After years of complaints from consumers, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is cracking down on so-called “junk fees.” Starting in late April 2025, entities like hotels, ticket brokers and rental car companies must disclose all extraneous fees up front. It’s all part of the FTC’s 313-page Bipartisan Junk Fees Rule, also known more formally as the Trade Regulation Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees. In a December 17, 2024 statement the agency announced, “This rule will help the FTC get money back to people misled by bait-and-switch pricing and hidden fees for live-event tickets and short-term lodging.”
Don Redman with AAA Louisiana says consumers have been screaming about those fees for years. “You think you’re locking in for a price for a hotel room, let’s say, and then when it’s time to check out it’s considerably more than what you thought you were going to pay, because all of a sudden they produce all these different fees that you weren’t aware of.”
Redman says those entities can still charge those fees. But they will no longer be able to hide them from the consumer. The Rule calls for penalties of up to $51,744 per violation, with the cap adjusted for inflation.
This junk free rule is the culmination of more than two years of work beginning in 2022 which drew more than 72,000 comments. President Biden even addressed junk fees, and efforts to stop them, during his State of the Union address in February 2023. The President said of these hidden fees, “They make it harder for you to pay your bills or afford that family trip. I know how unfair it feels when a company overcharges you to – gets away with it.”
