A major part of so-called trickle pricing seems to be a thing of the past at the world’s largest hotel company.
In recent years, resort fees have often topped the list of travel annoyances, as these fees – sometimes up to $100 a night – are often not included in the listed nightly rate. originally for a hotel.
US President Joe Biden has targeted this practice during his State of the Union speech earlier this year, and Marriott was even the target of an investigation by the Pennsylvania attorney general into how the company handled resort fees.
Marriott has finally settled with Pennsylvania AG. While Marriott insists that it’s always transparent in how it charges (usually indicated in the blue box stating additional fees at the top of the booking window), the company now bundles resort fees into one price.
Sample bookings for Marriott properties in New York City this week show the Times Square Edition, Renaissance New York Times Square Hotel, New York Marriott Marquis, and other Marriott-affiliated hotels in the area including a “convenience fee” accommodation at destination” to the nightly room rate and note that such a fee is part of the total cost.
However, fee transparency is more than just online booking. All price displays for Marriott bookings must now include resort or destination fees, and call center agents must also include the fees in their overall quote, A View From the Wing reported.
Marriott and all of their competitors charge resort and destination fees, but if Marriott now bundles its prices, does that mean the industry will follow suit?
Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano defended the company’s overall transparency during a recent company earnings call, but he did not disclose whether he felt the industry as a whole would follow suit. Are not.
“It’s not that those things are hidden somehow. We’re simply clarifying and enhancing that transparency,” Capuano said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call earlier this month. “I will leave it to the state [attorney general] around the rest of the country for the rest of the industry. But I am pleased that we will lead the industry in transparency in disclosing information to our guests.”
Sign up for our daily newsletter
Next person?
This isn’t the end of the resort fees for Marriott or any of its competitors — and it’s not clear that other hotel companies will immediately follow Marriott’s lead.
Sample bookings throughout the month in cities like New York City and Boston show that Hilton, Accor, IHG, and Hyatt hotels all charge resort or destination fees but don’t include them in the price initially displayed.
However, they all note the fee before paying.
Marriott’s sole position as the ultimate resort fee payer may change, as there is speculation that additional lawsuits from attorneys general in states such as California and Texas as well as the District of Columbia could potentially change. inspired other hotel companies to settle a lawsuit Marriott did with Pennsylvania.
Resort fee: A dairy cow that tourists hate
While resort fees are targeted under the Biden-proposed Garbage Charges Prevention Act, Capuano has previously defended Marriott’s treatment of resort fees by noting that the company has always labeled the additional fee added during the booking process.
However, one audit included in the Pennsylvania case of Marriott’s resort-charged properties for the last five months of 2015 found that only 67% of Marriott properties that charge a resort disclosed the fee at the time of booking.
Marriott has earned at least $206 million in resort and destination fees at its self-managed resorts since 2012, according to the Pennsylvania lawsuit. These fees range from $9 to $95 per night.
Curious carveouts
Online travel agents like Expedia and Priceline continue to display resort fees independently of the overall nightly rate.
If more hotel companies switch to Marriott’s model and online travel agents show lower rates being noticed — that would turn out to be a potential competitive advantage (at least at face value) in the ongoing OTA war with direct booking war. Hotel companies always prefer travelers to book directly, as that means they don’t have to pay a percentage of the discounted nightly rate to an external brand like Expedia.
Note: Booking via OTA usually means you will not earn loyalty points for your vacation.
Related readings:
