Pro tip: booking a hostel bed took me 2 hours because of hidden fees

I was planning a trip to Nashville next month and thought I'd snag a cheap hostel bed. Simple enough, right? Wrong. I went on Hostelworld first and found a place for $28 a night. But when I clicked to book, they added a $12 booking fee and a $5 service charge out of nowhere. I spent like an hour going back and forth between the hostel's own website and the app to compare. Finally I just called the hostel direct and they gave me the same $28 rate with no extra nonsense. It's crazy how long a simple thing can drag out when they hide stuff in the fine print. Has anyone else run into this with booking sites? Trying to find a way to avoid it next time.

3 comments

3 Comments

wells.christopher15d ago

That $28 turning into $45 real fast is the most frustrating thing. I had the exact same thing happen trying to book a place in Austin last year, spent a whole evening going back and forth between four different sites before giving up and just calling the motel directly. Got the room for the same price they advertised online which was like $10 less than the booking sites after their junk fees. It's crazy they can get away with that stuff, feels like every site now has some service charge or booking fee that wasn't in the original price you clicked on. Calling the place direct is honestly the only way I've found to avoid it, though sometimes the phone number isn't even easy to find on their own website.

murray.robert15d ago

Calling the front desk directly saved me too, I ended up getting a free upgrade because the guy on the phone just felt like being nice. Did you ever try asking if they price match when you call?

wren23015d ago

Yeah, I used to roll my eyes when people said just call the place direct. Thought it was old school and the apps made it easier. But honestly, this post and @wells.christopher's story about Austin really changed my mind. I got burned the same way booking for a weekend trip last month. The app showed one price, then tacked on junk fees at checkout. Tried calling the front desk after reading stuff like this, got the real price in two minutes. Way faster than messing with all those hidden charges.