How can I avoid resort fees when I’m staying in New York?

Q I’m about to book a trip to New York at the end of next month and have seen a charge for “resort fees” at about $40 per night. Are these fees compulsory, and are there any hotels that don’t charge them? Seems to be a bit of a hidden, but significant, additional cost.

Bridget H

A Resort fees are a pernicious scourge of travel to New York City and Las Vegas. They are simply ways to flatter a hotel’s apparent value: finding a decent Manhattan hotel room for under $200 (£153) is a welcome deal – until you find that $40 extra, usually along with taxes to inflate it still further.

The previous president and current hotelier Donald Trump loves resort fees. At his Miami property, for example, the daily charge of $39 is supposedly for wifi, access to the fitness centre, a “daily virtual newspaper” and up to 20 minutes a day of local phone calls. These are services that any civilised hotel will provide as a matter of course along with hot and cold running water.

Were resort fees optional, it would be possible to avoid them but they are mandatory: those unexpected extras cannot be declined to save cash. I hope you are booking a package holiday to New York, ie flights and accommodation in one transaction. This maximises your consumer protection and also means you are dealing with a company that has to be upfront about costs.

Pricing rules in the UK and many other countries require consumers to be given the full cost of a product in advance of a purchasing decision – rather than added on as a surprise right at the end of the transaction. But even British Airways Holidays, which I often use for US city breaks, warns customers that they need to pay extra locally. The firm says of resort fees: “We will endeavour to provide you with information about any such charges at time of booking or notify you if we are informed of their introduction after you have booked.”

The light at the end of the tunnel: Trump’s successor as president, Joe Biden, has ordered the Federal Trade Commission to eliminate fees that are intended “to confuse or deceive consumers”. But that will not affect any bookings in the short term. All you can do is make allowances for the unwanted extras in the billing area.

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Q I booked a British Airways flight through an online travel agent at a cost of £279. I needed to cancel the flight and was told that if I paid £125 to the agent I could get my money back from BA. But two months on, now the agent is saying that I’m not entitled to the refund as I cancelled it more than 24 hours after booking. Can you help?

Sarah A

A I think I can see what has happened here; it seems your understanding of the discussion with the agent about cancellation was at odds with the reality of the situation. You booked a flight through an online travel agent, presumably because it was cheaper than going direct through ba.com. When you decided to cancel, it is likely you lost almost all of the value of the ticket. British Airways allows free cancellation within 24 hours of booking (subject to some terms and conditions) but after that normal rules apply, and that usually means cheaper tickets are non-refundable. BA says: “Government and/or airport taxes are refundable.” That would mean you might be able to recoup perhaps £20-£30 of the cost, but nothing more.

Unfortunately, you booked with an online travel agent – which has managed to complicate matters and magnify your loss. In my experience “OTAs” rarely add any value to the travel process beyond sometimes saving you a bit of cash. As you have discovered, when changes are made, things can become very difficult and expensive.

Formally cancelling your trip was never necessary, and if you spoke to a member of staff they should have told you so. Being a “no show” was all you needed to do.

However, sensing an opportunity to profit from your regrettable situation, it appears the agent was eager to notify British Airways on your behalf – and then charge you £125 for a process that (a) was unnecessary and (b) would have taken about two minutes.

I suggest you politely ask for the cash back, saying you were misled on the phone. If that does not work, warn the online travel agent that you will begin legal action citing unlawful enrichment. Alternatively, if the travel agent is a member of Abta, say you will file an official complaint. You won’t get the lost air fare back, but you might retrieve the £125.

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Q I am booked to fly on British Airways from Gatwick during the ground handlers’ strike. Do we just have to wait until departure day to see if they cancel? Will any flights be leaving? We have accommodation, parking and car hire all booked and paid for – but no clue if we’ll use them.

Mark S

A Ground handlers are the essential men and women who provide the heavy lifting (often literally) to get airline passengers on their way. They check in travellers – or, these days, assist them at self-service bag drops. Baggage handlers load and unload planes, under intense time pressure. And dispatchers ensure that flights get away safely and as close to schedule as possible. These people are indispensable, and therefore it is concerning that members of the Unite union who work for three ground-handling companies at Gatwick Airport plan to strike over two key weekends: 28 July to 1 August and 4 to 8 August.

The dispute is squarely over pay. Passengers booked on easyJet can breathe a sigh of relief, because “their” strike, involving ground handler DHL Supply, has been suspended: union members are voting on an improved pay offer. It appears likely to be accepted. I have been trying to contact Unite to find out how negotiations are proceeding with the three other companies – including GGS (short for Gatwick Ground Services), which is owned by, and handles, British Airways flights. In the absence of a response, let me reiterate that I think the walk-outs are likely to be called off. But what if I am wrong and talks break down? If no settlement has been agreed with around three days to go, airlines such as BA will put into place contingency arrangements.

They might invite you to shift your travel dates, though I accept that in your case – and the vast majority of other holidaymakers – that is the last thing you want to do. Efforts will be made to dispatch as many planes as possible using management and non-striking staff. But this is peak summer, and resources are stretched. If your flight is cancelled, British Airways must get you to your destination without undue delay – including buying a flight for you on easyJet or other airlines. So your arrangements should stay in place: it is BA’s problem more than yours. But I agree that uncertainty is the last thing anyone needs this summer.

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Q I am looking ahead to winter, specifically November, and wondering if you would recommend a couple of weeks in Cuba? I have heard one or two accounts that life there is fairly tough, and it’s not always a relaxing experience for tourists.

Name supplied

A Life has been fairly tough for Cubans for decades. The combination of the US economic embargo and some interesting political and economic decisions by the Communist government mean that the Caribbean’s largest island seems in a perpetually parlous economic state. The biggest downturn was in the early 1990s: the aid from the Soviet Union that had been propping up the economy – and making it an oddly hedonistic Marxist-Leninist tropical outpost – was cut off due to the collapse of the USSR.

Covid-19 hit Cuba hard, because it is so dependent on overseas tourists. Yet talking to recently returned travellers, the same slightly shambolic state of affairs seems to prevail. Most people are returning with happy memories and some good stories.

November is an excellent time to visit in terms of low costs and crowds, though there is always the risk that the Caribbean storm season could bring some downpours and even flooding. The last week of November and first week of December would be the best choice for price and weather.

You could happily book a package to Varadero, Cuba’s leading resort: a beautiful, 20-kilometre peninsula with a picture-postcard-perfect strip of beach. There are plenty of places to explore beyond this tourism enclave, for example the nearby town of Cardenas. A trip to Havana is easy, too – and well worth an overnight stay. Take a minimum of luggage to Havana because street crime can be a real problem.

Finally, the US is trying to punish tourists to Cuba by banning them from using the Esta permit. But Cuban officials will provide an entry stamp on a separate piece of paper, so no one need ever know.

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