Hidden Fees and Comparison Shopping

How is it possible that one site hides the cleaning fee in ghost text, and another throws it in your face with a pop-up? Want to compare rates? Don’t bother unless you’re a forensic accountant. Swear, I booked a chain hotel once—resort fee and cleaning fee both listed, $32 and $28, totally separate lines, and by the end, I just wanted to give up and hit “accept.”

Shopping for hotels is like a scratch-off lottery: the advertised price is a lie until the very last screen, and sometimes not even then. The FTC’s new rule about mandatory fee disclosure is supposed to fix it, but insiders told me brands are already plotting “creative ways to unbundle services.” So, yeah, if your $189 room ends up costing $300, just remember—hotel math is interpretive, not scientific. Maybe I’ll start charging a “confusion management” fee myself.

The Rise of Junk Fees Across Industries

It’s not just hotels. These fees are everywhere—tiny print, random surcharges, “cleaning fee” snuggled up with “convenience fee” like they’re hiding from sunlight. Blink and you’ve paid another $48 for…what, exactly? I’m sure someone’s spreadsheet looks great.

Event Tickets and Live-Event Ticketing

Live-event ticketing? Don’t get me started. I buy a $92 seat, go to checkout, and—surprise!—$24 tacked on for “processing” or “facility” or “handling.” For a PDF ticket? Why? The Government Accountability Office said last year that the average ticket gets padded with over 20% in surprise fees, and good luck finding a clear breakdown.

I once sat in a Ticketmaster queue for playoff tickets, watching the subtotal balloon with “convenience,” “service,” “venue restoration” fees. No way out. Right before confirmation, they bundle it all in. Analysts keep calling out aggressive markup practices, but sellers just invent new names. Does anyone actually understand these fees? I don’t.

How Drip Pricing Spreads

Drip pricing—what a name, right?—is everywhere, not just concerts. Hotels do it with resort and cleaning fees, or random “COVID sanitation” charges that still pop up even though nobody’s masking anymore. Book a $140 room, pay $172, thanks to another mandatory cleaning surcharge. The FTC says they’ll crack down—120 days, transparency, whatever—but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Retail, car rentals, subscription boxes—everyone’s doing it. “Maintenance fee,” “technology improvement”—like my $9 upgraded their app, sure. Some watchdogs say just assume the advertised price is the floor, not the ceiling. I once called to challenge a fee; they offered me 10% off my next mystery charge. Thanks, I guess?

OTAs and Third-Party Booking Platforms

Booking through OTAs? It’s a circus. Some sites bury fees so deep you need a magnifying glass, others spring them on you at the last second. I’ve watched travel veterans juggle three tabs, still confused. It almost feels like hotels want you lost.

How Fees Appear on OTAs

Booking.com? I’m sweating by the third screen. Cleaning fees, “property service charges,” “environmental surcharges”—sometimes in “price details,” sometimes in a footnote you can’t even click. Airbnb? Same deal. Blink and the bill’s up 30%.

I asked a front desk manager at a chain about these listings. She just mumbled about OTAs needing “transparent breakdowns.” Meanwhile, the commission—up to 20% per booking, sometimes more for hotels using OTAs—means hotels stay vague, sneaking in cleaning and admin fees to protect their cut. Guests think they’re paying the hotel, but honestly, who knows where the money goes? I doubt the housekeeper ever sees a dime of that.

Challenges with Up-Front Disclosure

Here’s what really drives me nuts: “up-front disclosure” just means the booking journey gets even weirder. You think you found a deal, and at checkout—bam—“resort fee,” “cleaning fee,” whatever, nowhere to be seen on the search page. Booking is a game show, and I never win.

Regulation’s supposed to help, at least in the U.S., with the new Resort Fee Disclosure Rule kicking in by May 2025. Hotels and OTAs have to show the “true” nightly price, all fees included. But nothing stops them from shuffling costs into new categories and making rate-shopping a nightmare. I compared four chains for one conference—same advertised rate, not a single matching total after checkout. Still have no idea which one was real.