Hidden Costs Of Flying, Airbnbs, Hotels & More

TMP 68 - Hidden Fees
===

Jenn: Hi everyone. Welcome back to the Travel Mug Podcast. Meggan, how are you? We got trip countdowns. Are you excited?

Meggan: I know, I'm very excited. It was a month yesterday before we go, so very exciting. Just, I've been collecting items to take when you go to Cuba too, you can take some stuff for the people that live there. So I'm gonna go and get that stuff. So we're just sort of like planning, counting down. Very excited for relaxation, although I must say you are also planning a trip to Florida.

So what do you guys intend to do this time around? Cause I know you're not staying on the Disney resort, is that right?

Jenn: We are staying on Disney, but only for part of the trip.

Meggan: Oh, okay.

Jenn: We're flying down, we're flying into Tampa this time, which we've never done before. And then we are spending a few days with our friends and then we're checking into a Disney hotel pop century for the last three nights, so we'll have three full days. At Disney, I just booked an after hours ticket, which is something that I've never done before. So it's a nighttime event less crowds, that sort of thing. So I'll give everybody the full report on that when I come back on whether or not it was worth it, I hope it definitely was.

Meggan: Fingers crossed

Jenn: fingers crossed cause they're not super cheap. But I watched a whole YouTube video about them, so anyway, here we are. So , speaking of cost. I mean, queen of segues here, aren't we? ? .

Meggan: Heck yeah.

Jenn: We're gonna chat about hidden fees while traveling today. So we've done some travel tip Tuesdays on this, such as using like ATMs abroad, and we've also done traveling on a budget type episodes before, so you can scroll back and find those as well.

But this week we're gonna focus in mostly on airline. And accommodation, hidden fees especially the Airbnb and VRBO situation because it's a situation. .

Meggan: Yes, it's indeed. It's indeed.

Jenn: Meggan, why don't you start us off with some airline hidden.

Meggan: Because we all love it. Life just feels like a big hidden fee right now. Just in general, I have to say. So, but I guess if we're gonna talk about travel specific so with airlines, so let's talk about baggage. The days of most airlines allowing one checked bag for free are almost all gone, not all but a lot of them, and honestly I find it a really sad, like, , obviously we know that the pandemic has hit the travel industry, you know, very hard.

And they need to make money where they can and we are literally though, paying for it. .

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: Um, ,, the cost per check bag for most airlines, if it's not included, is going to cost you about $50 per bag. I know for us we booked sunwing fingers crossed to go to Cuba, and it kept advertising first check bag free. ? Mm-hmm. . And I was like, does that mean mine would be free, let's say? And then Peter's fir first bag wouldn't be, and he's like, it has to be per booking. Anyway, again, confusing. So I actually got in touch with our travel agent and she's like, it's actually each of you first checked bags. So I was like, excellent. Good to know.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: Because I mean, sometimes it also depends, like obviously we're in a bit of a different situation with a package booking

Jenn: mm-hmm. .

Meggan: But on airlines, if you book a certain fare that fare class may include your baggage and it may not include your baggage. Now you're still paying one way or another.

Don't get me wrong. Right. It's just whether it's broken out or not. So as an example with Condor this past summer, Although we booked it like three years ago we did ch , as we all know, . Um, We chose the fare that included baggage.

Jenn: Mm-hmm. .

Meggan: And then for Iceland Air, when we went to Iceland in 2018, we didn't, and then we paid at the airport.

So if you book through a travel advisor again, they can sort of help you go through that. If you're, if you're doing it on your own, you're gonna have to kind of like look at that kind of stuff, figure it out on your own. So have you ever paid for baggage at the airport. Expectedly or even unexpectedly.

Jenn: Yeah. So I've done it expectedly and unexpectedly. But the one thing I will note is that when we were in Florida, we've paid at the Halifax Airport on the way down for our bag, on the way down. and then we paid at the airport in Orlando on the way home and in the airport in Orlando, of course they charge you in US dollar, so it makes it even more expensive.

Meggan: right.

Jenn: So you want something to keep in mind too. And when you're looking at whether or not going up a fare class is worth it, usually going up a fare class means including your seat selection and your bag. So you have to do math, which. Nobody's favorite subject. Well, somebody out there loves math, but it's not us.

