Unusual surcharges confuse travelers

An increasing number of airlines, hotels, tour operators and others in the travel and hospitality industry are applying seemingly unusual surcharges to their services, often in an attempt to recover rising operating costs. One such instance of a curious surcharge examined by Christopher Elliott, a travel columnist for Tribune Media Services, is $2.25 “tray fee” added to the account of a guest staying at a hotel operated by Embassy Suites. Another guest, who booked accommodation at Sleep Inn was asked to pay a $2.00 “safe fee,” per day, while some passengers are quickly discovering that luggage surcharges applied by many low-cost airlines in Europe are sometimes more expensive than the ticket itself.

According to Henry Harteveldt, of Forrester Research, many carriers are coming up with a range of surcharges because they are trying to recuperate the rising fees that they are forced to pay to banks and credit card companies after online ticket purchases and other transactions. This is why some European carriers will apply a surcharge to all tickets purchased with a credit card. This practice, however, has not yet arrived to the

United States, where such fees are prohibited by law. In many cases, such a surcharge may amount to as much as 3%, which can significantly raise the cost of a long-haul, or business class ticket.

Other newly introduced surcharges by those involved in the travel and hospitality industry include “tray fees,” whenever a guest requests room service at Embassy Suites, in Atlanta, Georgia, and in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Additionally, Las Vegas Marriott Suites has started charging a $5 fee for “envelope delivery,” if guests receive a package sent to the hotel during their stay, while Greenbrier resort, in West Virginia has introduced a $36 surcharge for drawing the curtains, pulling down the bed sheets and leaving a chocolate on the guest’s pillow in the evening, just before bedtime. According to one traveler, this is referred to as a “turndown” fee, but the hotel insists that it only charges a $25 “resort fee” each day to all guest accounts.