Articles tagged “fees”

This is going to be a slugfest. Some hotels view resort fees as key to business and argue that they are already transparent in how they advertise them. Consumers, states, and now federal legislators are putting great pressure on that notion. Something's gotta give — and the status quo is not a likely winner.

The base fares advertised by many cruise lines rarely indicate the proliferation of onboard charges that can send the cost of the cruise soaring. Travel advisors are stepping in by counseling clients about the added costs and, in some cases, presenting all-inclusive cruises as a better value.

It will be tremendously complex for Airbnb to transition from an alternative accommodations site into one that also offers lots of hotels. The coming business model changes and technology challenges will get sorted out, but it will be rocky for quite some time.

Airbnb is clearly now well down the path toward a host-only fee structure. Chalk it up to its push toward onboarding hotels, which don't charge guest fees, and Airbnb's competition with Booking.com, which sees guest fees as unholy.

Get ready for some commotion in Las Vegas and other destinations where hotel resort fees are common. Will impacted hotels abandon Booking.com? Will resort fees lose their appeal for hotels? Will Expedia follow Booking's lead? The fun and gamesmanship are just starting.

Southwest has known for years that there is money to be made in differentiation and protecting your brand identity regardless of what Wall Street thinks. That's a factor in its decision not to launch basic economy or bag fees.

Online travel agencies have been vehemently opposed to detailing the components of the taxes and fees they collect on prepaid hotel bookings because it would expose the wholesale rates they obtain from hotels and the markups that the booking sites impose. This lawsuit could potentially impose changes in Expedia's financial relationship with its affiliates.

Expedia officials can try to assure hoteliers that the rise of alternative accommodations is no big deal for their businesses. But you can be certain that figuring out how to manage this changing dynamic is of paramount concern for all parties involved.

Travel advisors need to reinvent how they market themselves. It's not about service fees anymore. Forward-thinking agents sell service packages — unabashedly.

Consultant Nolan Burris is a pioneer in advocating that travel agencies charge service fees. Now that the practice has become standard, Burris says many agencies have failed to realize the revenue potential of service packages and need to overhaul their approach.