House of Representatives passes law to regulate hidden hotel fees (2024)

Dive Brief:

• In a bipartisan vote on Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the No Hidden FEES Act, which would create a single standard for transparent fee displays across the lodging industry.
• The bill would impact businesses across the lodging sector, including hotels, short-term rental platforms and online travel agencies. Similar legislation, the Hotel Fees Transparency Act, is currently being considered in the Senate.
• The American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Asian American Hotel Owners Association applauded the House’s passing of the act, the latest piece of proposed legislation targeting what critics call “junk fees.”

Dive Insight:

Both the No Hidden FEES Act and the Hotel Fees Transparency Act would establish a single standard for displaying mandatory fees across “the entire lodging ecosystem,” according to AHLA.

“It makes sense for all lodging businesses — from short-term rentals to online travel agencies, metasearch sites, and hotels — to tell guests up front about mandatory fees,” said AHLA Interim President and CEO Kevin Carey in a statement. “That’s why AHLA has led efforts supporting federal legislation to establish a single and transparent standard for mandatory lodging fee displays and an even competitive playing field.”

AAHOA called the act’s passing a “significant win.”

"Currently, the way prices are advertised across the lodging industry is fragmented and not uniform," AAHOA President and CEO Laura Lee Blake said in a statement. "This bill provides consumers a transparent and easy-to-understand total price for an overnight stay.”

AAHOA Chairman Miraj Patel added that the bill would help guests “make better-informed decisions in selecting a place to stay.”

Representatives Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) introduced the No Hidden FEES Act in December, a few months after Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kans.) introduced the Hotel Fees Transparency Act in the Senate.

President Joe Biden has repeatedly pledged to tackle “junk fees,” noting in his 2024 State of the Union speech that his administration had “proposed rules to make cable, travel, utilities and online ticket sellers tell you the total price up front so there are no surprises.”