FTC Junk Fees Ban Tackles The Worst Part Of Hotels, Tickets

Resort fees, convenience fees, service fees, it has all gotten way out of hand. Trying to book a trip to Las Vegas? That decently cheap rate you might find on the Las Vegas Strip could cost $50 or more per night once factoring in resort fees. Now the FTC is doing something about it with a hidden junk fees ban. Junk Fees Ban Doesn't Get Rid Of Them, Just Makes Them Clear The Federal Trade Commission finalized their Junk Fees Rule that has all those nickel and dime (and sometimes substantial dollars) hidden behind the price in their crosshairs. Soon, you'll know not just the full nightly price of your hotel "all-in" (that is the price after the resort fee, taxes and beyond). Your live concert tickets you bought, they'll be required to show you the actual cost for the ticket after all of the taxes and fees. No more getting sweettalked into thinking a room or a ticket is cheaper than it is. The junk fees ban will shed light on the cost of doing business. The FTC estimates that the new rule will save more than $11 billion and over 50 million hours of time hunting down the actual price of these services over the next decade. Will it save us any money? Probably not. But at least you'll be able to see the actual price without any tricks or surprises from the start. The junk fees ban will take 120 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register to be enacted. Rule Reflects Airline Price Advertising You may remember a time when airlines used to advertise rates before taxes, fees and beyond. But laws changed and airlines were required to roll them into the total advertised price. Sure, airlines can upcharge for everything under the sun once you are on the flight (from carry on bags to checked bags, an assigned seat and more), but you can board the flight without any of those things. This new junk fees ban will make it so consumers actually know what they are paying for, which we aren't mad at.