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Hidden Fees Hike the Cost of Lodging, Event Tickets

AARP endorses legislation that would require hotels and ticketing firms to display the total price upfront

Miriam Cross,

AARP

En español

Published July 28, 2025

a hotel with various price tags on different colored circles

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The nightly rate that pops up when you search online for a hotel or short-term rental isn’t necessarily what you end up paying. The bill may ultimately include mandatory service fees and other charges, which increase the final cost beyond what you expected to spend.

It’s a similar story of sticker shock with live-event tickets. Companies pile all kinds of fees onto tickets for concerts, theater and sports, whether they’re convenience fees for buying online or processing fees to cover shipping and handling.

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AARP is supporting two pieces of bipartisan, bicameral legislation to combat these practices. Making billing more transparent is particularly important to people 50-plus. Nearly 70 percent of older adults said they planned to travel this year, according to a March AARP survey, but 45 percent of respondents said cost was the biggest barrier to fulfilling these plans. Older adults are also avid users of technology when arranging trips, including hotel websites and other travel search sites.

A 2024 AARP survey found that 87 percent of older consumers use hotel websites to plan, while 73 percent turn to online booking megasites.

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The Hotel Fee Transparency Act passed the House of Representatives in April, and a companion bill is making its way through the Senate. The proposed legislation requires that short-term accommodations, such as hotels, motels and rentals, display the total cost upfront, including service fees, and disclose taxes and additional fees imposed by government entities before customers make their purchase.

“Cost-conscious consumers should be able to shop around for a good deal and not get hit with surprise fees when they check out of the hotel,” AARP Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Bill Sweeney wrote in July 22 letters to Reps. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) and Young Kim (R-Calif.), who cosponsored the House bill, and to Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who cosponsored the Senate bill. “These extra fees can be especially challenging for older people living on fixed incomes, who must carefully budget for travel to visit family or enjoy well-earned leisure.”

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The Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing Act, or the TICKET Act, passed the House in April, where it is cosponsored by Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) and Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.); a companion bill was introduced in the Senate by Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.). It requires ticket sellers for shows, sporting events and more to display the total price for the event from the start and use only that price in all advertisements.

“Fees associated with tickets for concerts, plays, and other entertainment events have been a perpetual irritation for consumers, who have trouble determining what they will pay until they are checking out,” wrote Sweeney in a pair of letters to lawmakers on May 29. “Fans are often disappointed when affordable tickets for a favorite sports team or band turn out to be much more expensive or unavailable, and this bill would help to bring important transparency to the process.”

These efforts follow the Federal Trade Commission’s final rule on deceptive fees, which took effect May 12. It requires businesses that offer, display or advertise live-event tickets and short-term lodging to fold mandatory fees into the prices so consumers know exactly what they are paying.

AARP wrote to FTC Chair Lina Khan in January 2024 in support of this rule, noting that hidden fees have a substantial impact on older adults, many of whom rely on fixed and modest incomes. The letter noted that resort fees obscure the true cost of a hotel room, adding up to $30 — sometimes more — to the nightly rate. It also cited a 2018 Government Accountability Office report that found primary- and secondary-market ticketing companies charge total fees hovering around 30 percent of the ticket’s price.

Miriam Cross is a writer for AARP covering advocacy issues. She previously worked at American Banker and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.

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