Is Priceline going backwards on resort-fee transparency? Sure looks like it.
Nov 10, 2022, 11:56 pm
#1
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Is Priceline going backwards on resort-fee transparency? Sure looks like it.
It appears they've gone back to making you click through to get the "real" total including mandatory fees, rather than pushing it out to the search-results screen. This is super-annoying, especially if you're searching in a resort-fee capital like Las Vegas and sorts by total price ALREADY aren't very helpful.
If you search for 3 nights and someplace has a rate of $17, it'll just say "Subtotal $51" on that search screen. That's nothing like the actual cost...in Las Vegas there could be a $40/night resort fee on top of that $17.
This means you have to do more work to get to the "real" total, just like you had to do with them a few years ago.
If so, this would represent a step BACKWARD.
It's also on top of what they and Expedia already do by giving hotels that do things like this an unfair advantage in search results. In the above example, the number in large type would be $17 in not only the search results screen but also the Google ads, even though the real number is $57 plus actual taxes (resort fees get taxed as well - local and state governments aren't fooled by the sleight of hand).
So then if, say, the Four Queens is at $50 with no resort fee they're actually cheaper but don't get in the banner ad and are way down the search results thanks to the practice. Priceline has just rewarded the bad actors, which is part of the reason that things like this cause a race to the bottom with others feeling they have to copy the bad practice "to be competitive." That's as foreseeable as it is irritating.
It's also not just Las Vegas...there are mixed areas like Tunica where the casino-hotels have gone to the dark side to varying degrees but other lodgings generally haven't. So the casino-hotel is $47 but with a $9 "daily property fee" whereas others are just the rate+taxes. Again, an unfair search boost for the resort-fee-charging place, and more unnecessary work for the consumer to click through to get the "real" total including the mandatory fees on EVERY hotel being considered.
Priceline is more on the side of the bad-actor hotels than on the side of consumers on this one. And if there's some way to sort by the ALL-IN price they've kept it too well hidden.
I understand the FTC is looking into cracking down on this, which IMO would be long overdue. With a few exceptions, the travel industry has a long history of just not believing that people will buy if they're straight, simple and honest with the base pricing, so they have NOT earned the benefit of any doubt. Remember billboards with PPDO room pricing (i.e. half the real pre-tax rate?) Small rental car companies that advertised very low daily rates that only applied if you drove it 0 miles? It's just rotten to the core in some places with bait-and-switch mentality. And with only TWO major companies dominating the online booking space there's also the lack-of-competition problem that has been occurring all too frequently in the U.S. Maybe it's BECAUSE they're part of a duopoly that they feel free to do this.
If you search for 3 nights and someplace has a rate of $17, it'll just say "Subtotal $51" on that search screen. That's nothing like the actual cost...in Las Vegas there could be a $40/night resort fee on top of that $17.
This means you have to do more work to get to the "real" total, just like you had to do with them a few years ago.
If so, this would represent a step BACKWARD.It's also on top of what they and Expedia already do by giving hotels that do things like this an unfair advantage in search results. In the above example, the number in large type would be $17 in not only the search results screen but also the Google ads, even though the real number is $57 plus actual taxes (resort fees get taxed as well - local and state governments aren't fooled by the sleight of hand).
So then if, say, the Four Queens is at $50 with no resort fee they're actually cheaper but don't get in the banner ad and are way down the search results thanks to the practice. Priceline has just rewarded the bad actors, which is part of the reason that things like this cause a race to the bottom with others feeling they have to copy the bad practice "to be competitive."
That's as foreseeable as it is irritating.It's also not just Las Vegas...there are mixed areas like Tunica where the casino-hotels have gone to the dark side to varying degrees but other lodgings generally haven't. So the casino-hotel is $47 but with a $9 "daily property fee" whereas others are just the rate+taxes. Again, an unfair search boost for the resort-fee-charging place, and more unnecessary work for the consumer to click through to get the "real" total including the mandatory fees on EVERY hotel being considered.
Priceline is more on the side of the bad-actor hotels than on the side of consumers on this one. And if there's some way to sort by the ALL-IN price they've kept it too well hidden.
I understand the FTC is looking into cracking down on this, which IMO would be long overdue. With a few exceptions, the travel industry has a long history of just not believing that people will buy if they're straight, simple and honest with the base pricing, so they have NOT earned the benefit of any doubt. Remember billboards with PPDO room pricing (i.e. half the real pre-tax rate?) Small rental car companies that advertised very low daily rates that only applied if you drove it 0 miles? It's just rotten to the core in some places with bait-and-switch mentality. And with only TWO major companies dominating the online booking space there's also the lack-of-competition problem that has been occurring all too frequently in the U.S. Maybe it's BECAUSE they're part of a duopoly that they feel free to do this.
Last edited by RustyC; Nov 11, 2022 at 12:02 am
