Ticketing agencies will have to disclose total costs upfront — including junk fees — in a new ruling from the Federal Trade Commission targeting deceptive pricing tactics.
The bipartisan Junk Fees Rule will take effect around April and require live ticket events, hotels and vacation rentals to be transparent in pricing instead of tacking on convenience and service fees at the end of a purchase. It’s important to note that junk fees will still exist, but will be communicated clearly at the start of a purchase.
The FTC proposed the rule in Oct. 2023 after soliciting feedback and receiving 12,000 responses on how hidden and misleading fees can affect personal spending and competition. The Commission received a subsequent 60,000 comments that it considered in its ruling.
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“People deserve to know up-front what they’re being asked to pay—without worrying that they’ll later be saddled with mysterious fees that they haven’t budgeted for and can’t avoid,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan in a statement. “The FTC’s rule will put an end to junk fees around live event tickets, hotels, and vacation rentals, saving Americans billions of dollars and millions of hours in wasted time. I urge enforcers to continue cracking down on these unlawful fees and encourage state and federal policymakers to build on this success with legislation that bans unfair and deceptive junk fees across the economy.”
The FTC estimates that the Junk Fees Rule will save consumers up to 53 million hours per year spent trying to discern the total price for concert tickets and short-term lodging, and will equate to more than $11 billion in savings over the next decade.
The final rule vote was 4-1, and is the latest in the ongoing crusade against unfair ticketing practices. In June 2023, President Joe Biden announced that Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary pledged to eliminate junk fee tactics and show prices upfront.