fees, which can be upwards of $40 in major markets, are said to cover additional services such as Wi-Fi, parking, or pool and gym access, USA Today reported. But many of the standard resort features previously did not carry extra charges, and some were not available under pandemic-era safety protocols.
Marriott’s shift came after lawsuit filings revealed that it made roughly $17 million from resort fees in 2019, the year the District of Columbia’s Attorney General sued the company for its resort-fee practices, USA Today reported.
When the settlement with Pennsylvania was announced, Marriott said Wednesday that its resort and destination fees have “long been” separately and clearly stated, USA Today reported, and that its agreement with the state of Pennsylvania “further enhances the way resort/destination fees are fully disclosed on our U.S. channels.”
The company added that it will be working “over the next several months” to update the way it displays room rates, USA Today reported.
Travelers United, a nonprofit travel advocacy group, released a statement on November 19th commending the settlement, USA Today reported.
“American consumers will finally see a change in the way prices are displayed, after the Pennsylvania Attorney General took a stand on behalf of American consumers,” Lauren Wolfe, Travelers United Counsel, said in the statement.
Travelers United, which added that it hopes other operators follow suit, filed a lawsuit against MGM Resorts International earlier in 2021 for its use of resort fees, USA Today reported, and there is an ongoing resort-fees lawsuit against Hilton that was filed by Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson in 2019.
Shapiro, the Pennsylvania Attorney General, said he expects grouping mandatory resort fees with room rates will become standard practice going forward, USA Today reported.
“Marriott has stepped up to commit itself to fix this practice, and we expect more [operators] to follow suit,” Shapiro said.
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