Tagged: fees

Airbnb Is Making It Easier to See Hated Cleaning Fees Earlier in Search

Airbnb is at last bringing more—though not complete—transparency to how rental prices are displayed. In December, the company will begin rolling out a feature that lets users of the…

A Rare Fee Reduction! The TSA Trims the Cost of PreCheck

You don't see this very often these days: prices going down. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration and its enrollment partner IDEMIA, eager to get more travelers signed up…

TSA PreCheck Will Come to You Now: How to Find the Mobile Enrollment Truck

Enrolling in TSA PreCheck is getting more convenient in cities across the U.S. this fall. Thanks to the expanded IdentoGO mobile enrollment push, travelers who want to join the…

5 Things You Can Do to Avoid Flight Delays and Cancellations

In the summer of 2022, when friends tell us they're about to fly somewhere on vacation, the typical reaction isn't so much "I'm jealous" as it is "Wow, good luck with that." It…

This Himalayan Kingdom Is Adding a Tourist Tax of $200 Per Day

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan will finally reopen its borders to tourists on September 23, following an extended closure due to the pandemic. But the government has thoroughly…

New Travel Warning: Hefty No-Show Fees for Missed Reservations

If there's one thing the modern travel industry is good at, it's penalizing customers for its own dysfunctional systems. Squeezing so many bodies on planes there's no longer enough…

How Airbnb's Revamp Could End Up Doubling Your Vacation Costs

This week Airbnb announced what the vacation rental giant is calling its “biggest changes in a decade.” That’s not hyperbole. Alas, the changes don't involve reining in fees (we…

Venice Really Is Finally Adding an Entry Fee—Here’s How It Will Work

UPDATE, May 31: Officials in Venice have reportedly decided to postpone the implementation of the city's entry fee for day-trippers described below. Though the program's trial run was…

Airlines Might Lose Your Seat Fees When You Change Flights—How to Get Refunds

Covid brought the world a lot of conflict and consternation, but it also brought one change that made travel much easier: the end of airline change fees. But don't be fooled. The…

Car Renters Force Customers to Bring Fuel Receipts—but It's Not Always in the Contract

American rental car companies have been doing it for more than a decade now. When customers rent vehicles, clerks frequently say that if the car is returned with a full tank of gas,…

Fuel Surcharges Are Coming, So Get Your Summer Tickets Soon

Consider this your official warning from your friends at Frommer's: Buy your airline tickets for summer travel soon. Gas prices are going skyward around the world, and soon you'll have…

Canadians Can Get Prescriptions for a Free National Parks Pass

In Canada, doctors can now prescribe a national parks pass to patients in need of a healthy dose of nature. Developed in partnership with Parks Canada, the PaRx program makes Canada's…

Dunes Dues: Indiana’s Popular Lakeside National Park Adds Steep Entry Fee

This summer, lazing on the sand at Indiana Dunes National Park will no longer be free. The 15,000-acre swath of forest, marshland, and beaches dotted with towering dunes next to Lake…

Sharp Price Increase for U.S. Passports Announced

Looks like inflation is also hitting government fees. This week, the U.S. State Department announced that the cost of a passport will go up by 13%. Beginning December 27, a new…

Low-Cost Icelandic Airline Debuts in U.S. with $109 Fares to Europe

A fledgling low-cost airline called Play, which has been flying between Iceland and other parts of Europe since 2019, is expanding into the United States with introductory…

How Much More Expensive Is an Airbnb Than a Hotel Room? New Data

This time last year, I wrote a blog post about a survey that showed that a new winner had emerged in the long-standing battle between the hotel industry and Airbnb. Thanks to social…

Warning! Hertz Still Slapping Erroneous Fees on Innocent Customers, Paper Says

Hertz may have emerged from bankruptcy protection earlier this year, but for customers of the rental car company, warning lights are still flashing. The troubled brand that Vanity Fair…

Marriott Made Hundreds of Millions from Deceptive Fees, Lawsuit Says

Just how lucrative are resort fees for hotels? Newly unsealed court documents from a lawsuit brought by the District of Columbia's attorney general against Marriott International shed…

Great Smoky Mountains Adds Parking Fee to Access Beloved Waterfall

There's no entrance fee at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In fact, when Tennessee and North Carolina turned over the land to the federal government in the 1930s, one of the…

$25 to Use the Pool?! Airline-Style à la Carte Fees Land at Hotels

Airlines have perfected the art of nickel-and-diming customers with extra charges for services and amenities that were once free, from checking a bag to getting an onboard snack. The…

Warning: Some Vacation Rentals Don't Include Access to Property Amenities

So you’ve scored a great deal on a resort condo or villa on Vrbo, Airbnb, HomeToGo, or a similar website? Don’t take it for granted that you'll be allowed to use all the hotel’s…

Delta Air Lines Battles Call Wait Times by Easing Basic Economy Rules

If you've had to call an airline's customer service number in 2021, then you already know: Wait times are extreme. In fact, you might still be on hold right now. For a lot of messy…

Cruising Is Getting More and More Expensive for Unvaccinated Passengers

Carnival Cruise Line has become the latest major cruise company to announce that passengers who are unvaccinated or do not want to reveal their vaccination status will have to purchase…

Hertz Accused of Slapping Fees on Innocent Customers: How to Protect Yourself

Tuesday's Los Angeles Times had a skin-crawling story about Hertz, the rental car giant that just emerged from bankruptcy last week. The article tells the tale of a family who picked…

Newly Launched Breeze Airways Connects Smaller U.S. Cities for Low Fares

A new low-cost airline dedicated to serving small and "underserved" U.S. cities is set to take off this week. Breeze Airways, the fifth airline startup backed by JetBlue founder David…