Travel ‘Junk Fee’ Crackdown: Skift Explains

President Biden has publicly called out travel companies as part of a crackdown on so-called junk fees, a campaign that takes aim at companies across the sector, looking at their fee structures and how they are displayed.

The White House first raised concerns over these fees in October 2022 and has kept the conversation going, specifically targeting airline and hotel resort fees. It has now taken additional steps: The Federal Trade Commission proposed new rules that would ban businesses – including hotel and lodging companies, short-term rental providers, and car rentals – from charging misleading fees. 

In March this year, two democratic senators introduced the Junk Fee Prevention Act, which would require full prices to be shown upfront and targets "surprise" and "exorbitant" fees. In July, Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar and Jerry Moran, a Republican, introduced a bipartisan bill known as the Hotel Fees Transparency Act, which would address the issue of