Some of them have nothing to do with what extras there are they are just another hotel tax in a way. To book, simply navigate to TI’s website and select your travel dates and room options. You can earn Hilton points with a plethora of cobranded credit cards: You’ve got even more options when you need World Of Hyatt points since they transfer on a 1:1 basis from Chase Ultimate Rewards. Of course, if you have your heart set on a certain property that charges them, this method won’t work, but at least you’ll know the facts going into your stay and can prepare in advance to try to use another method to get the fee waived! Here’s a link to Las Vegas hotels without resort fees, but fair warning, the options aren’t great. From my research, resort fees began as an optional charge guests would pay to use certain amenities at a hotel. Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. But, that doesn’t mean you have to spend $30, $50 or potentially more than $100 per night of your own hard-earned cash on these resort fees destination fees, facility fees and now even housekeeping fees. You arrive at your hotel, full of excitement over your upcoming vacation, and go to the front desk to check in. This practice alone definitely scores Hilton and Hyatt bonus points in my book! Nobody likes to find out they have to pay extra for a trip—especially one they thought they’d already covered, whether in cash or in points. The easiest way to avoid paying resort fees is simply to choose hotels that do not impose them. The credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. If you know you won’t be using any of the services bundled with the resort fee, ask the manager to remove the fee altogether.You might have more success if you have elite status or stay frequently at that hotel. Earn 25,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first three months and an additional 25,000 points after spending a total of $6,000 total in the first six months. That fee almost doubles the room rate listed on the hotels.com website—$43 per night—making it even harder to swallow. Here’s a similar list for Hawaii (just be sure to double-check that nothing has changed since the list was last updated.). The only other benefit the fee covered was Wi-Fi, which I was supposed to have included as a Marriott Gold member. View our latest valuations here. But there are a few ways you can try to not have to pay them, though: Don’t stay at a hotel that charges a resort fee. Sep 4, 2019 - Wondering how not to pay resort fees, which can often up the cost of your hotel room by $30 per night or more? However, note that even Airbnb hosts can charge a resort fee if they manage six or more listings, so book carefully there, too. It turned out they didn’t, and she removed the charges—just another reason it pays to know your stuff before you go into a potential resort-fee situation. Can I refuse to pay and get away with it? A RED VENTURES COMPANY. As told by Kill Resort Fees, at first, resort fees were much lower ($5–$10) and often were optional, reserved only for those who wanted to use the resort’s amenities beyond the base room and rate. The Waldorf Astoria Grand Wailea on Maui, another hotel I visited recently, charges a resort fee nearly double that per night at $40, which doesn’t even include mandatory valet parking at $30 per night. Here’s a step-by-step guide of how to make all of that status matching glory happen so you can go from Vegas zero to hero in a flash. © 2021 THE POINTS GUY, LLC. 2X points on dining at restaurants including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out and travel & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases. At the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, for one, you’ll pay a fee of $40.82 per night, according to hotels.com. How to Avoid Resort Fees . One strategy that is far from guaranteed, but works some percentage of the time, is to simply ask to not pay the resort fee — especially if you are not going to use the included amenities. Check over the fine print carefully while making your booking, looking not just for the words “resort fee,” but for any other terms a hotel could be using. In my case, the manager made what she called a one-time exception, but that was all I needed. Many of the credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. Never assume you know the real cost until you dig deeper and price the entire stay with the correct number of room occupants. You may not be able to exploit all of them, but you can probably use at least one. For example, within the World Of Hyatt program, those with Hyatt Globalist status do not pay resort fees, even on paid stays. First what do you think resort fees are? A hotel credit card that comes with elite status, such as the Hilton Honors American Express Ascend Card, can be enough to status match your way into a high enough tier within the Caesars Rewards program to avoid resort fees. In other words, it never hurts to ask for resort fees to be waived, but don’t just assume you’ll be able to talk or protest your way out them. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. If you do that, they will waive your fees. But these days, you’ll find hotels using resort fees to charge for Internet access, parking, fitness center access, kids’ club access, bottled water, boarding pass printing, newspapers, shuttles, bike storage, faxes, in-room coffee… you get the picture. Resort fees have been a growing problem in the travel industry for a long time. I was asked the other day regarding the resort fee. The taxes and fees amount is not hyperlinked, and you cannot find what makes up this amount anywhere on the website. For example, if a guest wanted access to the fitness center, there might be a $5 or $10 per day charge. That said, focus on Hilton and Hyatt for the most reliable resort-fee-free award stays. According to research by Bjorn Hanson, divisional dean of the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management at New York University, the U.S. hotel industry collected approximately $1.55 billion in fees and surcharges in 2009. Even among luxury hotels, it's possible to find those that do not impose mandatory resort fees. Read on! On a recent stay at the Gaylord Rockies Resort near Denver, I paid $23 even after using points for what I thought would be a free stay. