Texas Attorney General Secures $9.5M Settlement with Booking.com Parent Company Over “Junk Fee” Practices

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the state has secured a $9.5M settlement with Booking Holdings (BKNG) for deceptively marketing hotel room prices to consumers by omitting mandatory fees. This settlement marks the largest amount recovered by a State related to “junk fee” practices against any hotel or online travel agency. Attorney General Paxton’s lawsuit against the company, which operates Booking.com, Priceline.com, and Kayak.com, alleged that Booking engaged in illegal practices by enticing consumers initially with artificially low room rates that were not actually available. The lawsuit also argued that Booking obscured mandatory fees by grouping them with funds owed to the government as part of the “Taxes and Fees” line item at checkout. This gave Booking an unfair and unlawful advantage over honest companies that were transparent in displaying the actual initial price of rooms. The settlement’s terms require Booking to disclose any fees added on to a hotel room’s price upfront, allowing consumers to more efficiently shop and compare prices.

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