Meggan: They have to. Someone's gonna, someone's gonna love it. It just isn't us .

Jenn: I mean, you have to do the math to see if it's worth going up a fare class or just paying kind of more a la cart. Yeah, definitely.

Meggan: Now in my opinion, you're probably better off paying in advance and it, this is kind of in case fees go up. Let's say you book a trip six months in advance, you don't know what's gonna happen in between.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: Um, And you know, you don't have to worry about it later. I like getting stuff taken care of personally. Paying upfront, being done with it, and airports aren't fun as it is, so why get there and have to pay for luggage? It's just a bit of a bummer.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: To start as well as end your trip because of course, like you just mentioned, you do pay both ways. So just something to think about it. If, you know, if, if the budget's not a problem, just buy the right fare and you won't have to worry about it anyway cuz it's included. So it's really, you know, whatever your comfort zone is or your budget is.

Jenn: Yeah. For sure.

Meggan: Now let's talk seat selection fees, which you mentioned as well. And this is, I really find a personal preference for a variety of reasons. So we've never paid for seat selection before, and we kind of take our chances by checking in 24 hours in advance.

Jenn, have you guys ever paid or you individually paid for seat selection?

Jenn: So um, pre October, 2022. I don't think I had ever paid for a seat selection in advance when I went to Florida in October with my friend, we paid for our seats so we could be near the front of the plane because as you all know, we had to run

Meggan: right.

Jenn: Was how I was like, okay, let's make this work. And we actually just paid for our seats for florida coming up in three-ish weeks, so I, I don't know. I guess now I'm kind of on team pay for your seat in a weird way, even though it does cost more, I like knowing where I'm gonna be going to be seated. And. Yeah, I guess that's kind of where I'm at right now. I don't know .

Meggan: Yeah. But see, that's how personal it is. Yeah. I mean, you've never done it before. Now you know, for me, I've never, I've never cared yet. There may come a time where I do care about it, but I'm not there yet. And we've actually had to sit separately a couple times, and honestly wasn't the end of the world.

We had just spent two weeks together. We're like, we'll see you at the end of the fight. But yeah, like it hasn't come up yet, but like everyone's different and different things matter. So you can certainly pay at the time of booking to have specific reserve seats. I have heard a story and I, I dunno if it was you who mentioned it previously or where I've heard it, but there was someone who actually was bumped from a flight and this was, I think, a story you might have told.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: And one person. Had paid in advance, did not get bumped. One person hadn't paid in advance and they were bumped. Yeah. It's a wild west out there.

Jenn: Yeah. That's what happened to us or what happened to someone seated next to me on the plane.

Meggan: Right.

Jenn: Headed from Montreal to Orlando. She was sitting there and texting and her, her travel companion didn't make it on the flight because they had not paid for their seat in advance and the flight was oversold. So I. Now, you know, end of 2022, into 2023, we're kind of in a little bit of a new era for this sort of stuff. And for me personally, I'll probably be paying for my seat or selecting a fare that includes the seat for,

Meggan: they've got their clutches in you.

Jenn: They, they have, yes. I'm scared. , that's the problem.

Meggan: they're gonna live off your fear, they're taking your cash. And who knows, like if it bites me in the butt someday, like I'll of course always do it. Like my time will come, I'm sure.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: One other thing I wanted to mention in this before we move on is an interesting thing can also happen. So, On our return flight, when we were sitting in the airport in Frankfurt, they'd actually undersold first. It was either first or business class,

Jenn: right

Meggan: so they actually called out, making an offer up uh, discounted seats for people while you were waiting that if you wanted to on a whim. be like, yeah, I think I deserve the luxury to fly home. You could maybe get a deal for a seat for a lesser price than you would've paid initially.

So if you're in that situation and you have the money, that could happen as well. So if you're feeling spontaneous, you need some comfort. I mean, you never know what can happen at the airport in that regard so that, you know, keep your eye open for that as well, if that's something that you could be interested in.

You never know for. Now budget airlines, are they worth it? So what is your sort of opinion there?

