I booked a hotel with American Airlines miles. Why do I have to pay this $165 resort fee?

Lai Leong thought she was helping her friend Zeng by using some of her American Airlines miles to book a hotel in Honolulu. She had no idea that Zeng would be on the hook for a surprise fee.

But when her friend checked into the Aloha Surf Hotel for a four-night stay, reality hit like a hurricane. The hotel demanded $41 per day in resort fees — a whopping $165 total that nobody had mentioned during booking.

“There was no indication on the receipt to suggest other fees might be involved,” Leong told me.

Sound familiar? You’re not alone. This case raises several important questions that affect millions of travelers:

• Are booking platforms required to disclose resort fees before you complete your purchase?
• What rights do you have when a receipt says “paid in full” but additional charges appear later?  
• How can you protect yourself from surprise fees when booking hotels with airline miles?

The answers might surprise you – and they could save you money on your next vacation.

When “paid in full” doesn’t mean paid in full

Leong’s frustration is understandable. She’d carefully booked through AAdvantage Hotels, American’s official hotel booking platform, expecting the airline’s reputation for customer service to extend to its partners. 

The booking process seemed straightforward: search, select, pay with miles — done.

But here’s where things get murky in the world of hotel bookings. While some industry guidelines say that resort fees need to be disclosed before confirming your reservation, the reality is far more complicated. (Related: Aer Lingus owes me $1,285 but claims my bank doesn’t exist.)

Leong discovered this firsthand when she tried to help her friend.

“I tried to resolve the issue with AAdvantage Hotels platform, but no solution was in sight,” she explained. Phone calls led nowhere. Customer service representatives offered sympathy but no refund.

That’s when she contacted me.

I’ve seen this scenario play out hundreds of times. A traveler books what appears to be a complete package, only to discover additional fees at the hotel. Sometimes it’s parking. Sometimes it’s Wi-Fi. Often, it’s resort fees — those controversial mandatory charges that hotels tack on for amenities you may never use.

But this case had a twist that made it particularly egregious.

Two receipts and one big headache

When I asked Leong for documentation, she provided something that made me do a double-take: two receipts from AAdvantage Hotels bookings that showed dramatically different approaches to fee disclosure.

The first receipt, for her friend’s Aloha Surf Hotel booking, showed “Payment in Full” with no mention of resort fees anywhere on the document. 

The second receipt, for a booking at another hotel, told a different story entirely. Below the payment status, it clearly listed “Resort fee of $25.95 + taxes + fees.”

Same booking platform. Same company. Completely different disclosure practices.

When AAdvantage Hotels finally responded to Leong’s complaint, their reply was almost comically inadequate.

“We wanted to give you a heads-up regarding the resort fee,” a representative told her. “This fee is indicated on our website, and I just wanted to ensure you are aware of it in case it does not appear on your receipt.”

Huh? In case it doesn’t appear on your receipt? 

The response revealed everything wrong with how some booking platforms handle fee disclosure. It wasn’t Leong’s job to hunt through a website looking for fees that should have been prominently displayed during booking. It was AAdvantage Hotels’ job to make sure she knew about them up front.

Are booking platforms required to disclose resort fees before you complete your purchase?

Short answer: Yes.

The hotel industry claims that transparency and guest satisfaction are at the core of its business model, insisting that making sure guests have all necessary information prior to booking is all-important. Industry groups argue that they provide full disclosure for resort and amenities fees charged up front.

But the reality is different.

Booking platforms should display all mandatory fees, including resort fees, at the time they quote a room rate. The Federal Trade Commission has been increasingly aggressive about pursuing companies that fail to disclose additional fees up front, calling such practices deceptive.

The key word here is “mandatory.” Resort fees aren’t optional. You can’t decline them like you might decline valet parking or spa services. They’re as mandatory as the room rate itself, which means they should be treated the same way in the booking process.

When AAdvantage Hotels showed Leong a receipt that said “Payment in Full” without mentioning the resort fee, it created a reasonable expectation that no additional charges would apply. 

That’s not just bad customer service. It’s deceptive marketing.

The platform’s inconsistent disclosure practices make this case even more problematic. If AAdvantage Hotels could properly disclose resort fees for one booking, why didn’t it do the same for the Aloha Surf Hotel? The inconsistency suggests a systemic problem rather than an isolated oversight.

Third-party booking platforms occupy a unique position in this ecosystem. They’re not the hotels themselves, but they’re not innocent intermediaries either. When they take your money and issue receipts marked “Payment in Full,” they’re making representations about the completeness of the transaction.

Consumer protection laws in most states require clear disclosure of all fees before a transaction is completed. When a booking platform fails to disclose mandatory resort fees, it may be violating these laws, especially when the receipt suggests the payment is complete.

What rights do you have when a receipt says “payment in full” but additional charges appear later?

When you receive a receipt marked “Payment in Full,” you have legitimate grounds to argue that no additional charges should apply – and the law may be on your side.

