Airbnb and similar sites hide fees from customers. People are mad about it.

Reported today on The Seattle Times

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Airbnb and similar sites hide fees from customers. People are mad about it.

Juan Herrera, a graduate student from San Diego, was searching the Airbnb booking site for a place to rent in Los Angeles for New Year's Eve when he was surprised to see that several extra fees were added to the nightly rate, pushing the total cost of the trip out of his price range.

In addition to the nightly rates of $100 to $120 for a private room, nearly every place he considered renting charged a "service fee" of about 13% of the pretax rate and a one-time "cleaning fee" of about $45. It prompted him to book a comparably priced hotel room instead.

"I definitely felt surprised and preferred to book a regular hotel because I do not feel now that Airbnb is transparent with prices," Herrera said.

Properties listed for rent on Airbnb routinely charge cleaning and other fees, some substantial, but such extra costs seldom are factored into the nightly rate that turns up in the initial lodging search, according to an analysis of listings by The Los Angeles Times.

Now, lawmakers and consumer groups are pressuring Airbnb, Vrbo (owned by Seattle-based Expedia Group) and other short-term rental platforms - as well as conventional hotels - to include all mandatory charges such as cleaning and service fees into the advertised nightly rate so that prospective customers can accurately compare prices.

The European Commission reached an agreement with Airbnb last year that requires the online booking platform to advertise the total price of booking lodging throughout Europe, which means adding all mandatory fees into the nightly rate.

A bill introduced in September in the U.S. House of Representatives would impose similar requirements for all short-term lodging in the United States, including hotel

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