Jenn: Yeah, so I actually, I haven't really flown a budget airline, I guess, unless you include. Porter CA Canada doesn't have as many budget airlines as the us right? I kind of wish we did, but on the other hand, you hear so many like horror stories, but I feel like budget airlines could almost be like a whole other episode on their own. But I was looking into them and you do have to be really careful because they will charge you literally for everything. So,

Meggan: oh, yes.

Jenn: They'll charge you for a carry on. They'll charge you for a check bag. They'll charge you for your seat, like selecting your seat in advance. They'll charge you for checking in at the airport with an agent.

Meggan: Wowsers.

Jenn: Yes. Like some of them, not all of them, but I was like a $25 fee to check in at a desk with an agent.

Meggan: It's so rude.

Jenn: Right. And I get that they're a budget airline, you know?

Yeah.

Cause I see these advertisements, right? Like fly to from Halifax to, I don't know, Ottawa for like $10 or something ridiculous. And I mean, technically you can, I guess if you just walk on with you and your purse, but

Meggan: or your wallet,

Jenn: anything else,

Meggan: yeah.

Jenn: charged for it. So, I mean, maybe they're worth it. Maybe they're not.

Meggan: It's, it's really depending on what you need to do and how long you're going for, if you can take just the carry on, whatever the case might be.

I, I can't recall flying. I know right before Peter and I met, he had taken a. , that budget airline to Toronto had no troubles, but they also don't seem to last as long. Mm-hmm. . And you never know when the end is coming. And so if you have a trip booked and you're just like, they're like, you know, whatever airline is is going under, and you're like, what about my trip to Toronto?

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: So , that's a concern as well. So, I mean, I think you're right. We could probably talk about that a little bit longer. So who knows? Peeps stay tuned.

Jenn: Yeah, we'll see.

Meggan: Yeah, for sure. So the kind of inspiration for this episode is Airbnb. So Jenn, I'm gonna sort of hand it over to you. Tell us a little bit more about sort of, you know, why this come up and, and how does it work with these kind of stays?

Jenn: Yeah, so I mean, when we talk about hidden fees, we have to talk about Airbnb, right? Like those nightly price look like a bargain, and then you click on it and you go to book and the price shoots up. They add service fees and cleaning fees and maybe taxes and all of these things. But I will say that Airbnb has made a change for the better in late 2022.

The nightly price that you see when you first search actually includes all of those hidden fees kind of divided up into the nightly price. So they have made it a little bit better, I will say. So let's talk about the cleaning fee that everyone hates. .

Meggan: Yes.

Jenn: Everyone hates the cleaning fee. But the cleaning fees are set by the host and so they can vary widely. So I saw this a June 2022 Nerd wallet analysis of a thousand US Airbnb reservations with check-in dates in 2022 or 2023, found that the median cleaning fee per listing for one night stay was $75.

Meggan: My Lord,

Jenn: like, oh my gosh. And like on some listings, the cleaning fee can be higher than the nightly price.

Meggan: Yes.

Jenn: And it. Kind of getting out of control, and I understand where it comes from, from a host point of view, because you either have to clean it yourself or you have to pay somebody to clean it.

Meggan: Yeah.

Jenn: So it needs to be cleaned, but it really should be kind of, in my opinion, just absorbed into the nightly price instead of a bumped out fee. Because if I don't see it then that doesn't bother me as much. .

Meggan: Oh, it's true. It's, it's definitely a mental thing. Yeah. And if you go to book a place and the cleaning fee is more than the night, who's booking that?

Jenn: I don't know, man,

Meggan: because it just makes me angry and I'm like, I wouldn't stay with you if you were, I would wouldn't stay with you if your last place on Earth. Like, yeah. It just, it's outrageous. . and I agree, like obviously the place has to be cleaned. Either they're doing it like you said, or paying someone and they never know what they're going to face in terms of the cleaning.

Jenn: Yeah,

Meggan: we are a very, very clean and tidy guest, but there could be people that are disgusting so they don't know, and I get that as well, but it is especially egregious. When you arrive somewhere and there's a list of things they want you to do

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: Before you check out. So that includes maybe dishes, taking out the garbage sweeping Peter's cousin had a list who included like taking the bedsheets off.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: Like other things like that. Like what are we paying such a high cleaning fee. If you want me to do some of it, like it's a, it's, in my opinion, if there's a cleaning fee, I shouldn't have to do anything when I leave except ensure that the place is secure. That's just my opinion. Yeah. But if I'm paying for a, what am I paying for?

