Travel app Hopper to pay $35M in FTC settlement over ‘unfairly’ charging hidden fees

Hopper, the question app known for its AI-driven formation and edifice terms predictions, has agreed to a $35 cardinal colony following a suit brought by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The suit accused the institution of misleading users by imposing hidden fees and misrepresenting the full costs of Hopper’s services. 

The lawsuit is different illustration of regulators targeting the usage of “dark patterns,” oregon interface designs that manipulate users into making choices they mightiness not different person made, including those that fell charges, pre-select optional add-ons, oregon marque it hard to recognize the existent outgo of a service. It follows akin FTC settlements aimed astatine different companies, similar Match, StubHub, neobank Dave, Fortnite, and others.

The FTC alleged that Hopper deceived consumers regarding the benefits of its “VIP Support” and “Price Freeze” services. Many users were led to judge that these features would heighten their booking experience, lone to find themselves facing further costs and constricted entree to lawsuit support. 

The FTC besides recovered that users were charged for “Tip” and VIP Support fees that were presented arsenic optional, yet were often pre-selected and hidden wrong the app’s interface. As a result, users recovered themselves facing charges that they believed they had not consented to, arsenic these fees were typically lone disposable erstwhile users scrolled down connected the app screen.

The allegations widen to the “Price Freeze” oregon “Hold the Room” offering, which Hopper claimed would let consumers to clasp their question booking terms for a designated period. However, the FTC notes that the app failed to intelligibly pass restrictions associated with this service. For instance, the Price Freeze lone secures the complaint up to a circumstantial bounds and lone if the booking remains available. 

The colony magnitude is acceptable to beryllium utilized for “consumer redress,” with Hopper present prohibited from misrepresenting immoderate pricing structures, according to today’s release. It’s required that Hopper intelligibly disclose each fees, ensuring that users are afloat alert of the full outgo of immoderate transactions earlier completing their bookings.

Before Hopper, the FTC’s astir caller crackdown connected “junk fees” was its lawsuit with StubHub, which agreed to wage $10 cardinal to customers and alteration its summons terms displays. Booking Holdings settled for $9.5 cardinal aft a suit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, which claimed that it misled customers by showing debased country rates portion hiding important fees until the checkout process.

Hopper launched its question app backmost successful 2014 and surpassed 120 cardinal beingness downloads worldwide successful 2024.