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Finally DIDN'T book a trip because of Resort Fees

Discussion in 'Misc. Vegas Chat' started by landsburger, Mar 6, 2016.

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  1. hammie

    hammie VIP Whale

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    I find this hard to believe, Spirit Airlines generates a greater % of revenue from these fees compared to the legacy airlines like Delta and American. A fee is still revenue which is subject to corporate tax.

    As mentioned before, one of the main reasons for these fees is because they don't have to be shared with the distribution channels like Expedia and the like. Hotels can pay 10-25% of the room rate to its distributors for booking rooms. Plus, lower rates will favor a listing when prospective customers sort by lower price.

    I find that trying to arrive at a final "walk out the door price" is difficult to arrive at with MGM and Venetian/Palazzo. I have come to accept these fees since they have become so pervasive, I just wish they were all listed and totaled. I just want the bottom line price to include all taxes and fees before I hit the reserve button, I don't want to do the math myself. Absent of this tells me that the corporate suits don't want to come clean and are trying to play the shell game with me.
     
  2. NotFromConcentrate

    NotFromConcentrate It’s a Cassowary :)

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    You know, it's funny... this is one of many reasons why I've maintained the Americas are many eons behind Europe. Anywhere you go in Europe, the taxes, fees, etc., are all included in the quoted price. The hotel room is €75? You pay €75. No added tax, no "local blah blah fee", nothing. This makes things substantially easier, I think. Of course, it would be far outside of anyone's expectation for a €75 hotel room to turn into a €110 hotel room - but that just doesn't happen there. I really think Vegas could learn a thing or two. I don't mind paying $150 for a hotel if it's quoted at $150. I just mind paying $150 when it's quoted at $99, plus $29.99 in resort fees and $12.99 in wifi charges.
     
    [TENTATIVE Late Jul/Early Aug] Vegas by way of Chicago/Elko/Reno!
  3. makikiboy

    makikiboy VIP Whale

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    Not sure how it works out but how about airline fares using the third party sites like orbitz, Travelocity and expedia? Their fares include all taxes and fees.

    Years ago I remember being nickeled and dimed with the airlines; landing fees, airport concession fees, etc. that were added on after you selected your flight. Previously flight searches were like hotel searches and didn't include all taxes and fees. Seems that the fed gov't put their foot down and now the airlines and other sites all list the total amount of your flight for the large major airlines, including taxes and fees (sans baggage fees). As far as I know, the major airlines don't add on any extra fees that aren't listed in the third party sites so why don't the airlines do like the hotels and add on "resort fee" type of fees?

    Yes, the "economy" airlines do nickel and dime you as much as they can. Not sure why they are getting away with it, maybe the feds didn't include all those nickel and dime charges in their original mandates? Or maybe the feds didn't create any mandates and the major airlines just reigned in and included all taxes and fees in their fare prices?

    I'm trying to understand why they could make the airlines list the total price of your fare (sans economy airlines) but not hotels.
     
  4. wanker751

    wanker751 Dutch Rudder Enthusiast

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    I think the the search it just shows the base rate, only when you go to book the hotel then do the resort fees pop up, so a hotel can advertise a low rate of say $50 per night but have resort fees, another can have a rate of $70 without fees. The hope is people book the $50 one not even clicking on the $70 one to see the difference.
     
  5. leo21

    leo21 VIP Whale

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    This is an oversimplification but basically they pay less taxes on fees than actual airfare. When they got that ruling fees exploded. I don't think there is a similar advantage to hotels.

    http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2015/04/21/the-real-reason-airlines-charge-checke******-fees-and-its-not-what-you-think/




    Are the hotels even sharing revenue on those third party bookings? I thought they were selling deeply discounted rooms to some of those sites well in advance. Either way, I think it's more about manipulating the search results. Think about where this started - Stations Casinos. Palace Station looked dirt cheap and close to the strip when they started this up. When people came to town, they were shocked by the fees that made it more expensive than IP or Circus Circus and that it wasn't a close to the strip as advertised. MGM started doing it to undercut IP and Harrah's at Luxor and Excalibur and now look where we are.
     
  6. Krh2o

    Krh2o MIA

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    Sorry I meant to say only pay corporate income tax. They don't pay the airline excess tax of 7.5% which is included in the fare you see. I need to start proofreading.
     
  7. zerofan

    zerofan VIP Whale

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    I would never let 3 or 4 nights of a resort fee make me cancel a trip. Ok so maybe it is an extra 100 bucks total in fees for your stay.

    Nothing against the OP, as this is just my opinion, but people have no problem shoving 100's or thousands of dollars into a machine but they will stand firm on that extra 15 bucks a night. Even if it is more per night I still dont get it.
     
  8. wanker751

    wanker751 Dutch Rudder Enthusiast

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    I agree with you on this. It would grind my gears but I would not cancel.
     
  9. hotreds

    hotreds Illegitimi non carborundum!

