The $39 parking charge at San Francisco’s expensive Westin St. Francis hotel did not faze Veronica St. Claire, a business traveler who is instinctively wary of extra fees wherever she goes. But when the hotel added a $5.46-a-night bed tax to the parking charge on a recent visit, she felt ambushed.
“I told the desk clerk, ‘I don’t recall sleeping in my car,’ ” said Ms. St. Claire, the chief executive of a nonprofit organization for retirees in Los Angeles. The hotel employee replied that the city had recently extended its 14 percent occupancy tax on parking, too. Although the St. Francis maintains it notifies guests of the tax, she says she was “astonished” when she saw it on her bill.
Unusual or exorbitant add-ons to bills have always been a way of life for frequent travelers. But the fees normally ebb and flow, tempered by economic cycles and consumer sentiment. After the terrorist attacks, for example, many egregious surcharges vanished. Now that they are making a strong comeback, business travelers are feeling more put-upon than they have in years.
And they are noticing a new intransigence when they try to have unusual charges waived. Bob Cohen, who runs a record-promotions company in Oak Park, Mich., certainly got nowhere. On a visit to the Hyatt Regency in Long Beach, Calif., for a music education convention, Mr. Cohen sponsored a hospitality suite for delegates. A friend had donated several cases of beer from his microbrewery for the occasion. However, the hotel refused to deliver the boxes to his suite until he agreed to pay a $120 corking fee. Then it added a $15 delivery fee, which he says he didn’t discover until he checked out.
“No one told me about the fee,” he said. “It was never disclosed anywhere.”
Cheryl Phelps, the vice president and managing director for the hotel, disagreed. “The delivery charge is disclosed on all of our menus,” she said, “and we only charge a corkage fee when you bring in your own beer or wine.”
In the past, a dissatisfied guest had at least a fighting chance to get such unanticipated fees removed. And given that he is a frequent guest with the hotel chain and that he was already paying more than $800 in room charges, he figured the odds were on his side. He was wrong. First, he said, a hotel representative insisted that the state of California required the corking fee (it does not) and then the hotel gave him the cold shoulder, ignoring calls and e-mail messages appealing the fee.
While the industry’s creative billing is aimed at anyone who hits the road, business travelers – and their employers – are disproportionate victims, in large part because they account for a disproportionately large part of travel spending. While they make up only 18 percent of all domestic travel, they account for 31 percent of overall travel spending, according to the National Business Travel Association, a trade group that represents corporate travel managers.
Moreover, many of the fees are for services that would not be used by leisure travelers, and are charged mainly by business class hotels, where vacationers normally do not stay.
No single organization tracks all the surcharges, probably because the task would be far too complex and time-consuming. But during the last year, the tax-and-fee burden on corporate travelers has increased “significantly,” pushing corporate travel and entertainment expenses higher, according to the Caleb Tiller, a spokesman for the organization.
“We only know that it is growing, and that companies are aware of it, and they aren’t happy about it,” Mr. Tiller said. In San Francisco, where two-thirds of travelers are on business, the 14 percent bed tax that Ms. St. Claire was hit with is not new. But last year the city instructed hotels to broaden the levy to include its parking and meeting room charges, starting in 2005. “They were closing a loophole,” said Laurie Armstrong, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau.
It seems that fees are multiplying everywhere. Texas legislators have been considering a measure to raise hotel taxes in Dallas to 18 percent, from 15 percent, to pay for more police. The city’s occupancy taxes would surpass Houston’s 17 percent levy to become the highest in the nation.
Meantime, Anchorage, Alaska, increased its bed tax this month to 12 percent, from 8 percent, to finance a new convention center. And in February, Las Vegas approved a 2 percent tax on car rentals, joining a long list of other cities and counties that tax drivers. (A Travelocity survey found that car rental customers at airports pay an average 25.8 percent of the base price in taxes and surcharges.)
Even the federal government views travelers as a reliable revenue source.
