Junk Fees

It is a problem when every transaction is a potential scam without easy recourse.

One rooftop bar and restaurant in downtown Los Angeles started charging a 4.5 percent “security fee,” much to the consternation of patrons. Reservation cancellation fees in New York City, if they’re even one minute after the restaurant’s deadline, can now cost as much as $100 per person.

The Biden administration has on several occasions lamented hotel “resort fees,” even tacked onto stays at hotels that cannot be seriously described as “resorts.” But hotel guests in Los Angeles sued Marriott last year over something else: a “hotel worker protection ordinance costs surcharge.” According to Marriott, the $10-to-$14-a-night fee helped them comply with a local law requiring personal security devices to protect hospitality workers from dangerous interactions with guests. The lawsuit estimated that a single airport Marriott makes $3.6 million annually off the HWPO junk fee—quite a bit for a system that amounts to a network of wireless pagers or walkie-talkies.