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. Resort fees, destination fees, facility fees (call them what you will) have been around for some time but it’s only in the past year or two that they’ve really started getting out of hand. If you can’t find a hotel you want without a resort fee, consider Airbnb or other home rental services. Attorneys-general in many states, but not Nevada, say the practice is unlawful and that guests can reclaim resort fees. Standard overnight self-parking is available to registered Guests for a fee that will be applied to their hotel folio upon check-out. Not all of which were resort fees, but you can see how fees and extras add up. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel. Hotels love these fees because they're not commissionable to travel agents, so while they may have to pay commissions of up to 15% on the room rate itself if you book your stay through sites like Expedia, the 'resort fee' is paid directly to the hotel by the guest with no commission, so even if the benefits they offer in return do cost them something, they still wind up ahead. Not only that, but the amount of the resort fees and information on which Great Wolf properties charge resort fees is nowhere to be found its site. However, at a resort in Hawaii, a TPG staffer was able to get a resort fee waived when the pool was closed during the stay. I dodged it for each of the six nights on my trip since I booked them using Hilton Honors points, upping the total rewards I received during my stay by an additional $240. Can you refuse these services and not pay a resort fee?.. Some hotel loyalty programs waive resort fees on award stays made purely with points (as opposed to cash and points that may have added fees). The information for the Chase Freedom has been collected independently by The Points Guy. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. If you call a hotel and discover that a resort fee will be charged, consider mentioning that you prefer to stay at properties that do not bill guests for resort fees so that … Can I refuse to pay and get away with it? This is the most obvious, of course. In places like Las Vegas, Hawaii, Orlando and similar, there’s not a long list of hotels without resort fees, but there are often a few if you look hard enough. The hotel industry raked in a record $2.9 billion in resort fees and other fees and surcharges in 2018, with even more … Please view our advertising policy page for more information. To beat a resort fee, you have to know how to spot one — and that can be tough, especially now that even non-resorts tack on destination fees. Here are five methods for you. Read on to learn all of my suggested ways to avoid parking fees … It never hurts to talk things out face-to-face, and this holds true when trying to avoid paying resort fees. The annual fee is $95. Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater. Travelers without kids may find themselves paying kids’ club access charges, for instance, while those who show up without cars may find their fee includes parking. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). But some British travellers who … In 2010, fees and surcharges pulled in $1.7 billion. They are expensive, sometimes poorly disclosed and often don’t actually add real value to the stay. I’ve heard everything from “destination fee” to “amenity fee” as substitutions for “resort fee.” You can also do a quick search on resortfeechecker.com to make sure you’ve got the fee situation straight; this website will tell you not only how much a hotel charges in resort fees per night, but what amenities and services those fees cover, too. Hilton Honors American Express Ascend Card, was able to get a resort fee waived when the pool was closed, You can now earn up to 65,000 miles with latest Alaska card offer, How President-elect Biden plans to travel to his Washington, DC inauguration, Now up for bid: Parts from Delta Air Lines’ last Boeing 747, Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. See, TPG’s Loyalty and Engagement Editor Richard Kerr recently addressed some of the  crazy ways hotels charge these extra hidden fees, Wyndham Rewards is also known for waiving resort fees on award stays, Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card. Travelers aren’t the only ones who don’t like resort fees; because they’re not part of the published room rate, hotels don’t pay online travel agencies commission on them. By a strict definition, they’re not raising room rates but adding a mandatory fee.” Last year, Mr. Hanson said, 42 percent of resort hotels charged resort fees, a figure he predicted would remain flat this year. On a recent stay at the Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock, an employee went over the resort fees I’d have to pay before I asked her to double check if those applied to points stays. For rates and fees of the Hilton Surpass card, click here. Always check on the hotel's web site or call the hotel direct to find out if the property imposes a resort fee. While battles are being waged against these now commonplace, mandatory fees — known by many names — here in 2019, travelers are far still from winning the war on resort fees. How do you know whether your hotel charges a resort fee? Wyndham Rewards is also known for waiving resort fees on award stays, though I’ve heard more issues with spotty implementation with that program than the first two. I will always put these points toward generating content that I hope will be useful for you on your own points and miles journey. First, because they are bundled, you may wind up paying extra for services and amenities you don’t use. ***This post contains credit card referral links that may provide compensation in points to 52 Cities at no extra expense to you. She agreed to nix the fee for me under those circumstances, and you might have similar luck if you’re able to make the argument that a) you aren’t planning to use the benefits or b) you shouldn’t have to pay for benefits that should be included with your status. Now check your email to confirm your subscription. You can also pick up the World Of Hyatt Credit Card. I have no doubt my Marriott Gold status helped me out in the Park City example I mentioned above—as well as countless other times I was in a position to receive compensation for something that had gone wrong during a stay. Caesars Rewards Diamond and Seven Stars members get the resort fee of (approximately $45 USD per night) waived with their status. About 45 percent of hotels in resort locations, such as ski or beach destinations, charge resort fees, he says. • If a hotel’s resort fee covers stuff that you didn’t need during your stay, such as the aforementioned faxes, point out that you didn’t need these services and therefore should not pay for them. