I just read on Chris Elliott about a guy who was charged an extra $500 on an online travel-booking site because of his nationality. From the post:
“There are a number of resorts/hotels that have different rates and conditions according to the guest’s nationality,” Otel.com explained in a note. “In some cases the rates on our website at these particular resorts/hotels will not be applicable for the US market.”
A $1,200 fee for being American? Seriously?
Or was it a simple rate error? We don't know. What we do know is that hotel fees are not going away any time soon—they're just too profitable. In fact, U.S. hotels collected $1.85 billion in fees last year, and the trend is ever moving upward, according to this article on HotelNewsNow. What will they think of to slap a surcharge on next?
Do you think these fees are OK as long as they're for something that has value to you and are made clear up front? As a planner, how successful are you at getting them waived for your attendees?