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    I think I could live with a "comped" room costing $36 in fees. However, a room of $50/60 or more($100ish seems to be the going price when I check lower end CET properties without logging in) with those fees would be a deal breaker for me. And, not everybody shoves "100s or thousands into a machine" while in Vegas. But, as I've said numerous times: people will bitch and moan and pay up- op excepted. Bravo to you, sir
     
  10. Peachiekeehn

    Peachiekeehn High-Roller

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    Resort fees are recorded under miscellaneous income and can be used to offset expenses. No portion is included in rooms revenue.
     
  11. NotFromConcentrate

    NotFromConcentrate It’s a Cassowary :)

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    Realistically, what's to stop the hotels from charging $0.01 for the room and then $79 in resort fees? Where does the line get drawn?
     
    [TENTATIVE Late Jul/Early Aug] Vegas by way of Chicago/Elko/Reno!
  12. hotreds

    hotreds Illegitimi non carborundum!

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    nada, nothing, garnichts, niente, rien, Никто
     
  13. Krh2o

    Krh2o MIA

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    Income is income for corp tax. The resort fees are subject to the same 12% hotel tax passed on to the user. If they make $100 on the room and $32 on the resort fee, thats $132 in revenue. They can of course subtract the cost of maids, internet, etc. from that but its all the same.

    Reson for Resort Fees other then third party booking sites is the hotels give at a very low cost a lot of rooms to marketing companies and travel agencies. They then use those as the free rooms for signing up for a timeshare tour, orang other promotion. The hotel charging a resort fee, allows them to recoup some extra money from the room.
     
  14. leo21

    leo21 VIP Whale

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    If the point of the trip is to shove hundreds or thousands into a machine or drink or eat with that money, then yes, some people are going to have a problem with things detracting from that. It's getting to the point that by the time you get to Vegas and check into the hotel, there are so many fees that will keep you from actually doing anything fun in town.

    Why isn't anyone in Vegas concerned about where the money to pay fees will come from? It's like they expect everyone to pony up extra money to pay for them. The reality is that it will come from gaming budgets or worse, from food and beverage budgets. The latter should be a concern because that means that will trickle down into less tips for servers in the long term.
     
  15. landsburger

    landsburger High-Roller

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    Definitely not a traditional vacation. That's why we'll be there 2 or maybe 3 times this year. What they might be losing is an extra trip or 2 or 6.

    And they basically charge the fee because they discovered they can. As I remembered most resort fees started well below $20. Is seem to remember some around $12. It was close to what you'd pay for wifi, so didn't seem horrible if you needed wifi.

    Can you imagine how much even that amount made them the first year! They've slowly been ratcheting it up ever since. Even a few more bucks equals a lot of money. Now we're near $40. And because of our phones, most of us don't even need the wifi anymore, let alone the paper. :)

    I really really hope they don't start charging for parking.
     
  16. zerofan

    zerofan VIP Whale

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    Huh? Not trying to make an issue of this but I really don't get this statement. Can you please elaborate? No ill intent here, I just don't get how a daily fee less than 20 bucks is preventing you from doing anything fun. Thanks.
     
  17. stackinchips

    stackinchips VIP Whale

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    This post is the classic example of resort fee hysteria. There is absolutely, positively, zero difference to the consumer whether the price for a hotel is $125 per night with no resort fees, or $100 per night with a $25 resort fee. As pointed out in this thread, the casinos have basically just figured out a way to reduce the fees they pay to third party hotel booking sites by making a portion of the room cost a "fee" which doesn't have to be split with those sites.

    If you're simply complaining that the cost of hotels and other items in Vegas have gone up, that's one thing, but it's not simply a "fee" that is causing that. On top of that it's simply supply and demand. More and more people are going to Vegas, and they're willing to pay more to do so. If those prices cross your threshold for the perceived value you're getting, and you just feel it's not worth it or too expensive, you can choose not to go. However keep in mind that there are still plenty of people who are willing to pay that much and feel like it's still worth it, so projecting your own decisions/thoughts as some sort of widespread trend that's going to bankrupt Vegas is obviously flawed thinking.
     
  18. mjames1229

    mjames1229 # of visits includes only trips w/ hotel stays

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    You've got the recipe mostly right, just need to add a dash of "Hotel rooms can't be Loss Leaders to bring people into the casinos" as each department is its own profit center now that gaming revenue is down.
     
    USBC Nationals are back in Vegas
  19. billyinpg

    billyinpg Low-Roller

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    Thank you!

    I couldn't have summed it up better.
     
  20. killswamper23

    killswamper23 High-Roller

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    Not directed at me but if they could do that and get the same total rate they would.I'm not happy with the parking fees but they aren't deceptive the way resort fees are. Spending money is one thing but I don't want to feel like I'm being robbed.

    Everything about Vegas is psychological. Someone feels better losing 1000 and getting comps worth 300 than they would just losing 700 and getting nothing.It works with resort fees too as far as I'm concerned.
     
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