From Travel to Taylor Swift, Hidden Fees Are on the Rise

“Financial institutions should compete for consumers’ business based on the quality of their products and services and attractive interest rates. Their profit models should not rely on excessive and unpredictable junk fees,” Deborah Royster, CFPB assistant director in the Office for Older Americans, told AARP.

Separately, the U.S. Department of Transportation proposed a rule to make extra fees more transparent. It wants airlines to issue refunds for checked bag fees when luggage is significantly delayed or when services such as Wi-Fi don’t work in flight. Its public comment period has closed.

On Jan. 23, AARP sent a letter to the Transportation Department asking the agency to finalize and strengthen the proposed rules to protect consumers.

“While added fees may be appropriate in certain circumstances, the high fees for changing or canceling travel plans and fees for families to reserve seats together do not promote affordable access to travel by air,” the letter read in part. “While disclosure is an essential first step, we would encourage the department, and the airlines themselves, to reduce or eliminate such fees wherever possible.”

Consumers speak out

AARP informally canvassed social media users to ask which junk fees bothered them the most. The comments aren’t surprising.

“Activation fee, convenience fee, or administrative fee of any sort,” responded Jon Freeman, 47, an independent automobile consultant in Dallas. “So I’m buying a service from you. But in order to do that, I also have to pay a one-time fee of a completely arbitrary amount just so someone can type a few buttons on their computer, which they do anyway?” 

Northern Virginia–based tech consultant Stephen Baker takes issue with phone providers: “The idea that you have to pay [them] a fee to upgrade or trade in your phone is reprehensible.”

A gaggle of other fees came up: charges to reserve an Uber ride, service fees at Airbnb, fees tacked onto cable bills and rental car agreements and those added to the tab at restaurants. Ticketmaster, which has more than 80 percent of the market for major live concerts and professional sporting events, was frequently mentioned.

If you wanted Taylor Swift concert tickets for your kids or grandkids when they went on sale in November, you had to get them via Ticketmaster through a process that could drive fans of any age nuts. First, you had to register as a “Verified Fan” of the artist to be eligible for a presale.

Ticketmaster explains the procedure is designed to help manage high-demand shows, identify real humans and weed out bots. Some Capital One credit card holders were also eligible for the presale.

Hopeful fans then had to wait for an email with a code saying they were selected to participate in a Swift presale. Demand was staggering: More than 3.5 million registered for the presale.

That left about 2 million other Verified Fans on a waiting list. Ticketmaster’s site crashed, and even those lucky enough to get tickets had to wait in the queue for hours.

Ticketmaster apologized and in mid-December sent emails to a limited subset of consumers who would get another shot at tickets. Through all this, Ticketmaster hasn’t waived any of its fees.

In the aftermath of the Swift presale problems, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) called a hearing Jan. 24 to examine the “lack of competition” in the ticketing industry.

“The high fees, site disruptions and cancellations that customers experienced shows how Ticketmaster’s dominant market position means the company does not face any pressure to continually innovate and improve,” Klobuchar said in a statement. 

During the hearing, lawmakers from both parties grilled Joe Berchtold, the president and chief financial officer of Live Nation Entertainment, on the Swift chaos. Live Nation Entertainment is Ticketmaster's parent company.

“You have brought together Republicans and Democrats in an absolutely unified cause,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

For his part, Berchtold blamed the Swift fiasco on scalper bot attacks that were three times the amount of traffic that Ticketmaster had ever previously seen.

Ticketmaster didn’t respond to an earlier AARP email request for comment. Its typical charges include:

Service fees, also known as convenience charges, added to the face value price or for a resale ticket to the listing price of each ticket. The fee varies by event based on Ticketmaster’s agreements with its clients.

Order processing fees that offset the costs of ticket handling, shipping and support. The fee is generally not charged at the box office. In some cases, order processing costs are lower than the order processing fee, so Ticketmaster may earn a profit on the fee. 

Delivery fees that Ticketmaster may profit on as well. Clients determine delivery fees that vary by event, but the company may have lower costs.

4 ways you can fight the fees

Consumers aren’t totally powerless. Some steps to consider:

1. Research prices up front. If an advertised price or fare seems too good to be true, it probably is.

“Always ask what the catch is,” says Linchi Kwok, a professor at the Collins College of Hospitality Management at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Ask to see the fee structure and, if need be, get a friend or family member to go over the charges with you.

2. Say something. It never hurts to ask about a fee that shows up on your bill.

“I think it is good advice that consumers who are hit with a junk fee say something to the company. Some companies will respond, ‘You know what? You’re right. We’re sorry about that. Here’s your $20 or $50 back.’ Many will not,” Austin King, FTC associate general counsel for rulemaking, said in an interview.

3. Take your business elsewhere. “Is there an alternative, and is it a better alternative in your circumstance?” asks Lyle Solomon, 66, principal attorney at Oak View Law Group in Auburn, California.

“It’s not very hard today to find a credit card that does not have an annual fee [or] a bank that doesn’t charge ATM or account maintenance fees,” he says. “The harder ones are airlines and convenience fees on ticket purchases because you may not have a reasonable alternative.”

If a single ticket vendor handles the show you want to see, you’re probably stuck unless you’re willing to pay potentially higher prices in the resale market. In some places, you can save on fees by visiting the box office, but not everyone has the time or wherewithal.

Mike McDougall, 49, who owns a public relations agency in Rochester, New York, says resort fees are fine with him as long as a hotel property discloses them ahead of time and offers an opt-out.

When they don’t, “it’s a money grab, pure and simple,” he says. “The scheme is now being used in some major [metropolitan areas] at well-respected hotel brands, too, in hopes that it slides into corporate charge accounts without notice. Front desk staff tell me they’re powerless to do anything about it. I now book elsewhere.”

4. File a complaint. You have a few avenues.

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. If your issue is with a bank or other financial entity. The CFPB says it sends more than 10,000 complaints weekly to financial companies asking for a response. Most respond within 15 days. Companies may feel the pressure, since the CFPB’s complaint database is public.

• Federal Trade Commission. The agency needs time to come up with rules for handling and policing fees. For now, it generally lacks the authority to seek penalties against first-time violators or to provide financial relief for consumers. But it is seeking public comments on what those rules should look like, based on examples of fees attached to worthless, free or fake products and services. The agency says it welcomes complaints from the public of rip-offs, deceptive advertising and scams.

• Department of Transportation. If your complaint is about an airline fee, contact this agency.

• State agencies. Many states prohibit unfair or deceptive acts or practices, so you may find a remedy by contacting your state attorney general’s office or state consumer protection office. You also can reach out to the Better Business Bureau and members of Congress.

This story, originally published Dec. 27, 2022, has been updated to reflect a bipartisan Senate hearing on Ticketmaster’s business practices and AARP’s outreach to the Department of Transportation.