Resort Fees are Here to Stay, According to the Chief Executive Officer of Marriott International
“You’ve got resort fees in the hotel industry, you’ve got baggage fees in the airline space. None of us as consumers necessarily love it. But what we tried to do is to be very clear about our disclosure.”
What you just read is a statement by Arne Sorenson — who is the current president and chief executive officer of Marriott International, Incorporated — in this…
The Importance of Not Abusing Trust
“But why do we care so much about resort fees?” asked Shawn Coomer of Miles to Memories in this article titled Stop Fighting Resort Fees: This Is a MUCH Better Solution!
Why? Because the advent of mandatory resort fees outright abuses the trust of not only potential customers; but also…
Marriott International Sued For Charging Deceptive Resort Fees by Attorney General of District of Columbia
The war against mandatory resort fees continues to heat up.
A lawsuit was filed against Marriott International, Incorporated earlier today, Tuesday, July 9, 2019 by Karl A. Racine, who is the current attorney general of the District of Columbia and claims that the multinational lodging corporation purposely both hid the true price of hotel rooms from consumers and charged hidden mandatory resort fees for the purpose of increasing profits.
This lawsuit follows an investigation into the pricing practices of the lodging industry by…
One Simple Way to Reclaim That Resort Fee Which You Paid
“Would like more information on reclaiming resort fees as referenced in Section 4, please” is what Txrus — who is a reader of The Gate — asked in the Comments section of this article pertaining to four reasons why mandatory resort fees may finally be disappearing, in which I asked, “Did you know that attorneys general in many states in the United States — but not Nevada, in which the practices is widespread in cities such as Las Vegas — have reportedly said that the practice of implementing mandatory resort fees is unlawful; and that guests can reclaim resort fees?”
You only need to spend as few as 60 seconds worth of your time and effort to…
Even Worse: Mandatory Resort Fees as Percentage of Room Rate
The concept of mandatory resort fees — which are also known by such euphemisms as destination fees and facilities fees — is enough to cause someone frustration, as they are added to the room rate and ultimately force guests to pay them whether they want to do so or not…
…and in many hotel and resort properties, at least they are set at a fixed rate per night — not including tax, of course — so that once you find out about them during the booking process, you can fairly predict what will be the total cost of staying for a night as you are comparing room rates and room types.
However, some hotel and resort properties charge a mandatory fee which is a percentage of the room rate. One such property is…
Why Are You Surprised That Resort Fees “Provide Real Tangible Value” to You?
You have probably read the astonishment by authors of multiple articles about a quote which was attributed to Vijay Dandapani — who is the chief executive officer of the Hotel Association of New York City — in response to the new policy of Booking.com pertaining to charging commissions to hotel and resort properties which impose mandatory resort fees on their guests, as he actually sees value in mandatory resort fees for hotel guests.
“Resort and urban fees provide real tangible value to the guest and there is plenty of empirical evidence that a majority of guests have no problem with it, and appreciate the value offered…
Can an Airline Refuse to Honor a Miles Redemption Mistake With No Published Award Charts?
You may remember the infamous award redemption error on United Airlines which allowed its members to book premium class air travel to China and supposedly beyond for as few as four United Airlines MileagePlus frequent flier loyalty program miles — only to have those award redemptions rescinded by United Airlines, as I reported in this article back on Monday, July 16, 2012. Customers were given the choice to redeem their United Airlines MileagePlus frequent flier loyalty program miles at the regular redemption rate, or re-deposit their award redemption with all fees waived.
“The existence of a published award chart showing more expensive prices was cited by the Department of Transportation for why United didn’t have to honor the bookings”, according to…
Wait a Minute…A Hostel Which Charges a Resort Fee?!?
“Even hostels are charging it. Freehand Hostel in Miami charges $25/day resort fee” is the comment which Waylo — who is a reader of The Gate — posted in response to this article pertaining to a resort fee which was tacked on to a room whose rate was $36.00 per night…
I had to investigate this claim for myself. As Waylo did not provide a link to the property in question, I search for it via the Internet and found Freehand Miami, which actually appears to be a hybrid of hotel property and hostel.
The first “perk” which is extolled at the very top of its Internet web site home is the claim of “Discounted Rates (you can’t find anywhere else”, as shown in…
$60 Visitor Fee Because She Might Be a Prostitute?
Depending on where you are staying, being charged an extra fee for inviting a visitor to your hotel room may be standard practice — despite how often you may have stayed at the hotel or resort property and regardless of whether or not you have earned elite level status in a frequent travel loyalty program.
The front desk clerk at…
Brazil to Allow Entry With No Visa to Citizens of the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan
“Brazil has taken a step in the right direction, in my opinion, as I have long asserted that if a country wants to increase tourism, it needs to relax its reciprocity fees or visa requirements. Two examples of countries which did just that are Chile and Argentina.”
What you just read was an opinion which I wrote in this article on Monday, January 29, 2018 — and my suggestion is coming true: effective as of Monday, June 17, 2019, the government of Brazil will permit citizens of the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan to…
Recent Comments