The parent of Booking.com and other travel websites will pay $9.5 million to settle a Texas lawsuit claiming it deceptively marketed hotel rooms by omitting mandatory “junk” fees, enticing consumers with artificially low prices.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Tuesday the settlement with Booking Holdings is the largest by a U.S. state related to junk fee practices against any hotel or online travel agency.
Booking also operates the websites Priceline.com and Kayak.
Paxton accused Booking of “drip pricing” in which it improperly bundled hotels’ resort fees, amenity fees, destination fees and utility fees