President Bush’s proposed 2006 budget would increase security fees to a maximum of $8 a ticket, from a current $5 limit, a move that business travel advocates are opposing. In early March, the State Department added a $12 “security surcharge” to passports.
“Business travelers are a fee-slapped bunch,” said Donald Groff, who publishes the consumer travel Web site dgroff.com.
Often, surprise surcharges fall on captive customers. When Amy Engelhardt tried to check a bag curbside at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport recently, an agent told her there was a new $2-a-bag fee to use the curbside service. “I couldn’t get in line and wait with everyone else, so I paid it,” she said, rather than risk missing her flight back to Los Angeles.
The airline, United, was testing the $2 “Check & Go” service and has since expanded the test to other airports.
Ms. Engelhardt, a vocalist for an ensemble called the Bobs, shows signs of fee fatigue. “Everywhere you go, there’s a fee,” she said. “My airline wants $15 to book an award ticket on the phone. It wants $10 to talk with a ticket agent. After a while, I just come to expect the fees.”
Business travelers marvel at the ingenuity of some the latest surcharges. When Kevin Moyer found that the fare on his airline ticket on American Airlines had dropped to $218 from $278, he asked to be credited for the difference, which he was entitled to under his carrier’s terms and conditions. He did not know that the airline had instituted a new $100 reissue fee, which meant he was actually entitled to nothing. Because the charge is somewhat difficult to understand, few people took notice when American introduced it late last year.
But Mr. Moyer, a regional sales manager in Dallas for Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company, was furious. “I just think airlines are looking for every angle, for every nickel of revenue,” he said.
Some industry insiders say the compulsion to impose fees almost seems to be embedded in the travel industry.
“You see it with hotels that offer a free morning paper but quietly add a charge to your bill,” said Mr. Groff. “You see it with properties that tack a $1 charge on your room bill for the safe you never use.”
Ms. St. Claire says she understands that the travel industry has gone through rough times and is struggling to regain profitability. “But what’s the point of overbilling business travelers?” she asked. “After all, aren’t we supposed to be their best customers?”
The $39 parking charge at San Francisco’s expensive Westin St. Francis hotel did not faze Veronica St. Claire, a business traveler who is instinctively wary of extra fees wherever she goes. But when the hotel added a $5.46-a-night bed tax to the parking charge on a recent visit, she felt ambushed.
“I told the desk clerk, ‘I don’t recall sleeping in my car,’ ” said Ms. St. Claire, the chief executive of a nonprofit organization for retirees in Los Angeles. The hotel employee replied that the city had recently extended its 14 percent occupancy tax on parking, too. Although the St. Francis maintains it notifies guests of the tax, she says she was “astonished” when she saw it on her bill.
Unusual or exorbitant add-ons to bills have always been a way of life for frequent travelers. But the fees normally ebb and flow, tempered by economic cycles and consumer sentiment. After the terrorist attacks, for example, many egregious surcharges vanished. Now that they are making a strong comeback, business travelers are feeling more put-upon than they have in years.
And they are noticing a new intransigence when they try to have unusual charges waived. Bob Cohen, who runs a record-promotions company in Oak Park, Mich., certainly got nowhere. On a visit to the Hyatt Regency in Long Beach, Calif., for a music education convention, Mr. Cohen sponsored a hospitality suite for delegates. A friend had donated several cases of beer from his microbrewery for the occasion. However, the hotel refused to deliver the boxes to his suite until he agreed to pay a $120 corking fee. Then it added a $15 delivery fee, which he says he didn’t discover until he checked out.
“No one told me about the fee,” he said. “It was never disclosed anywhere.”
Cheryl Phelps, the vice president and managing director for the hotel, disagreed. “The delivery charge is disclosed on all of our menus,” she said, “and we only charge a corkage fee when you bring in your own beer or wine.”
In the past, a dissatisfied guest had at least a fighting chance to get such unanticipated fees removed. And given that he is a frequent guest with the hotel chain and that he was already paying more than $800 in room charges, he figured the odds were on his side. He was wrong. First, he said, a hotel representative insisted that the state of California required the corking fee (it does not) and then the hotel gave him the cold shoulder, ignoring calls and e-mail messages appealing the fee.
