Hidden Booking Fees

The cluster focuses on complaints about hidden or surprise fees in accommodation bookings like Airbnb cleaning fees and hotel resort fees, which are not included in advertised prices and only revealed at checkout, with calls for upfront total pricing transparency.

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#4280
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Keywords

US EZ OP amazonaws.com IKEA imgur.com AirBnb T2 GSP EU fees fee price airbnb nightly hidden cleaning included checkout advertised

Sample Comments

jplona Feb 20, 2023 View on HN

My experience is the same as yours. However I think these fees are still hidden in the sense that they're not part of the rate that's advertised everywhere, shown in the thumbnail on the hotel website, etc. It would be better if we could just trust that the advertised price would be the actual price.

monochromatic Feb 22, 2015 View on HN

The fact that there is a fee is hidden though.

nhangen Feb 23, 2011 View on HN

Would you rather they bury the fee in the price?It's not like they're hiding it in fine print, it is right there plain as day during checkout.I just booked for the first time and thought the process was great, and will use it again.

ezfe May 7, 2025 View on HN

Are those fees not included in the advertised price? The issue is not fees themselves but fees that are added on at the checkout screen.

jak92 Mar 7, 2019 View on HN

when is a fee not a fee? why isn't it included in the fee + taxes ?

photonthug Dec 21, 2023 View on HN

Bill us what it costs then, consumers don't want hidden fees. Harassment, like resort fees and fake taxes, is a hidden fee.

thfuran May 7, 2025 View on HN

Why not ban hidden fees altogether?

lobocinza Aug 8, 2021 View on HN

Another hidden fee in those "free" services.

senttoschool Jul 31, 2023 View on HN

I think OP is saying that the fee wasn't presented in the check out. It's reasonable for customers to assume that there are no other costs except for whatever was at the Airbnb checkout screen process.

pdpi Aug 26, 2014 View on HN

Fine. Then announce the fixed fees upfront.Announcing "x per night, y fixed cost" is different from announcing "x per night" but then tacking in the charge for y at the last minute.