It’s a brave new world in the travel space, and companies are increasingly looking for ways to maximize revenue and minimize the welfare of some customers. While elite identity is increasingly difficult to make money in most loyalty programs, it often also brings fewer benefits, points or miles and is difficult to use.
But it’s not just those with elite allowances. We all give more…and sometimes less.
I recently lived in the lovely Hyatt Place in San Francisco/downtown where I was shocked to learn that the property was collecting breakfast (unless waived for someone with an elite status). It turns out that Hyatt is driving a new policy that does not include breakfast at 40 Hyatt Place.
Thanks to my top condition, breakfast didn’t cost extra for me, but it brought me to the free stuff in all the travel spaces you had to pay now five years ago.
Resort, destination and city fees
Like a plague, vacation fees (also known as destinations, amenities, or city fees) have spread across the country and even around the world. Once limited to real resorts, including extra resorts like lending beach chairs and activities, these fees are now commonplace in even the most modest properties.
Related: Here’s how to avoid payment fees
Unfortunately, most properties advertise as a resort benefit, are once free privileges such as Wi-Fi access, local phone calls and the use of gyms.
At TPG, we see resorts up to $150 per night! This is outrageous and very frustrating. The only good news about these fees is that the new rules require them to be disclosed during the booking process. New regulations on the “trash fees” announced during the Biden administration came into effect in May, so at least the transparency of these books is higher.
breakfast
There would be a disappointment to not having a free breakfast in the Hyatt Place Place property, but even with this possible change, Hyatt is still the most generous hotel chain when it comes to providing free breakfast for elite members. Hyatt offers free breakfast to its top elite members.
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Marriott offers free breakfast at some of its chains, such as Springhill Suites and Residence Inn, but in most brands you pay for breakfast. Marriott Bonwater Elite members (members with Platinum Elite status and above) also once received free breakfast, but over the years, these members have been wasted and now guests at other chains have to choose benefits rather than getting a welcome point or other amenities.
Hilton also changed the breakfast benefits of elite members. While it can still offer free breakfast at chains such as Hampton in Hilton, Hilton has moved to a Food and Oktoberfest credit model that offers you a range of $10 to $25 per guest, depending on the hotel brand. Some of my colleagues at TPG actually prefer free breakfast, but I found that it never covered breakfast during my stay.
Anyway, if the Hyatt Place test was successful (from a revenue management perspective) at least from a revenue management perspective, I hope you will see more entry-level chains throwing away their free breakfast benefits.
Seat allocation
Now, more and more airlines are charging fees for seating tasks…even in business class.
The cost of seat allocation is common in coach cabins, but airlines are becoming more and more creative when it comes to segmenting cabins. Delta Air Lines simply uncover the new fare structure and divide each of its cabin into miniature layers with various privileges.
There are speculation that Delta is also considering charging fees for seating tasks on Delta One, such as its French Air France and KLM have already done so.
Related: Terrible business trends spreading in Europe. Hope it doesn’t come to the United States
British Airways has always been a leader in this area. It debuted in 2009 in the Business Class Cabin.
There is no saying how much these fees will end up getting, but I’ll invest money in it, especially when United, Delta and American Airlines all launch fancy new suite products.
Related: How much should you pay for top-notch upgrades?
Parking
Free parking has never been a thing in many high-end resorts, but have stayed at casino hotels in Las Vegas in the past. This ended in 2016, when many of the largest hotels and resorts began charging parking fees. Wynn and Encore canceled parking fees in 2019, but brought them back in 2023. Spending $20 a day for self-parking, and spending $40 a day for valet parking can indeed add up.
Related: How to Avoid Paying Parking in Las Vegas
Parking fees even appear at other destinations you may not think of. For example, the high-altitude Nashville West End charges $10 per day for self-promotion and $44 per day for valet parking. Similarly, Springhill Suites in Bozeman, Montana (a regular hotel located off the highway rather than a busy place) charges $12 per day for self-play. Readers also recently pointed out that yard parking in downtown Portland/conference center was once free, but is now $43 per night (on behalf of valets).
In case you think this is a Marriott hotel, valet parking is $100 per night on the United Nations Plaza in Millennium Hilton, Manhattan, New York!
Like vacation fees, these fees seem to be another way to spend on nickel and noble travelers.
Lounge entry and allowance
I was surprised to find that I called me one of the best priority pass lounges for showers and I was surprised. The club at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is awesome, but if you want to use one of these showers it will cost you $25 now.
Although this trend is not yet extensive, you can bet it will eventually appear in other lounges.
Priority Pass has about 1,700 lounges in 145 countries, and entering one of its lounges usually requires showing staff your boarding pass and priority pass. Now, we see a new trend: Some of the more popular lounges are charging fees to pre-empt your visit. Club SFO is one of them, charging $9 for reservations.
This is a system of over 100 lounges, but in London, this is especially bad as people who don’t keep their location recently allowed.
Related: Is it really worth it to prioritize the membership through the lounge?
Some lounges also have access to their nap rooms. I’ve spent hours sleeping a few times over the years at the KLM flagship Crown Lounge in Amsterdam. You will pay about €40 ($45) of sleep time in a room in the lounge.
Related: Business Class Review on KLM: The Chaos of Mars in Amsterdam
Of course, the main change is the new entry restrictions for some major airlines and credit card attached lounges. Many lounges no longer allow free guests or severely limit the number of guests.
For example, those who have Delta or Select American Express cards used to unlimited access to Delta Sky Clubs, but now they are limited to 10 to 15 visits per year (unless they buy $75,000 with a card). In most cases, you also have to pay for your guests.
Related: Delta’s new Sky Club access restrictions are now in effect: What to know about changes
Bottom line
Many things that used to be free in the travel world are slowly disappearing. I was frustrated to see consumers get hit by increasing fees and “enhancements.”
But TPG contributor Ross Binkley reminded me that this is not all bad news. Most major U.S. airlines no longer charge changes and cancellations, and elite status can still unlock many of the previous free benefits mentioned above.
I’ll walk the good news where I can find it. Still, the fees for almost everything (including concert tickets and purchases made with credit cards) are still everywhere, and I expect it will only get worse from here.
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