Taking a vacation is meant to be a time to relax and detach from your “normal” life — but we all know how expensive that can be. Nowadays, it feels like traveling comes with more costs, whether it’s throwing hotel staff a few extra bucks for room service, paying Airbnb cleaning fees, or adding more drivers to your rental car agreement. With that in mind, USA Today compiled a list of seven surprising hidden travel fees that are actually more common than you would think.
So before you finish booking your summer vacation, below are some hidden travel fees and ways to avoid them. Cleaning fees for vacation rentals Vacation rental companies such as Airbnb and Vrbo tack on cleaning fees so that hosts can prepare rooms in between stays. Airbnb’s cleaning fee is “a one-off charge for cleaning the space you stay in and is set by the host,” according to the vacation rental’s website .
The fee is added to the nightly rate when guests book a listing. Airbnb lists the cleaning fee separately in the price breakdown and the fee is not given back to the guests at the end of the trip. Vrbo operates in the same fashion, but not all hosts charge a cleaning fee because they think it could make their listing too expensive, hospitable reported .
It’s also worth noting if the Vrbo you want to book is listed as a luxury stay , because you could pay a higher cleaning fee. Hotel amenity costs If you choose to stay at a hotel or resort instead of a vacation rental, then be wary of pay.