Jenn: Yeah. I think it, the list of demands can get like outrageous. Like I shouldn't have to start the laundry for you.

Meggan: Yeah. .

Jenn: And I think I read that Airbnb is going to have the hosts list the cleaning, checkout list in the listing so that you will be able to see that in advance so you're not getting to a place and it gives you a list, a mile long of things that you have to do before you check out, which will be a really great change and, but honestly, the cleaning fee and the list of demands. Have been around are one of the reasons that I choose a hotel. Like nine times out of 10 instead of,

Meggan: yeah. And we've actually never had anything too outrageous, but there have been a couple places like sweep up or whatever and, and I'll do it, but let me tell you, I'm doing it begrudgingly.

Jenn: Yes. And you're only doing it because the host is leaving you a review as well,

Meggan: Yeah.

Jenn: They kinda have you, you know they kind of.

Meggan: Yeah, no, they do for sure. But not only is there a cleaning fee, what other kind of fee is there.?

Jenn: Yeah, so there's service fees as well. So the service fees are charged by Airbnb, the company they charge the host to use the platform. However, a lot of the hosts pass on the majority of that fee to us, the people who are staying there. So it could be another 14% on top of the nightly rate and the cleaning rate, which now we're, we're adding up here, like

Meggan: we are.

Jenn: And speaking of adding up then taxes, if they have to charge taxes or VAT depending on the situation and where they live. I mean, there's no real way around. That is what it is. The government's gotta get there. gotta get there, gotta get three. Slice the pie. But Nova Scotia here, the tax rate is 15% in other countries 20 to 25%. And that like, this is just like cha-ching, cha ching, cha-ching, added up with all of those.

Meggan: Yeah. And regardless of where that money is going, like it, whether I'm, I'm certainly not crapping on hosts or anything like that.

Jenn: No, no.

Meggan: It's just when you add it all up after a while it becomes a lot. And one thing we've noticed as well, cuz we have booked a lot of Airbnbs, is early in the pandemic. The prices were low, like of course the business wasn't there, so they were trying to attract people. So we had some great rates. We had a wonder, we were actually just looking not long ago, in the summer of 2020, we did it up.

Now, ever since then though, because people are looking to escape, especially with mask mandates, et cetera, no one wanted to go to hotels. Yeah, no one wanted to have to do that. So Airbnbs were where it's at, and the prices just inflated so much and they've not gone back. So now when we look at Airbnbs, honestly, just in general, the the price is, is just too rich.

And I'm just like, we'll just stay home and order in or something. You know what I mean? Like. It's not worth it. I already pay for my apartment. So , I dunno for real. But let's talk about hotels. So you know, there's stuff to look out there for, not everywhere, but some places, things you need to keep in mind and some things that could be a surprise.

Yeah. So let's talk about something that you know might cross people's mind. I actually mentioned this to Peter. He is like, I don't even know what that is. And a lot of people I don't think do, cuz it's not everywhere. But that's resort fees. Now first place that comes to mind for this is Las Vegas.

Jenn: Mm-hmm. .

Meggan: Not only are you paying a lot to usually stay and eat and have fun, but there are additional fees not included in your initial booking price. So for Vegas in particular, in 2023, we found a comprehensive list, and the lowest was $16.99 US per day, up to about $45.95 US per day. And. Just as an example for Planet Hollywood.

Jenn: Right.

Meggan: And that's a day. So they say that these fees include things, you know, which seems silly now. But as an example, printing boarding passes. Who's doing that? The fitness center. . Okay. Maybe free self parking. So thanks for letting me park my own vehicle for free.

Jenn: And then charging me for it.

Meggan: Then charging

Jenn: in a roundabout way .

Meggan: I'm so grateful. . And then in room wifi, why aren't you, it's 2023. You should just be including wifi as part of. Like the fact that it's a hotel.

Jenn: Mm-hmm. .