Contract law generally holds that when one party represents that payment is complete, the other party has a right to rely on that representation. Leong’s receipt didn’t say “Room Rate Paid in Full” or “Partial Payment Complete.” It said “Payment in Full,” period.

This creates what lawyers call a reasonable expectation. A reasonable consumer seeing “Payment in Full” would conclude that no additional charges would be required. When the hotel later demands more money, it’s essentially trying to modify the terms of a completed transaction.

But here’s where it gets tricky: Hotels and booking platforms often try to argue that resort fees are separate from the room rate, making them not covered by the original payment. It’s a semantic argument that usually doesn’t hold water from a consumer protection standpoint.

The Federal Trade Commission has been clear that businesses must disclose the full price consumers will pay up front. If mandatory fees aren’t included in the advertised price or properly disclosed during booking, the business may be engaging in deceptive practices.

Your strongest position comes from documentation. Leong’s case was compelling precisely because she had a receipt that unambiguously stated “Payment in Full” with no mention of additional fees. That’s much stronger than a verbal promise or a vague understanding.

When you’re facing surprise charges, your first step should be to document everything. Screenshot the original booking confirmation, save the receipt, and keep records of any correspondence with the booking platform or hotel. These documents become your evidence if you need to dispute the charges.

Credit card chargebacks can be effective in these situations, especially when you can show that the services weren’t as described. A receipt saying “Payment in Full” followed by surprise charges is exactly the kind of discrepancy that credit card companies consider grounds for a chargeback.

State consumer protection agencies also take these cases seriously. Many states have specific laws requiring upfront disclosure of all fees, and violations can result in penalties for the businesses involved.

The key is acting quickly and documenting your case clearly. Hotels and booking platforms are more likely to resolve these disputes when faced with well-documented evidence of misleading representations.

How can you protect yourself from surprise fees when booking hotels with airline miles?

Booking hotels with airline miles adds an extra layer of complexity to fee disclosure issues, but you can protect yourself with the right strategies.

First, understand that airline hotel booking platforms aren’t immune to the same problems that plague other online travel agencies. Just because you’re using American Airlines’ platform doesn’t mean you’ll get American Airlines-level customer service for hotel issues. These platforms often operate through third-party providers, which may have different disclosure standards.

Before completing any hotel booking with miles, take these protective steps: 

• Screenshot every page of the booking process, including the final confirmation screen. Pay special attention to any mentions of additional fees, taxes, or charges. If the booking platform doesn’t clearly state that resort fees or other mandatory charges will apply, assume they might exist.
• Research the specific hotel independently. Visit the hotel’s own website and look for information about resort fees, parking charges, and other mandatory fees. Many hotels that charge resort fees will list them in the fine print of their websites, even if booking platforms don’t highlight them.
• Consider calling the hotel directly to confirm what charges you’ll face at check-in. When you do this, be specific: “I’m booking through AAdvantage Hotels using miles. Besides the room rate, what additional mandatory fees will I be charged when I arrive?” Get names and confirmation numbers for these conversations.
• When you receive your booking confirmation, read it carefully. Look for language like “Payment in Full” versus “Room Rate Paid” or “Partial Payment.” If it says payment is complete but you suspect there might be additional fees, contact the booking platform immediately for clarification.

Also, keep detailed records throughout the process. Save every email, screenshot every webpage, and document every phone conversation. If surprise charges do appear, this documentation becomes your ammunition for getting them reversed.

Finally, consider booking hotels directly with the property when possible, especially for important trips. While direct booking doesn’t eliminate resort fees, it often provides clearer disclosure and a better customer service experience when problems arise.

If you encounter surprise fees despite taking precautions, act immediately. Contact both the hotel and the booking platform to fight the charges. Reference your documentation and emphasize any representations that suggested no additional fees would apply.

The travel industry’s fee disclosure practices remain inconsistent and consumer-unfriendly. Until that changes, travelers need to be their own advocates, documenting everything and pushing back against surprise charges that weren’t properly disclosed up front.

Persistence pays off — finally!

After my team and I reviewed Leong’s documentation, we reached out to American Airlines. The evidence was clear: AAdvantage Hotels had issued a receipt showing “Payment in Full” without disclosing the resort fee, while simultaneously demonstrating the ability to properly disclose such fees on other bookings.

“We will reimburse the resort fee of $165 given the resort fee wasn’t listed as an additional on-site charge in the booking path/on the receipt,” a representative told us.

Within days, Leong received a call from American Airlines confirming the refund. A check for $165 followed shortly after.

The resolution is an example of what should be the standard in these situations: When a booking platform fails to properly disclose mandatory fees, especially when the receipt suggests payment is complete, the platform should absorb the cost rather than leaving the traveler on the hook.

But here’s the troubling part: this resolution only happened because Leong contacted a consumer advocate. How many other travelers faced similar surprise charges and simply paid them, assuming they had no recourse?