While the industry’s creative billing is aimed at anyone who hits the road, business travelers – and their employers – are disproportionate victims, in large part because they account for a disproportionately large part of travel spending. While they make up only 18 percent of all domestic travel, they account for 31 percent of overall travel spending, according to the National Business Travel Association, a trade group that represents corporate travel managers.
Moreover, many of the fees are for services that would not be used by leisure travelers, and are charged mainly by business class hotels, where vacationers normally do not stay.
No single organization tracks all the surcharges, probably because the task would be far too complex and time-consuming. But during the last year, the tax-and-fee burden on corporate travelers has increased “significantly,” pushing corporate travel and entertainment expenses higher, according to the Caleb Tiller, a spokesman for the organization.
“We only know that it is growing, and that companies are aware of it, and they aren’t happy about it,” Mr. Tiller said. In San Francisco, where two-thirds of travelers are on business, the 14 percent bed tax that Ms. St. Claire was hit with is not new. But last year the city instructed hotels to broaden the levy to include its parking and meeting room charges, starting in 2005. “They were closing a loophole,” said Laurie Armstrong, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau.
It seems that fees are multiplying everywhere. Texas legislators have been considering a measure to raise hotel taxes in Dallas to 18 percent, from 15 percent, to pay for more police. The city’s occupancy taxes would surpass Houston’s 17 percent levy to become the highest in the nation.
Meantime, Anchorage, Alaska, increased its bed tax this month to 12 percent, from 8 percent, to finance a new convention center. And in February, Las Vegas approved a 2 percent tax on car rentals, joining a long list of other cities and counties that tax drivers. (A Travelocity survey found that car rental customers at airports pay an average 25.8 percent of the base price in taxes and surcharges.)
Even the federal government views travelers as a reliable revenue source.
President Bush’s proposed 2006 budget would increase security fees to a maximum of $8 a ticket, from a current $5 limit, a move that business travel advocates are opposing. In early March, the State Department added a $12 “security surcharge” to passports.
“Business travelers are a fee-slapped bunch,” said Donald Groff, who publishes the consumer travel Web site dgroff.com.
Often, surprise surcharges fall on captive customers. When Amy Engelhardt tried to check a bag curbside at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport recently, an agent told her there was a new $2-a-bag fee to use the curbside service. “I couldn’t get in line and wait with everyone else, so I paid it,” she said, rather than risk missing her flight back to Los Angeles.
The airline, United, was testing the $2 “Check & Go” service and has since expanded the test to other airports.
Ms. Engelhardt, a vocalist for an ensemble called the Bobs, shows signs of fee fatigue. “Everywhere you go, there’s a fee,” she said. “My airline wants $15 to book an award ticket on the phone. It wants $10 to talk with a ticket agent. After a while, I just come to expect the fees.”
Business travelers marvel at the ingenuity of some the latest surcharges. When Kevin Moyer found that the fare on his airline ticket on American Airlines had dropped to $218 from $278, he asked to be credited for the difference, which he was entitled to under his carrier’s terms and conditions. He did not know that the airline had instituted a new $100 reissue fee, which meant he was actually entitled to nothing. Because the charge is somewhat difficult to understand, few people took notice when American introduced it late last year.
But Mr. Moyer, a regional sales manager in Dallas for Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company, was furious. “I just think airlines are looking for every angle, for every nickel of revenue,” he said.
Some industry insiders say the compulsion to impose fees almost seems to be embedded in the travel industry.
“You see it with hotels that offer a free morning paper but quietly add a charge to your bill,” said Mr. Groff. “You see it with properties that tack a $1 charge on your room bill for the safe you never use.”
Ms. St. Claire says she understands that the travel industry has gone through rough times and is struggling to regain profitability. “But what’s the point of overbilling business travelers?” she asked. “After all, aren’t we supposed to be their best customers?”
Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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