Top 10 Most Outrageous Hotel Fees

by Elizabeth Seward on

Airlines receive substantial criticism for their ever-increasing fees. While complaints about surprise fees associated with air travel are warranted and deserving of productive conversation, similarly unsuspected hotel fees are often overlooked. A recent New York Times piece highlighted the problem and stated that hotels in the United States are on track to earn $2.1 billion this year in fees and surcharges alone.

Some of the most outrageous hotel fees that are being reported:

  1. Charges for donations to local charities (without receiving consent) are being added to bills. This actually happened to me while in Grenada.
  2. Bellhop service charges, even when bellhop services aren’t used.
  3. Housekeeping charges.
  4. Charges for using the business center, fitness center or other areas of the hotel.
  5. Some hotels now charge extra for a new set of clean towels or sheets.
  6. Some hotels add fees for using the in-room coffeemaker.
  7. Sometimes guests are charged for the in-room safe, even if they don’t use it.
  8. Package delivery fees are applied for receiving mail and other items to your room in some hotels.
  9. Bills at some hotels now include an “energy surcharge.”
  10. Paying to use the internet often comes with a fee, and sometimes it’s ridiculously steep.

Extra Travel Fees Here To Stay, Like It Or Not

by Chris Owen on

Extra travel fees bring customization options that can make for a more pleasant air, hotel, land or sea experience. Also called “user fees,” those who value the option they provide are relatively happy to pay. After all, these are not mandatory fees but options. Still, just the dollar amount makes experts wonder, “What’s next?”

Airline fees should add up to $36.1 billion in 2012, according to a recent study from IdeaWorksCompany reported in the Los Angeles Times. That includes extra travel fees for checked baggage, Internet use, food, drinks, premium seating, quick boarding and more. Up more than 10% over 2011, online travel agencies and airlines have figured out how to position buying options in the booking process. Out of convenience, passengers make online buying decisions to save time at the airport.”They are understanding how to raise and lower fees to maximize overall revenue and how to better position items in the booking path to drive better sales,” said Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorksCompany in the Los Angeles Times report.

While there are no hard numbers on cruise line extra travel fees, those can add up too, as travelers choose premium dining options, tours ashore and onboard extras to customize their travel experience.

Sure, we don’t have to check luggage, enjoy a drink on board or use the Internet in the air. It is a choice travelers make, an optional travel expense.

Air travelers can choose to carry on their luggage, take any seat they get, enjoy whatever is included with the flight and not spend one penny more on extra travel fees. Cruise travelers can indeed sail and spend nothing more than the price of the cruise.

But do we really want to?

Apparently not, as extra fees are becoming so commonplace that they are rarely questioned or even complained about. Optional user fees are designed to charge those who want the service and let others save the charge as we see in this video:


[Photo Credit: Flickr user mroach]

$6.79 Breakfast Sandwich And Other Avoidable Travel Expenses

by Chris Owen on

Which airline does the best job, which hotel has the best perks and which cruise line has the best past-guest program are topics that few travelers agree on. But when it comes to extra travel fees, all seem to agree: they are something to be avoided if at all possible.

Getting to the final cost of an airline ticket was made easy with recent truth in advertising rules put in place. But nowhere in that legislation was a requirement for airlines, airports, hotels, cruise lines and other travel service providers to be fair. We have to watch out for ourselves when traveling and while some parts of our travel plan are bound to cost more on the road than they do at home, some can be controlled with a little thought.

Talking to a person can cost. Some airlines charge $25 or more if you buy your ticket over the phone, speaking to a human being. While thinking the airline employee on the other end of the phone might be able to help out when we run into trouble scheduling online is not a bad idea, be prepared to pay more for the extra service.

Unnecessary insurance can add up fast. Rental car insurance fees are often redundant. Most travelers who own a car at home are covered if they rent one on the road. Check with your personal auto insurance agent to see. While you’re talking to them, ask if you have any travel coverage for anything at all and ask that same question of your health care insurance provider. Many travelers assume that they have no coverage but many do, if not through their regular health insurance, then through credit cards they may have if travel is purchased using those cards.

Post-Security purchases at the airport can be insanely high-priced. A $6 bottle of water can be avoided by bringing an empty re-usable water container that will make it through the security check. Planning on a meal between home and your destination? Bring it with you and save. Portable foods that are nutritious and not perishable are the best bets. Planning ahead for flight delays, energy bars like KIND bars are a good choice when brought from home – $1.50 versus at the price at a convenient kiosk in the airport by the gate for $3.79.

Breakfast sandwich at McDonald’s on the way to the airport: See the dollar menu.
American Airlines breakfast sandwich in the air: $6.79.


Printing cruise documents, what was once the cause for dancing, as travelers who looked forward to their cruise of a lifetime waited for the mailman to deliver, has gone electronic on all but a few cruise lines. Many major cruise lines simply don’t have the option of paper documents anymore. Royal Caribbean still offers a printed version of cruise documents, upon request at time of booking, for a $35 fee per document.

Probably one of the worst and most avoidable extra fees is Spirit Airlines $100 Carry-On Fee, due to start in November.

The idea is to discourage their customers from making last-minute luggage decisions. The current bag charges of $20 for $9 Fare Club members, $30 for online orders and $35 for telephone reservations go up $5 each on November 6. The prices for carry-on bags paid for at airport ticket counters or kiosks go from $40 to $50. Forget to pay that before you reach the gate? $100 will be the fee. The airline still allows one free small personal item that will fit under the seat.

Check this quick video with some ways to save on airline fees.

[Flickr photo by stevendepolo]

Travel fees and surcharges: Elliott tells us what we should expect in return

by Jeffrey White on

Yesterday, Grant told us matter-of-factly to suck it up and get used to the fees airlines are now charging for extra checked luggage. The fees are here to stay, he says, and more airlines are likely to follow suit.

Is 2008 turning into “the year of the fee” for travelers? Christopher Elliott sure thinks so. If you’re looking for a nice breakdown of all the extras us travelers are facing out there these days, check out this dispatch from Elliott.

Elliott posits that while you may not be able to do anything about fees — and he singles out additional luggage, security, fuel and resort surcharges — you certainly have the right to expect somethings in exchange, like:

  • A refund on fuel surcharges if the price of oil goes down
  • Better luggage tracking technology
  • Security screening technology that can scan liquids and gels
  • A more logical TSA “no-fly” list (one that weeds out five-year-old children)

OK, so there’s a lot of wishful thinking here. But his basic question is spot on: If we’re going to be shelling out more on our travels, shouldn’t be demanding something in return?