LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — With inflation on everyone's mind, no doubt you and your family are making careful spending choices.
As we head into the weekend, if you're splurging on a special event or staycation on the strip, you may be paying more than you bargained for. Even just going out to eat, you're likely to get hit with junk fees: those extra price tags that seem to be popping up everywhere.
In a minute, we'll look at junk fees in our community. But first, on a national level, the Biden administration is taking aim at junk fees in the healthcare industry.
"The travel industry figured out how to charge customers $90 a night in resort fees for hotels that aren't resorts," Biden said in a Friday afternoon press conference. "You think I'm kidding! Hospitals are trying to do something similar by using different designations to charge their higher out-of-network rates or charging hidden facility fees for going to a doctor's office in the building owned by the hospital."
Biden announced new federal actions including a proposed rule to close loopholes that companies use to offer misleading short-term health insurance that can discriminate based on pre-existing conditions and trick consumers into buying policies that provide little or no coverage, saddling families with thousands of dollars in surprise medical expenses.
The administration has already cracked down on bounced check and overdraft fees in the banking industry, worked to require airlines to disclose all fees up front, and mobilized the private sector to eliminate hidden junk fees for concert and sports tickets.
13 Investigates began reporting last year on what we called the 'Attack of the Killer Fees!' Now, we're learning of a new way one local business has found to stick it to consumers in Las Vegas.
Musician Joel Maitoza and his wife regularly visit Las Vegas for quick getaways from their Southern California home. They come so often, they've got players cards at Caesars properties.
In early June, they planned a one-night stay at the Paris hotel and casino on the Strip to break up a road trip home from Utah.
"We got there at around 11:30-noon," Maitoza said. That was several hours before Paris' official 4:00 pm check-in time.
"When we found out they were going to charge us an additional fee for early check-in, I told my wife screw it. Let's just eat the money that we paid Expedia to stay here and go home. It doesn't make any sense. We're paying more for an early check-in fee than what we paid for the hotel charge."
But tired from a long, early morning drive, they decided to stay.
"If they gave you the key and you were able to go right up to your room, what are you even paying for," asked 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears.
"Yeah! It was an additional $50 charge," Maitoza said. "And I said well, we're just gonna go hang out at the pool and you can just text me when the room's ready and they said you need a key to get into the pool area so technically you need to be checked in."
On the hotel's website, if you scroll down near the bottom in the FAQ section, you'll find a question about check-in times. Click on that and it says early check-in is "based on availability at a moderate fee."
Maitoza said they didn't know in advance about that or that they'd have to pay $18 for parking. None of it, he said, was disclosed on Expedia when he booked the room.
"And of course, the resort fee was like $50-something. So the funny thing was on Expedia, the room was like $44 for the night. After you add in parking and the resort fee and the early check-in fee, you're up to almost $200 now."
The pain from this nickle-and-diming runs deeper than what it rips from our wallets.
"Resort fees are really a lightning rod for frustration of travelers," said Scott Roeben, founder of the popular Vital Vegas blog.
Roeben hears from thousands of visitors fed up with sinful fees in Sin City, including a devilish fee that lurks at the bottom of some restaurant tabs.
"They're called concession fees. Sometimes they're called service charges. The restaurant can call them pretty much whatever they want."
Tickets for concerts and special events might be where this foul practice of coin-snatching was spawned. But soon, it won't be as common. Live Nation and Ticketmaster promised President Biden they will commit to "upfront all-in pricing."
In our previous report about junk fees, we talked to Las Vegas resident Torri Ana about how hard she was hit for John Legend concert tickets on Ticketmaster.
RELATED LINK: More and more 'junk fees' appearing in Las Vegas tourist industry
"They were $158 for the actual tickets--for the two tickets. But then, I ended up paying the service fee, which was $21 each. So then I ended up paying $42. And then, also, the order processing fees were $5.50."
In total, junk fees alone were $47.50. So with a base price of $79 per ticket, Ana forked over 30% in fees.
The Biden administration has argued hidden fees make it too confusing for honest comparison shopping, the most basic element a competitive free-market needs to thrive, and it's costing consumers millions of dollars every year in money that should be spent on other goods and actual services.
Roeben said junk fees have an out-sized, ill effect here in the entertainment capital of the world.
"Fees make people feel like they're being hoodwinked and they perceive it as shady behavior."
He said it's something he believes hurts us all.
"I hear from thousands and thousands of people and many of them, even pre-pandemic. We're talking about the fact that they used to come to Vegas six or eight times a year but they had narrowed it down to maybe once or twice a year based on that feeling that they get when they feel ripped off."
We reached out to Caesars Entertainment about the Paris hotel's early check-in fee but had not received a response as of the writing of this article.
Live Nation is expected to roll out "upfront pricing" in September and President Biden believes other companies will follow.