Meggan: So there are a few spots that don't charge in the list that I found, but they're also not popular places. So you're really gonna have to do your research because you could end up paying like hundreds of extra dollars that you did not plan for. So you're gonna have to check it when you're booking, whether it's included. What you can expect to pay that isn't there. And some of the other spots just, you know, in a brief search I did was Niagara Falls as an example. Nassau Bahamas and many more. So if you don't have the budget for extra, like hundreds potentially of dollars you really have to watch out for this. It is, it is a big deal. And of course, Regular run of the mill hotels probably aren't going to have it, but if you're, you don't know which ones and you don't know where, so it's something you need to keep an eye out for.

Jenn: Yeah, I think I, I remember that when we went to Vegas cuz I mean, who thought, who would've thought ? That's like, okay, well I've paid for my nightly fee and then you're checking out and it's like, oh. And also,

Meggan: Right.

Jenn: Like, oh, okay, ,

Meggan: thanks for the extra, thanks for the extra money. I spent that in in the slot machine.

Jenn: Yeah. .

Meggan: Yeah. If only you had told me. . So something else to ho with hotels we wanted to mention was hotel parking fees. Now this will vary from place to place, but you can be sure that in downtown, like city core hotels, you should plan to pay for parking and it can be pretty substantial, such as like 20 to 30 US dollars, let's say in the us per night or in the equivalent in Euros, which would cost especially Canadians even more if parking isn't offered.

What we've sort of found with places that are small without their own parking lot is often there's a nearby garage alternative that the hotel will send you to, and those can actually sometimes be cheaper if it was probably included in the hotel. It's not always a bad thing. Sometimes it's a little bit of an inconvenience because it's not right on site.

Jenn: Mm-hmm. .

Meggan: But it can be cheaper. If you do use booking.com or hotels.ca let's say as an example, it will often indicate if parking is included or available on site. You could also email or call the hotel to find out the rate. Often in more rural areas too, and I don't know if you found this like with INS or bed and breakfast parking's o often like free and provided right on site.

But again, it's gonna depend. So if you are not thinking of parking and you having have a vehicle with you again, , if you're staying four nights and it's 30 us a night, like that's 120 extra US dollars you could be spending. So it really is something to keep in mind. That could be a surprise if you're just not thinking that way.

Jenn: Yeah, it can be wild and I definitely, you have to pay more attention to it in cities versus, you know, smaller towns. You're really probably not gonna run into that, but, Today, just before I hopped on to record with you, Disney announced that they are no longer charging to park at a Disney World Hotel if you're staying at that hotel, which like, thank God, because

Meggan: why were you charging anyway, but yes,

Jenn: it was charging. It was, they were charging per night to park at the hotel, but you got free parking at the theme parks. Now it is free in both places.

Meggan: Nice.

Jenn: For self parking, so that is great. I. It's probably been, I'm gonna say six or seven years that they've been charging for a

Meggan: new, that new old CEO that's back in town. Maybe he's making these changes.

Jenn: Yeah, there they're, listen, if you were a Disney person, there has been so many announcements today it has just been rollin' and rollin'

Meggan: oh really?

Jenn: I'm glad we don't have a Disney podcast right now. Our , my pal's over, my pal's over at Rope Drop Radio. They're a great Disney podcast. If you're looking for one, I'll, I'll link them in the show notes, but they're gonna have a lot of work on their hands because, like there was like probably eight announcements today and it's just a lot.

Meggan: Wow. Yes. Well, we don't have to worry about that today.

Jenn: No, but you know what? We do have to worry about. Countries that you have to pay to enter or exit ,

Meggan: that just also seems rude, but do tell us more.

Jenn: It's rude. So , some countries literally charge you to enter and or exit. If you're flying in, usually this is just included in your airline price and you never see it and you don't have to worry about it. But there are some places Costa Rica, you have to pay at the airport. It's 46 US dollars. A lot of money. And then some countries may have fees at land borders if you are driving or a necessary visa that you have to pay for and all of those things. So, and I,

Meggan: well, yeah, like when we, as an example, had to put that stickers in our window. Yeah. So it wasn't necessarily like paying at the border, but to enter, we had to have the vignette. So that's the same difference. I mean, it was, it's still paying to drive on their roadways.

