Skip sneaky hotel fees at checkout: say this exact phrase to get an instant refund

You did everything right. You compared rates on three sites, picked the cheapest hotel, and told yourself you’d finally cracked the code on booking cheap in the city. Then the printed bill slid across the front desk at checkout, and the total was $150 (about €140) higher than you remembered.

You squinted at the paper. There it was, tucked under the room rate, a line you’d never quite noticed. Not a tax. Not a tourism charge. Something with a friendly word in front of it, like “amenity” or “destination” or “urban.”

If you booked in Manhattan, Miami, downtown LA, or the Chicago Loop lately, there’s a very good chance you paid it. And there’s a very good chance you didn’t have to.

Wait, didn’t a new law fix this?

Most travelers think so. In May 2025, the FTC’s “junk fees rule” went live. (cite index=”34-1″>Hotels, vacation rentals, and ticket sellers now have to show the full price, with every must-pay fee already included, right up front instead of at the end of booking</cite>. Big headlines. Big consumer wins. Most travelers walked away thinking the fight was over.

It wasn’t. The rule stops hotels from hiding the fee. It doesn’t stop them from charging it. (cite index=”34-1″>The FTC says it plainly: the rule “does not prohibit any type or amount of fee.” It only makes hotels show the full price up front</cite>. So hotels kept charging. Some renamed the fee. Some redesigned their booking pages. And the numbers, if anything, are worse than before.

The bill that’s growing while the law stands still

The New York Marriott Marquis charges $40 (about €37) per night as a “destination amenity fee,” plus tax. (cite index=”58-1″>Marriott.com now bundles that fee into the displayed nightly rate for its NYC hotels, alongside the Times Square Edition and the Renaissance</cite>. On a three-night stay, that’s $120 (about €112) before you’ve touched a mini bar. And it isn’t just this one hotel.

A 2026 NerdWallet study reported by Fox News found (cite index=”50-1″>the average resort fee, when charged, was $50 at Marriott (about €46), $33.80 at Hyatt (about €31), $33 at Hilton (about €31), $32.57 at IHG (about €30), and $25 at Wyndham (about €23)</cite>. The Points Guy confirmed (cite index=”26-1″>the fees run $20 to $50 a night (about €18 to €46) and have spread well beyond resorts, especially in New York, Las Vegas, and LA</cite>. NerdWallet’s own study of US hotels found (cite index=”45-1″>the average nightly fee at hotels that charge one was $38.82 (about €36), which adds up to more than $270 (about €250) in extra fees over a week</cite>.

Look at what the money supposedly covers. A bottle of water. Wi-Fi (that your credit card already gives you free at every hotel in the chain). Two “tour tickets” per stay you have to remember to grab from the concierge. A “gym credit” you’ll use once, at 7am on the last morning, if you use it at all. Add it up honestly, and most guests get $10 (about €9) of value from a fee that costs them $40.

So the law’s on the books. Travelers know the fees exist. Hotels still collect them. Something quietly makes all three of those facts sit together, and it isn’t buried in fine print. It’s shown to you at the one moment you’re least likely to look.

The trick the hotel is quietly counting on

The rule says hotels have to show the fee. It doesn’t say they have to show it loudly. So they don’t. On most booking pages, the fee gets tucked inside a small closed drawer labeled “Price details” or “See taxes and fees.” Most people never open it. If you’re comparing four hotels in two browser tabs at 11pm, you’ll miss it. The people who built the checkout flow are counting on that.

By the time you notice, the hotel has your card on file, the charge is already on the bill, and most guests pay and leave without a second thought. Except it doesn’t have to work that way.

The single sentence that gets the fee taken off

Somewhere into most stays, the real question hits. I never used the “gym credit.” I didn’t take the tour ticket. The Wi-Fi is free with my credit card. So what am I paying $40 a night for?

Frommer’s has been publishing travel guides since 1957, and notes what actually works at the front desk: if you didn’t use what the fee covers, say so; if the pool or gym was closed, ask for your money back. The FTC rule gave you a second tool: it stops hotels from lying about what a must-pay fee is for, or how much it is. Point to that and the front desk knows a credit card dispute is next. Most agents would rather drop the $40 than fight one.

Say this at checkout, before you sign the bill:

“I noticed a destination fee on my bill. I didn’t use the stuff it covers, and under the FTC’s Junk Fees Rule, hotels aren’t allowed to lie about what a must-pay fee is for. Can you take it off? Otherwise I’ll need to dispute the charge with my credit card company.”

Calm, clear, not a threat. It works because it names the fee, kills the hotel’s usual comeback (you agreed to it), and puts a credit card dispute on the table without actually filing one.

To give yourself the best shot:

• Book straight with the hotel on its own site or by phone. Sites like Expedia and Booking.com often mean the front desk can’t touch the bill.
• Open the “Price details” drawer before you pay. Any daily line that isn’t a tax is the fee.
• Skip the “perks.” No bottled water, no coffee credit, no tour ticket. If you didn’t use it, you have a clean argument.
• Ask at checkout, not check-in. The front desk has more room to drop the fee once they can see you didn’t use the perks.
• Ask calmly, once. If the first agent says no, ask for a manager. Say the phrase again. Keep the tone flat.

It doesn’t work every single time. Nobody honest will tell you it does. But at city hotels where the “perk” is a $5 (about €4.60) bottle of water and Wi-Fi you already get free, it works often enough to be worth the sixty seconds. Payoff on a three-night stay is usually $75 to $200 (about €70 to €185) back in your pocket.

Already paid? You’re not out of luck

If you’re reading this after a trip, the same play still works. Call the hotel directly, ask for a manager, and use the same script (past tense). If they say no, call your credit card company and open a dispute. Cite the FTC’s Junk Fees Rule and the fact that you didn’t use the amenities the fee covered. Card issuers side with cardholders on well-documented disputes far more often than most people think.

One line at the front desk. One tap on the “Price details” drawer before you book. That’s the whole fix. The hotel already counted on the fact that most guests won’t ask. Be the one who does.

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Sources: (1) Federal Trade Commission press release, “Federal Trade Commission Announces Bipartisan Rule Banning Junk Ticket and Hotel Fees”; (2) The Points Guy, “Marriott is finally including resort fees in its nightly rates”; (3) The Points Guy, “Make sure you’re getting the most out of your Marriott resort fees”; (4) NerdWallet, “3 Hotel Chains With Top-Tier Amenities yet No Resort Fees”; (5) Fox News reporting on 2026 NerdWallet study of 160 hotels; (6) Frommer’s, “How to Get Out of Paying a Hotel’s Resort Fee”.