LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A major change could be coming to the world of hotels, concerts, and ticketed events, and it would be a win for consumers in Las Vegas and beyond.
The Federal Trade Commission announced a bipartisan rule that would ban junk ticket and hotel fees that businesses love to tack on at the last minute.
Channel 13 went out and asked people — "How does it feel to be hit with junk fees at checkout?"
“You kind of feel like you’re being scammed if you don’t have the full cost of what you’re gonna be paying upfront,” said Larissa Howie, who was visiting Las Vegas.
“The total comes out and it’s always a lot more than I was expecting,” said Elaine Olandez, who lives in Las Vegas.
Every person our crew asked had the same thing to share — get rid of them! Las Vegas-based attorney Sam Mirejovsky said that could happen at some point soon.
“Customers are savvy and are smart enough to know when they’re being taken advantage of,” Mirejovsky said.
In December, the FTC announced a final Junk Fees Rule to prohibit bait-and-switch pricing and other tactics to hide total prices and bury junk fees in the live-event ticketing and short-term lodging industries.
The impact could be big in a city like Las Vegas and here’s why.
“One of the things that’s very unpopular in Vegas are resort fees. The nightly rate is very low, maybe $50 or so, and then the resort fee is just as much as that. It can double the cost of a nightly stay,” Mirejovsky said.
While the rule does not limit what sellers can charge for a product or service, it requires businesses to display the total price more prominently.
“By the time you’re done clicking and going through the whole menu the price is 1 1/2 times, maybe more, than what you thought it was when you were committing to the ticket,” Mirejovsky said.
The FTC estimates the rule will save Americans over 53 million hours a year and $11 billion over the next decade, but if the change sounds too good to be true, you’re probably right.
“Here's what’s interesting: it may never actually go into effect and that’s because the one ‘no’ on the committee will be the incoming chair of the FTC,” Mirejovsky explained.
The rule was approved with bipartisan support among the commissioners of the FTC, but Andrew Ferguson, president-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the next FTC chair, was the one person to disagree.
“We’ll see what happens here after Jan. 20 if in fact it does go into law. I think there’s gonna be pushback from the industry on this. I think a lot of businesses that want to advertise lower, get the customer with the number tactics, are going to be motivated to keep that,” Mirejovsky said.
While critics argue this could make prices look higher at first glance, the FTC insists it’s a step toward clarity and most consumers agree.
“Sometimes I will go through the process of trying to book something and then all the costs will come up at the end, and then I'll reconsider, go somewhere else, and then the same thing will happen, so if it was upfront it would save time,” Scarlette Wild said.
“I think that’s all we need is straightforward fees and straight to the point,” Olandez said.
If the rule does go into effect, the FTC will have the power to impose financial penalties on short-term rental and live-event ticketing companies that don’t disclose their full price to consumers up-front.
