Summer Travel: Be Prepared for Higher Prices. And Higher Fees.
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Here's your Money Briefing for Friday, June 9th. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. Last month, we told you to be prepared for the sticker shock of higher airfares and hotel rooms this summer. And if that's not bad enough, be ready to dig a little deeper to cover higher fees.
So many people don't look at their receipt, you know, until they get home and it's too late. And this man, he was at a conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, and he found a $10 Bellman gratuity. He didn't use the Bellman. He found a $3 daily housekeeping fee and he had already left cash for the housekeeper. And then he found a credit card processing fee, which I have not come across very frequently.
How much more will airfare and hotels cost this summer and why?
So he wasn't very happy.
Wall Street Journal travel columnist Dawn Gilbertson will join us to discuss ways to avoid paying those annoying fees, after the break.
The rising cost of airfares and hotel rooms has made it a lot more expensive to travel this summer compared to last year. And then there are the fees. Travel columnist Dawn Gilbertson joins us. So, Dawn, we saw airlines and other travel companies eliminate some fees during the pandemic. Is the return of so many fees the clearest sign to date that we've returned to normal?
I mean, it is definitely one sign. I mean, some fees didn't go away. The most notable fee that did go away during the pandemic, in fact, permanently in many cases, are those airline ticket change fees. They used to be as much as $200 or $250 a ticket. So those are gone for good. But people need to know that doesn't apply to all airline tickets.
You've been with us before talking about fees on basic economy tickets. Are those on the rise?
They're not necessarily on the rise. It's just a lot of people don't realize that they're back. You know, because airlines permanently eliminated change fees on regular tickets, you know, during the pandemic, they're back on basic economy tickets. So in some cases, you know, on those no-frill tickets, you can't change at all. In others, you'll still pay a fee of, you know, $100 to $200 if you can change them. So it's just really something travelers have to keep in mind, you know, when they click buy on the cheapest ticket.
You know, when President Biden talked about going to war against junk fees a few months ago, he mentioned fees on airline tickets. Has anything come about from that?
Nothing yet. Obviously, all these fees and this industry is under a microscope by President Biden and the U.S. Department of Transportation. But those proposals tend to take quite a long time to wind through the government. So we haven't seen anything solid on that front yet.
Now, airline fees are often public enemy number one, but as you wrote in your reporting, hotels have gotten in on the act also. What should people reserving hotel rooms watch out for?
Obviously, resort fees are enemy number one when it comes to hotels. I was in Las Vegas. The resort fee at the hotels I stayed in was between $40 and $50 a night, mandatory. But we all know about those fees generally, but then there's some smaller fees that people need to be aware of. A lot of people today... Maybe you want to have, say, Amazon groceries delivered to the hotel or something they forgot. A lot of hotels charge a package handling fee. Marriott charges $10.
Just to have a package delivered to the room?
Yeah, to the front desk, yep.
Now, you spoke to a California resident who found a long list of fees on his hotel bill. What were they charging him for?
Well, yeah, he didn't realize it till he got home. You know, so many of us don't. And this is one thing that, you know, travelers really need to pay attention to. So many people don't look at their receipt, you know, until they get home and it's too late to, you know, go to the front desk and say, well, what is this? And this man, he was at a conference. in Scottsdale, Arizona, and he found a $10 Bellman gratuity. He didn't use the Bellman. He found a $3 daily housekeeping fee, and he had already left cash for the housekeeper. And then he found a credit card processing fee, which I have not come across very frequently.
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