The FTC to hotels and ticketing sites

The days of playing hide-and-seek with Ticketmaster fees are at an end. Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission approved a new rule preventing hotels and ticket sellers from hiding extra fees associated with a purchase.

At issue: Service fees on concert tickets, for example, which can comprise anywhere from 20%-30% of the advertised ticket price – and typically aren’t shown until the checkout process begins.

The FTC’s new rule removes this junk from the trunk, so to speak. It doesn’t bar any particular fees, but rather requires the disclosure of the full price up front to customers who rent short-term lodging, such as hotels and vacation homes, along with consumers who buy tickets to concerts, sports, and other live events (though some ticketing sites are already doing this).

Per the agency, the rule is expected to save consumers as much as 53 million hours/year spent searching for the true cost of tickets and lodging.

And since time is money, all those extra seconds add up – to the equivalent of $11+ billion over the next decade, according to the agency’s announcement.

👀 Looking ahead…The rule will go into effect 120 days after it's published in the Federal Registrar.