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You booked the room at $189 a night. You budgeted for $189 a night. Then you check out and the folio says $312 — and buried in there is a $55 "resort fee" for a gym you never used, a pool you glanced at, and "complimentary" Wi-Fi that costs everyone the same whether they log on or not.
If you've read a headline in the last year saying junk fees are banned, you'd be forgiven for thinking this problem was solved. It isn't. Something real did change — and it genuinely helps — but it's not what most people think it is. Here's what actually happened, and the four moves that keep that fee off your bill.
What Changed — and What Didn't
The FTC's Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees took effect on May 12, 2025. It requires hotels, booking sites, and ticket sellers to clearly display the total price including all mandatory fees — and to make that total the most prominent price in any ad or listing. Only government taxes can sit outside that number, and even those have to be spelled out before you hand over payment details.
New York City went further. Under rules that took effect February 21, 2026, NYC hotels must fold destination fees, resort fees, and mandatory service charges into the displayed price, and must also disclose deposit and credit card hold policies upfront. Penalties escalate from $525 to $3,500 per violation.
Here's the part the headlines skipped. The FTC is explicit: the rule "does not prohibit any type or amount of fee, nor does it prohibit any specific pricing strategies." It's a transparency rule, not a ban. The $55 didn't disappear — it got folded into the number you see first.
⚠️ The practical translation: you should no longer be surprised by a resort fee. If you are, that's now a compliance problem you can push back on. But a fee you saw coming is still a fee you have to pay — unless you use one of the exits below.
Rally's two cents: "So the rule says they have to tell me about the $55 fee for the pool I'm not allowed in. Great. Transparency is lovely. I'd still like my $55."
How to Spot It Before You Book
The fee now lives in the total, which means the skill has shifted from finding it to reading it. Three things to check on every booking page:
The Four Real Ways to Avoid It
1. Book with points at a chain that waives them
This is the single biggest lever, and the chains differ sharply. As of August 2026, Hilton Honors waives resort fees on award stays booked entirely with points or free night certificates — no elite status required. World of Hyatt does the same on point redemptions and free night awards, and top-tier Globalist members skip them on paid stays too. Marriott Bonvoy and IHG One Rewards charge the fee on award stays regardless of status.
That gap is worth real money, and it's why transferable points matter more than any single hotel program. Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer to World of Hyatt at 1:1, which makes a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred a practical route into the one major program that reliably kills resort fees. If points are new to you, our Travel Hacking 101 guide is the gentler starting point.
2. Use elite status you may already have
In Las Vegas specifically, MGM Rewards and Caesars Rewards waive resort fees at higher tiers — and those tiers are often reachable through card-linked status matches rather than actual gambling. Premium hotel cards are the usual shortcut here; our breakdown of the Amex Hilton Aspire walks through how the status that comes with a card can pay for itself. Check what your existing cards already grant before you assume you don't qualify.
3. Pick a property that doesn't charge one
Resort fees cluster in specific markets — Las Vegas, Orlando, Hawaii, Miami. In those cities, filtering for no-fee properties can beat chasing a lower nightly rate. On the Strip, fees run roughly $45 to $55 a night before tax, so a hotel advertising $30 more per night with no fee is genuinely cheaper.
4. Ask — specifically, and at the right moment
Front desk agents can usually remove a resort fee for a service failure: no hot water, broken gym, pool closed for maintenance, Wi-Fi down. Note the problem when it happens, not at checkout, and ask then. "The pool was closed both days — can the resort fee be adjusted?" works far better than a general complaint about fees.
The Math: Three Nights in Vegas
Say you're looking at a Strip hotel advertising $189 a night for three nights, with a $55 nightly resort fee and roughly 13.38% Clark County room tax applied to both the rate and the fee.
| Line item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Room rate ($189 × 3 nights) | $567.00 |
| Resort fee ($55 × 3 nights) | $165.00 |
| Room tax (~13.38% on both) | $97.94 |
| Actual total | $829.94 |
The resort fee plus the tax charged on it comes to about $187 — nearly a full extra night, on a trip you thought cost $567. Book the same stay on Hyatt points instead and the fee and its tax both vanish; the identical trip costs you points plus roughly $0 in cash. That's the whole argument for keeping a stash of transferable points even if you're not a "points person" — and if you're covering more than one room, the same logic scales, as we covered in using points to travel as a family.
If You've Already Been Charged
Work the ladder in order, and stop as soon as it works.
At the desk. Pull up your booking confirmation and ask calmly: "The total I was quoted was $X and I'm being charged $Y — can you walk me through the difference?" Framing it as a discrepancy rather than a complaint gets a far better response, and front desk staff often have authority to adjust.
With the brand. If the property won't move, contact the chain's customer care line, not the hotel. Corporate cares about rule compliance in a way an individual property may not, and points-currency compensation is common.
With your card issuer. If the fee was genuinely never disclosed in the advertised total before you entered payment details, that's the exact conduct the FTC rule targets — and it's a strong basis for a billing dispute. Submit the screenshot of your quoted total alongside the folio. This is a real reason to put travel on a credit card rather than a debit card: the dispute process actually has teeth.
One honest caveat: a properly disclosed fee isn't disputable just because it's annoying. If the total you agreed to included it, you owe it. The leverage exists when the disclosure failed — or when the amenities you were charged for weren't actually available.
The Bottom Line
The rules got better and the fee survived. Treat the advertised total as the only number that matters, screenshot it, and use the exit that fits your trip: Hilton or Hyatt points in fee-heavy markets, status you already have, a no-fee property, or a specific ask when something's broken. And if the number at checkout doesn't match the number you were shown, that's not bad luck anymore — that's a violation, and you have somewhere to take it. Heading to Europe instead? The same "what changed and what didn't" confusion is playing out at the border — our guide to Europe's new ETIAS and EES rules sorts out which one is actually live.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are resort fees illegal now?
No. The FTC's rule, effective May 12, 2025, requires the all-in total to be the most prominent advertised price, but the agency states plainly that it "does not prohibit any type or amount of fee." Resort fees are still legal — they just can't be a surprise.
Which hotel chains waive resort fees on points stays?
As of August 2026, Hilton Honors waives them on all-points and free night award stays, and World of Hyatt waives them on point redemptions and free night awards (Globalists skip them on paid stays too). Marriott Bonvoy and IHG charge them on award stays with no elite exception. Confirm on the booking page before redeeming — these policies do change.
Can you refuse to pay a resort fee?
Not if it was properly disclosed in the total you agreed to. If it wasn't shown before you entered payment information, ask the front desk to remove it, escalate to the brand, and dispute with your card issuer if needed — your booking screenshot is the evidence.
How much are Las Vegas resort fees?
Roughly $45 to $55 per night before tax as of 2026, with the highest-end Strip properties at the top of the range. Tax is charged on the fee too, so budget about 13% above the sticker number.
