MarketWatch: ‘My daughter will be disappointed if I don’t take her to Taylor Swift’: White House targets junk fees — but why do we pay them?

June 15, 2023 Media

President Joe Biden on Thursday announced efforts to crack down on so-called junk fees — hidden or obscure fees that surprise consumers when they’re buying everything from airline and concert tickets to booking hotels and Airbnb rentals.

Executives from Live Nation Ticketmaster, Seatgeek, Airbnb and other companies joined Biden at the White House to discuss steps they have taken to make fees — and the booking process — more transparent.

The White House outlined its official position, as well as plans taken by various companies to increase transparency.

That still won’t be enough to fully protect customers, who often face a bundle of extra charges right when they are checking out after thinking they would pay a lower up-front sticker price for live events, said Morgan Harper, the director of policy and advocacy at the American Economic Liberties Project. Though all-in pricing is a positive for consumers, especially when combined with efforts from federal regulators to crack down on junk fees overall, the companies still hold a lot of power over their customers, she said.

“When we’re looking at the live events space, that is an anti-competitive market where Live Nation, Ticketmaster, dominate,” Harper told MarketWatch. “Transparency is not going to solve the problem.”

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