2. Visit the Web site of a hotel chain with which you are familiar to learn if it gives any information about additional surcharges.

If consumers were informed about the charges ahead of time, would you feel differently about them? Why or why not?

The law allows companies in a variety of industries to add what many refer to as “hidden” charges to customers’ bills. Phone bills, airline tickets, and hotel receipts often contain charges that are diffi cult to identify. A visitor who stays in a hotel might be hit with a “hospitality fee,” a “resort fee,” and an “automatic gratuity” to name just a few. These charges are not taxes, and although they are itemized, it is diffi cult for the average traveler to make sense of them. Most people either don’t check their bills thoroughly or are in a hurry to check out and don’t bother to dispute the charges, which may be only a few dollars. But these charges add up over the course of hundreds or thousands of visitors each year, and hotels are pocketing them—legitimately.