Jenn: Yeah. And do you remember how much that was?

Meggan: It was really cheap for Austria. It depended on the stay. Ours was 10 euros for Austria, but of course with Switzerland where everything cost quadruple . It was like probably, I think it was like 40 or 45 Swiss francs or euros, which was still equal to about like 55 Canadians, 60 Canadian. That's still a lot of money,

Jenn: still a lot. Just to be able to have the privilege to drive. And then I also saw in late 2023 that you may have to pay to enter European Union countries with the European Travel Information and Authorization System. And it'll be a seven Euro fee, which is, you know, it's seven euros, but like, that's your coffee and a croissant like,

Meggan: yeah. Yeah. I think they were gonna do it sooner and there was a bit of a uproar about it. So they delayed it till later this year. Cause I think it was supposed to start in January.

Jenn: Oh, okay. Yeah. So we'll have to check back in on this one in late 2023 and see what's happening, .

Meggan: Exactly. We'll have to check back with that for sure. And even, although it's not now, up until like 2015, 2016, you had to pay 25. I'm gonna say US dollars, but it could have been Cuban pesos. So don't quote me on that per person when departing from Cuba at the airport. So you couldn't forget, spend all your money cuz they only took cash.

Jenn: Oh my god.

Meggan: No credit card.

Jenn: Whoa.

Meggan: So you ha So what we did is we would set it aside like as soon as we checked in

Jenn: Whoa.

Meggan: In our safe and be like, we cannot touch this money.

Jenn: Don't touch this. Yeah. .

Meggan: But now it is included whenever you book return airfare or a resort package.

Jenn: Gotcha, gotcha.

Meggan: And really that's how it should be because it's, it's not like it's a huge deal, but it is something that I'm sure snagged a lot of people when they like, they've suddenly remembered.

Jenn: Yeah. Especially if it's only cash .

Meggan: Yes. Exactly, that was the thing because of course I'll have my visa with me, but if you're expecting me to have cash, I spent that at the resort on tips.

Jenn: God, .

Meggan: Woo.

Jenn: Yes. And even right here in our little corner of the world when do you want to leave Prince Edward Island, not enter, but once you wanna leave, you gotta pay to get off the bridge. ,

Meggan: you do.

Jenn: So it's $50.25, which it's getting outrageous. I know we had to pay for the bridge, but that bridge has been there a long time.

Meggan: I know. Like when is like, could, could the premier get in touch with us maybe and like let us know when his bridge is gonna be paid for. It just seems like a lot for a long time.

Jenn: I wanna see the little debt repayment tracker.

Meggan: Yes.

Jenn: Bridge. Like we must have paid it off. I know there's maintenance costs, but like $50 and 25 cents is getting outta control.

Meggan: It's, it's true. And like once you're on PEI, they have you, so you can't, you can't leave without paying it. So I guess you could take the ferry, but you're also paying for that. So I off there, yeah. You're paying to get off one way or another.

Jenn: Swim.

Meggan: We do not recommend.

Jenn: No, we don't. ,

Meggan: zero outta 10 recommends swimming. Well that is it for this episode. And really the moral of this episode is awareness because you have to be aware when you're booking what you're paying for now, what you could be paying for later. Read the fine print and don't be surprised by fees on arrival.

That can just really put a damper on things. Even if you choose to or have to pay them it's always better to be aware of extra costs, like you're gonna pay it anyway. But if you don't want it to be a surprise of like, like we mentioned earlier, hundreds of dollars you weren't planning to spend.

Jenn: Yeah,

Meggan: now, for us, we're for free here at the Travel Mug Podcast .

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: But if you enjoyed the show, we would love to hear from you in the form of a five star review on Spotify or Apple Podcast. We haven't had a review like that in a while, so like, Like, make our new year happy 2023 and like sh , show us some love. It definitely helps the show.

Of course we'd love to interact with you on social media as well. Instagram and Facebook Travel mug podcast. And visit our beautiful website at travelmugpodcast.com. You can buy us coffee with the link in the show notes. It helps Keep us pumping out great content or share the show with a travel loving pal.

Cause we'd love to meet new peeps. Yeah. And until next time, thanks for your support and we'll see you later. Bye!