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A12 business
Monday 4 July 2022

The worst hidden travel fees and how

to avoid them

fees" or similar. This will help
compare real prices direct-
ly and avoid the hassle of
clicking through to the final
checkout windows.
AIRLINE SEAT SELECTION
FEES
Despite a recent uptick,
the cost of airfare has ac-
tually been dropping for
years. That might sound like
good news, but that hides
People pass through Salt Lake City International Airport Mon- a hidden trend: Airlines
day, June 27, 2022, in Salt Lake City. have been gathering more
Associated Press of their revenue from add-
on fees while lowering the
By SAM KEMMIS of Nerd- and know-how. base price of airfare.
Wallet HOTEL RESORT FEES Charging for seat selection
With travel prices soaring, Resort fees, which are is one of the newest, and
customers might be tempt- sometimes called "facility most galling, tricks. These
ed to pick the cheapest fees" or "destination fees" fees usually appear during
base option they find. But purportedly cover ameni- checkout and often seem
the base price of airfare ties like internet and pool mandatory.
and hotels represents only access. But because the These fees are almost al-
a fraction of the total costs. fees are mandatory, they ways avoidable, though.
A parade of add-on fees act as hidden costs for Simply skipping the seat se-
await any traveler trying booking a room that don't lection process and letting
to navigate the checkout appear until final check- the airline assign a seat at
process, ballooning the fi- out. a later date is often the wis-
nal price. Experts call it "drip "Resort fees are the only est choice if you don't mind
pricing." travel fee that has no cor- the risk of getting stuck with
"It's called 'drip' because relation to any actual ser- a middle seat.
surcharges and fees drip vice or product," says Lau- Airlines want customers to
out throughout the shop- ren Wolfe, counsel at Trav- pay these fees, of course,
ping process," says Vicki elers Unite d, an advocacy and often share scary warn-
Morwitz, a professor of busi- group for travelers. She's ings about the dangers of
ness and marketing at the also the founder of the not picking a seat. But skip-
Columbia Business School. website Kill Resort Fees. "If ping seat selection doesn't
Customers tend to overpay your hotel charges for park- increase your chances of
when prices are presented ing, if you don't have a car, getting bumped from a
this way, according to a you don't pay to park. Ho- flight.
study conducted by Mor- tel resort fees, though, are And note that some air-
witz and her colleagues. almost impossible to get lines, such as Southwest,
"Customers are more likely out of even if you decline don't charge for seat selec-
to select an option that amenities." tion.
looks cheaper upfront. Here are some tips to mini- VACATION RENTAL CLEAN-
Even when they later real- mize these pesky fees: ING FEES
ize it's more expensive than — Pay with points at brands Everyone wants a clean
they anticipated, they're that waive resort fees for vacation rental, but no-
more likely to stick with it," award stays, like Hilton and body wants to pay exorbi-
she says. Hyatt. tant cleaning fees that can
From resort fees and board- — Ask the front desk to exceed the base cost of
ing-pass printing fees (yes, waive the fee. "It is prob- the rental.
that's a thing ), companies ably not likely to work but It's almost impossible to
were padding their bot- you can always ask nicely," avoid these fees outright,
tom lines with these add- Wolfe says. as most properties carry
ons even before inflation — Look for a search option them. But it is possible to
soared this year. Avoiding on a hotel website or app avoid paying too much.
them requires diligence to "show rate with taxes and Most vacation rental plat-
forms, including Airbnb,
offer some option to com-
pare "total price," which in-
cludes cleaning and other
fees. It isn't always easy to
filter and sort on total price,
but seeing this price on the
search screen rather than
the checkout screen can
vastly simplify comparison
shopping.q