How Expedia and Airbnb Comply With California's Junk Fee Law
12.07.2024 - 13:30
/ skift.com
/ Dennis Schaal
The Big Three travel booking sites — Booking.com, Airbnb, and Expedia/Vrbo — all appear to be complying with California’s new junk fee transparency law. But they way they are doing it varies considerably.
The new law, which became effective this week, requires travel sellers and others to display the total price, including mandatory fees, upfront. They don’t have to show taxes on first view.
However, Expedia.com is displaying the total cost upfront in bold, including fees taxes, for hotels.
Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo do not show the total rate and fees upfront, including taxes.
Asked why Expedia.com shows the total cost for hotels but not for Vrbo’s short-term rentals, an Expedia Group spokesperson said: “Regarding Vrbo, we are following an approach consistent across the industry, which allows travelers to make fair price comparisons when shopping across competing platforms.”
As shown in the accompanying image, Airbnb shows guests in California the nightly rate plus all fees, excluding taxes.
Both Expedia and Airbnb are applying their policies for California-based travelers even if they aren’t in California.
This highlights how the California junk fee law impacts how Californians can now view more transparent pricing for Expedia, Booking.com, and Airbnb listings throughout the world — and not just for properties within California’s borders.
Non-Californians who want to book an Airbnb in another state or other countries that don’t mandate total price displays can use Airbnb’s toggle feature to view the nightly rate plus all fees, excluding taxes, or merely the nightly rate.
Like Airbnb, Vrbo shows California-based shoppers — whether they are trying to book inside California or outside — the nightly rate including fees, but excluding taxes. It’s in bold and upfront when they view listings. The total rate, minus taxes, is in a lighter font. You can see it in the following screenshot.
The way Vrbo displays upfront listings outside of California, when viewed by people outside the state, is subtly different. In this case, as seen below, Vrbo bolds the nightly rate, And the nightly rate plus fees — but excluding taxes — is there in a smaller light font, as seen below for a Miami listing.
In California and for California-based shoppers elsewhere, for both hotels and short-term rentals, Booking.com displays upfront the nightly rate, including fees, but excluding taxes.
Vrbo provides a better explanation than Airbnb and Booking.com, letting travelers know in each listing that the rate in bold includes fees.
For hotels and short-term rentals outside of California when viewed by travelers based elsewhere, Booking.com displays up-front nightly rates in bold for both hotels and short-term rentals, and in a