The first number on a hotel listing, concert ticket, or product page is often a hook, not the bill you will actually pay. Sellers still drip extra charges in late.
Have you ever chosen a room because it looked cheapest, then watched a mandatory resort fee appear after you locked in dates?
U.S. shoppers now have a clearer federal display rule for some of those bookings. The FTC's Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees took effect on May 12, 2025 for short-term lodging and live-event tickets. It tells sellers to show the total price, including mandatory charges, before you click buy. It does not rewrite pricing pages for every industry.
What drip pricing and bait ads look like at checkout
Drip pricing is the slow leak of add-on charges after a low headline number has already pulled you into the booking flow, and bait advertising is a different trick.
To be honest, the frustrating part is how ordinary it feels, you pick the cheap-looking rate, you add the dates, you maybe choose a seat or a room type, and then a resort fee or a "service charge" shows up as if it had been there all along even though it was not in the number that made you click. You did not add those extras.
The FTC still publishes Guides Against Bait Advertising. Those guides call bait advertising an alluring but insincere offer to sell something the advertiser does not really intend to sell. That is the bait pattern they describe.
Which bookings the FTC junk-fee rule actually covers
Federal FAQs make the May 2025 rule look narrower than a lot of headlines suggested. Official FTC frequently asked questions focus on live-event tickets and short-term lodging, including hotels, motels, inns, and vacation rentals.
A government example is blunt. A resort charges $199 a night plus a mandatory $39 per day resort fee. You can't skip that $39, so it belongs in the first total.
If a cheaper rate exists only for people who enroll in a rewards program, the total price shown to everyone is the price offered to everyone. Other sellers can still face older FTC deception claims. It's the lodging and live-ticket display rule, not a rewrite of every price tag in the country.
| Booking type | What FTC guidance says |
|---|---|
| Hotel, motel, inn, or short-term rental | Mandatory fees belong in the advertised total |
| Live event tickets | Mandatory charges should appear before you buy |
| Film screenings or pre-recorded shows | Not treated as covered live events |
| A charge you can actually decline | Guidance focuses on unavoidable fees |
How to spot a misleading price before you pay
Turns out you can pressure-test a listing in a few minutes.
- Write down the first price, the date, and the site or app you used.
- Continue until taxes and mandatory fees appear. Don't add optional extras.
- Compare the same dates or seats on a second site, or on the hotel or venue page.
- Screenshot the original listing and the checkout total.
- If a hotel, rental, or live ticket still hides a mandatory fee, stop and send a complaint through ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Those two screenshots are the evidence.
Fake discounts and bait advertising in other stores
Bait advertising is an offer the seller does not really intend to honor, then a switch to a costlier product once you respond. If the advertised item is always gone and staff only push an upgrade, report that listing the same way you would report a hidden hotel fee.
What to do if the extra charge already posted
Thing is, an FTC report does not automatically put money back on your card. Start with the merchant if you still have the confirmation.
Ask for a refund that matches the advertised total. Keep the reply.
If you paid with a credit card and the statement amount looks wrong, federal billing-error rules set a clock. You generally must notify the card issuer no later than 60 days after it sent the first statement showing the alleged error. The issuer should acknowledge your notice within 30 days unless it already corrected the bill. The issuer then has two billing cycles, and not more than 90 days, to correct the error or explain why it believes the amount is right. During that period it can't treat the disputed amount as delinquent for credit reporting, under those rules.
Write the issuer with the statement date, the dollar amount, and a plain explanation of why the charge does not match what you were shown, and attach the screenshots, and don't rely on a chat transcript that disappears, because you'll want a paper trail if the first agent says no and the second agent asks you to start over.
Mismatch between the shown total and the posted charge is the cleaner billing-error case than a fee you already accepted on the last screen.
Save the listing screenshot and the final total before you tap pay. If those two numbers do not match, send the FTC complaint. If a card was charged, start the billing-error notice before day 60.