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. The only way to avoid resort fees is to gamble a lot. The resort fees are often not disclosed in the price you see on an advertisement. Please try again. At some Las Vegas hotels, for example, you can see the fee reach close to the room rate or higher. While this might work occasionally, it doesn’t always, even when some elements that should be included in a resort fee are closed, missing or broken. Whether you need inspiration, planning tips or a crash course in how to travel for free, you'll find it here. The Pro-Rated Resort Fee. Some travelers simply refuse to ever pay resort fees and will immediately cross off any property that charges them from their lists. Oct 1, 2019 - Wondering how not to pay resort fees, which can often up the cost of your hotel room by $30 per night or more? In very recent history, online booking sites and even an attorney general have started fighting back in a variety of ways (up to and including a new suit filed against Marriott). Check out this guide for strategies to use! Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. I would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. But it doesn’t stop there. While resort fees have long been popular in destinations such as Las Vegas, Hawaii and Florida, they’re now popping up in all sorts of geographies—and at properties you’d be hard-pressed to classify as “resorts.”. It’s the worst feeling. Second, because they’re tacked on later and often not made explicitly clear at the time of booking, they allow hotels to masquerade as cheaper than they actually are. Unfortunately, not a whole lot. If you want the room there is a price but if you don't want the newspaper, internet access free calls etc why should you have to pay an extra fee on top? ... CET properties, Southpoint and many downtown hotels do not charge resort fees. The best way to avoid resort fees is to stay at fee-free hotels. There’s another reason elite status can help in this situation, too: When it comes to making things right for elites, hotel employees tend to try to go above and beyond the service you’ll normally see. The application of this isn’t as smooth as with waived resort fees on award stays, but the rules are clear that top-tier Hyatt elites shouldn’t be charged resort fees when on eligible paid rates. So, ready to find out how you can avoid hotel resort fees? There are mainly two ways to avoid paying resort fees: – to book a Vegas hotel which does not charge resort fees (a list is provided at the bottom, but beware of the drawbacks, as we’ll explain further on) Please view our advertising policy page for more information. Total hotel fees and surcharges, including resort fees, were expected to rake in $2.9 billion last year, he says, up from $2.7 billion in 2017. Thankfully, when you redeem points at Hilton and Hyatt properties for free stays, the stays really are just that—free. If you look closely at your next hotel bill, you might see an extra charge called a "resort fee." Disney World has begun charging a parking fee of up to $25 per night at all of their Walt Disney World Resort hotels. *Bonus value is an estimated value calculated by TPG and not the card issuer. AirBnB Sign Up: https://www.airbnb.com/c/jacobo84?currency=USDThis video is to help save you money on your Las Vegas vacation. The best plan is to avoid the fees in the first place. The answer was … no dice. And then, bam. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. The fee covered a shuttle, game room use and an apres-ski reception, none of which we used on a short overnight stay. Note that this specific deal is only available to MyTI Guestbook members. Don’t use amenities; ask for fees to be removed or reduced. Perhaps the tide will turn against them in the coming years, but until then, we’d love to hear your strategies for avoiding resort fees. I’m not yet done with Great Wolf Lodge. Neither chain’s hotels will charge you resort fees if you use points to cover your entire stay (rather than using a points-plus-cash option). If you’re checking in for a points stay at a Hilton- or Hyatt-owned property, definitely keep in mind that those hotels generally don’t charge resort fees, as you might need to remind whomever is checking you in of that fact. Over time, resort fees evolved into mandatory charges that are often hidden at the time of booking. Check out this guide for strategies! While resort fees have been a thing for decades, their beginnings were much more humble than today’s realities. For more on earning and using points and miles to travel for free, visit the 52 Cities free resource library or register to join me on an upcoming masterclass! Hint: You can start by signing up for a Caesars Rewards account and status match your way to the Diamond tier level to not pay resort fees at any Caesars property! Finally, the dagger: Resort fees aren’t cheap. When they first started out, resort fees covered use of shared resort facilities—think pools, beach clubs, tennis courts, etc. Answer 1 of 92: Gday This has probably been asked before. For rates and fees of the Hilton Aspire card, click here. You can win many of your own personal battles against resort fees with these strategies. 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