FTC Implements New Rules on Surprise Fees When Booking Hotels and Vacation Rentals

Updated: May 13, 2025, 4:04pm CDT

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New FTC Rules For Hotel Pricing
Final Thoughts

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After announcing the change in December, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has officially implemented “junk fee” rules for short-term accommodation (hotels and vacation rentals) and live event tickets.

This change went into effect on May 12, 2025, and requires resort and other service fees to be shown in the up-front price. In the past, these fees were often added during the booking process, making it hard to compare the prices of two hotels in the same city. This is because you wouldn’t see the final price, including fees, until the check-out page.

The FTC claims its new rules will create more transparent pricing for consumers when booking a hotel room or buying an event ticket. Here’s a closer look at these new rules and how change hotel room pricing across

New FTC Rules For Hotel Pricing

The FTC’s new junk fee rules for short-term accommodation providers and ticket sellers are relatively straightforward. First, the agency hasn’t prohibited adding fees to the cost of a hotel room. Instead, businesses must provide consumers an up-front price that includes all fees.

Paris Las Vegas view from fountain show at Bellagio — Hotels in Las Vegas notoriously charge high resort fees. Image Credit: Ryan Smith

Specifically, the FTC’s new rules state that businesses must include all mandatory fees whenever they offer rooms for rent or tickets for sale. This means that ads and online travel agencies must now show an all-in price instead of just a room rate that doesn’t include extra fees charged by the hotel, like resort fees. This was a common practice until the change was announced.

In other words, hotels can still charge resort fees, but the average nightly rate is displayed more prominently than the room rate without the resort fee.

Further, businesses must display the all-in price more prominently than other pricing information. Businesses excluding allowable fees upfront will be required to clearly show the purpose and amount of each fee before consumers pay.

Many major hotel groups have already implemented changes to comply with the FTC’s new rules. For example, MGM Resorts shows its resort fees in the average nightly rate when searching its website for stays in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and other U.S. destinations. This makes the company compliant with the new FTC rules.

MGM Website Showing Resort Fees In Price — Image Credit: MGM

Expedia and other online travel agencies also display resort fees in their search results.

New York New York Las Vegas on Expedia — Image Credit: Expedia

You can file a complaint with the FTC if you book a hotel stay and are not shown extra fees upfront. According to CNBC, fees for violating these new rules can “exceed $50,000.” You can file a complaint using the FTC website’s complaint page.

Hot Tip:

Note that this isn’t the first time we’ve seen resort fees come under fire. For example, in 2021, Marriott agreed to include resort fees in room rates after the Attorney General of Pennsylvania called the practices deceptive. Further, Hyatt started doing the same after it faced a lawsuit.

Final Thoughts

Seeing the FTC enact pro-consumer rules around hotel and live event ticket pricing is great. It’s not uncommon to book a hotel in places like Las Vegas and be charged a resort fee higher than your room rate. These new rules mean that these fees must be shown up-front when searching for hotel rooms online and in online advertising, making it easier to compare hotel pricing.