Vacations are such a great thing! You know that feeling when you get off the plane, leave the airport and head to your hotel? You walk in full of excitement and ready to begin your adventure – or head to the spa to begin relaxing, or the bar for a quick drink, whatever’s your pleasure (we don’t judge) – but then you get to the front desk.
You’ve arrived an hour early, and despite your super-double-platinum-diamond status they tell you it’s going to be $50 if you want to get into your room right away.
Excuse me, what now?!
Here are Five Fast Facts on hotels charging for things that used to be free:
- 📈 The Trend - Unfortunately for travelers, this is becoming all too common now. Many hotels are adding fees for little perks that used to be free…even for travelers who have built up high levels of loyalty status! Of particular note is early and late check-in, which can now cost anywhere from $25-150! Well, then what’s the point of status if you can’t take a free waltz past the schlubs who don’t have it?!
- ♠️ What Happens In Las Vegas… - These fees have been normal for a long time in Las Vegas, but the trend is now spreading all over as hotels – even cheap ones – look to bulk up their bottom line. This is one thing that really should have stayed in Las Vegas.
- 🚫 No Vacancy - The pandemic threw a massive wrench into the entire hotel industry. Many hotels sat almost completely empty for months, driving prices down through the floor. Now that travel demand has surged back up, so have prices…both fees and nightly rates. The number of hotel rooms in the US increased by about 3% from 2019 to April of this year, but that’s still not keeping up with the demand. People are trying to get back out and experience life again, you know?
- 💰 Rate Madness - The average hotel stay in May of this year averaged a little under $160 per night, a whopping 17% increase from 2019! This is up from a pandemic low of around $73 per night. Talk about a roller coaster!
- 🏨 Across The Spectrum - This is not just high end hotels, either. Mid-level and economy rooms currently cost 15-20% more than pre-pandemic rates per night, and don’t appear to be going down anytime soon. When even the Econolodge is no longer “econo” then we have a problem!
🔥Bottom line: Not all hotels are adding these fees alongside their rising prices, but enough are that it’s becoming a trend worth reporting on. When you book travel, check the fine print or ask the hotel what the situation is, and consider booking elsewhere if they try to load you up. The only way to force them to back off is by spending your dollars where the fees aren’t.
In the meantime, whether you pay these fees or not, either way at least now you’ve been warned.
Have you seen these fees at any hotels recently?
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