Hopper Settles With the FTC Over Practices Expedia Called Out in 2023

Key Points

• Hopper will pay $35 million to settle FTC claims of hidden, pre-selected fees and misrepresented Price Freeze benefits, without admitting or denying the allegations.
• The FTC says Hopper earned roughly $85 million over three years from Tip and VIP Support fees, and that the conduct violated the FTC Act and the new Unfair and Deceptive Fees Rule on junk fees.
• The settlement covers only Hopper's own app, not its B2B partners (Uber, Expedia, Capital One, RBC); Expedia had cut ties in 2023 over similar concerns before restoring the partnership 17 months later.

Summary

Travel booking app Hopper has agreed to pay $35 million to settle FTC allegations that it charged users pre-selected "Tip" and "VIP Support" fees without clear consent and misrepresented the benefits of its Price Freeze products. The FTC claims Hopper displayed total prices excluding hidden fees, and that Price Freeze protections were capped and conditional in ways not adequately disclosed—conduct the agency says violated the FTC Act and its new junk-fees rule for lodging bookings. Hopper settled without admitting wrongdoing, characterizing the allegations as narrow and tied to outdated pandemic-era display practices it discontinued in mid-2023. Notably, the settlement applies only to Hopper's own app and not to its B2B partners such as Uber, Expedia, Capital One, and RBC. The case underscores growing regulatory scrutiny of deceptive pricing and fee practices across the travel sector.