In a state of weary resignation, most of us have become used to the extra charges that airlines now routinely add to their airfares. We think nothing ill of the fee for making a phone call to an airline reservationist, or of the charge for checking luggage onto a flight, or for occupying an economy seat with two inches of extra legroom..
The reason these charges don't arouse anger is that they are truly optional. You can escape the luggage fee by not bringing a suitcase with you. You can make all your reservations online and not by phone, and you can easily dispense with the extra legroom.
Not so with the latest flurry of extra charges at hotels. They can't be avoided. Without advising you in advance, hotels all across the nation are charging extra for an in-room safe, even if you don't use it, or for a parking lot attached to the hotel even if you are without a car. Some of you, without advance knowledge, will be charged extra for a room with two queen beds instead of one king bed, or for moving a soft drink within the minibar for the simple purpose of looking at its ingredients (even though you don't consume it). Almost without exception, these wholly unexpected charges are added to the bill you see for the first time after you have occupied your room.
In a recent article distributed by the Associated Press, that organization's travel reporter, Scott Mayerowitz, has documented an unsettling trend among American hotels to copy the extra charges that have brought billions of dollars in extra income to the airlines. Almost every week, some hotel functionary thinks up another charge with which to bedevil your life. Some hotels, according to him, are now charging you extra for checking in early or for checking out late. Virtually every hotel in Las Vegas now adds a hefty "resort fee" to your bill, sometimes amounting to as much as $40 a day. You pay for the swimming pool even if you don't use it; you pay for the exercise room even if you're not aware of its existence.
How can you avoid these charges? Unlike most airline fees, these can't be avoided by not using the facility for which the charge is made. So how can you avoid having your bill increased by these infuriating surprises?
I have a tactic that has worked for me on several occasions, although it may require phoning several hotels before you make a definite reservation at one. It involves your demanding of the telephone reservationist that no fees at all be added to the basic room rate that has been quoted to you. And if the telephone agent assures you that such fees will not be added, you then ask that an e-mail be sent to you confirming that commitment. Printing and keeping the e-mail, you can then brandish it to the front desk clerk when paying your bill.
Now obviously, a great many telephone reservationists will answer that they are not authorized to make such a commitment. In which case, you then say that you will not make the reservation. Eventually, in my experience, you will find a hungry hotel whose reservations personnel will accede to your request in order not to lose business of which they're in need. In other words, you phone several hotels in order to find one that will waive the extra fees.
In effect, you use your bargaining power as a source of much-needed business to achieve a waiver of all extra fees. Every hotel has nights when they need the extra business, and a great many reservations clerks will consult with a supervisor to see whether they can waive the extra fees.
Does this require extra work on your part? It's a potent method for striking back at a practice that is now sweeping the hotel world, and requiring many unsuspecting travelers to pay a great deal of money that they could have saved.