That’s ridiculous! Hotels are charging even more for what should be free

January 26, 2011

What could be more absurd than paying a surcharge for a wireless Internet connection at your hotel?

Paying even more for a wireless Internet connection at your hotel.

But that’s exactly what more travelers are being asked to do when they open their laptops after checking in. A “regular” Wi-Fi connection typically costs about $10 a day, but if they want to upgrade to a higher speed, they have to pay a premium of between $5 and $10 over an above that rate.

Philip Guarino was faced with that choice on a recent visit to Zurich, Switzerland. A basic wireless connection at his hotel ran at 500 kilobits per second (the average dial-up connection is 56 kilobits per second). The “premium” connection speed was about 20 times faster, which would have allowed him to easily stream videos, make Internet-phone calls and download large files – all the things a reliable high-speed connection ought to do in 2011.

“I pay for the upgrade every time because the difference is so drastic,” says Guarino, a business consultant.

Let’s take a little time-out, here. In the 21st Century, wireless Internet access is a basic utility, like electricity or indoor plumbing. Charging extra for a connection that ought to be included with the price of your room reminds me of the avaricious motels in the 1970s who added a 25 cent fee for having color TVs in the room.

Come on.

But the hotel industry is serious about this. I saw it just last week when I checked into a Hilton family property in California. As a frequent guest, my wireless is “free” – but if I want fast wireless access, the hotel charges more. So much for loyalty.

The hotel industry begs to differ with me. Back in 2004, properties needed to upgrade their wireless systems, so they turned to guests to pay for the needed routers and modems. The idea caught on, says David Wieland, president of InnFlux, which provides hotel wireless systems.

“Today, as bandwidth needs are exponentially outpacing bandwidth availability in many areas, the tiered approach is becoming more widely accepted and endorsed,” he says. “We have serviced over 700 hotels and more than 80 percent of them have employed the speed upgrade option.”

Wieland makes a valid point. Internet bandwidth is a limited resource for a hotel. It might only have 50 megabits per second of bandwidth available that must be shared among guests. Doesn’t it make sense that guests who are willing to pay more should also get more?

Under such a scenario, the premium guests would get a fast 5 megabits per second connection, while the garden-variety travelers would be throttled to 1 megabit per second, which is still considerably faster than a dial-up connection.

Still, the notion that you should pay for a basic utility is ridiculous. Paying even more for it is a little like paying extra to make sure there’s water 24 hours a day, or that the electricity doesn’t get turned off in your hotel room. It’s not exactly the same thing, but close enough.

I didn’t go for the upgraded connection on my last hotel stay. I don’t want to encourage them. Current “take” rates – an industry term for people who buy the faster connection – are about 3 percent for “free” wireless networks and 15 percent for paid ones, according to Wieland.

It could be a losing fight. Although some forward-looking, guest-friendly hotel chains never charge for wireless access, many more do. And many more will, if we start paying the speed premium, says frequent traveler and travel blogger John DiScala.

“I think it’s going to be the way of the future,” he says.

“That’s ridiculous!” is a new weekly column that highlights the most absurd, customer-unfriendly and downright illogical practices of the travel industry. Got a story to share? Please email me and don’t forget to include your full name, city and contact information.

Kathleen

The only thing worse is what Internet access on cruise ships cost: $100 per hour for VERY SLOW connection speeds. Granted, everything on a ship comes at a premium – but my cabin only cost $100 or so per day including meals & entertainment. Needless to say I enjoyed all the entertainment and the views instead of checking on work while on vacation.
barfeld2

@ carver

“price discrimination??? Now I’ve heard everything.”

Perhaps. “Price discrimination” is a standard economics concept, referring to situations in which sellers try to divide their markets (as the airlines do when they sell seats at a wide range of fares). The concept has been around for many decades.
Joe Farrell

@Buckster – I disagree with that – I find that in many many lower and intermediate level places internet is free as an amenity designed to get you in – its in the high end and business places where they see it as a profit center . . . e.g., almost every since Four Seasons and their ilk charges for internet – whereas not a single Springhill Suites or Hampton charges – the cost at a Hilton/Marriott etc depends on level of status in their programs . . . .
Thomas

@ Chris in NC January 26, 2011 at 3:04 pm

Since most of my travel is domestic, I can’t speak for access internationally. For you, they may be worthless, but for someone who travels domestically, it frees you from having to depend on finding internet connections.

I think that’s what I said!!!!
flutiefan

i haven’t had time to read all the comments, but i wanted
to mention what i feel is the most “ridiculous” add-on at hotels
(and stadiums, amusement parks, movie theaters, shopping centers,
etc): PARKING.
y_p_w

I saw a URL to a list posted, and I’m guessing it’s not that accurate. I haven’t stayed at one in a while, but I do recall that Motel 6 has a national $2.99/day internet charge at most locations.

There is no hard and fast rule. Some hotels that cater to the business travel include free internet as a convenience. Others charge for it. Some chain hotels are franchises and (at least at some locations) it seems that management has their own policies.

I looked up a particular Hilton location that I once thought about staying in in San Francisco, even though I live in the Bay Area. They referred to themselves as a location near the city’s financial district, although it used to be known as the Holiday Inn Chinatown. The internet access is qualified as being available, complimentary for “qualified guests” for “luxury rooms”, and complimentary in suites. Is this a trend – free internet access for more expensive rooms?

http://www.sanfranciscohiltonhotel.com/html/hotel-financial-district.asp
y_p_w

Parking is tricky one flutiefan. Try and find a hotel in Waikiki or Miami Beach that doesn’t charge for parking. It’s at an absolute premium. Ever been to a major airport that didn’t charge for parking?

A lot of places charge for parking because they can. There’s an upscale mall near where I live where the city has zoned the area such that there’s nothing on the street but metered parking or no parking zones for blocks on end. This particular place does have validation at one retailer, and reduced rates for movie theater patrons ($1 for up to 4 hours) – to park in the shopping center’s garages.
Jeremy Portzer

Why is parking a ridiculous add-on charge? Not everyone arrives via car. “Unbundling” things like Internet , parking, etc, means that people don’t have to pay for services they don’t use. I do not own a car and use public transport or walk to everywhere I go – so I don’t have any need for parking. Why should my hotel fare, ticket, shopping, etc, subsidize building YOUR parking lots?

(And I think you will find that parking charges at hotels are mostly in cities where parking is scarce and expensive. Motels along the freeways in suburban areas certainly don’t charge for parking – because normally there is no alternative in those kinds of places. But in an inner city, a parking charge is good because it encourages public transport use, which reduces congestion and increases the livability of the city.)
Carver

@barfeld2

Yes. but this is not a cause of price discrimination. The idea is that the same goods or services are sold at different rates to different customers. Here, all customers pay the same rate for internet, so how is that price discrimination?

A better example would be the hotel room itself. Different folks pay diff amounts based upon group affiliation including employment, willingness to prepay, etc.
Arizona Road Warrior

@ flutiefan – “i haven’t had time to read all the comments, but i wanted to mention what i feel is the most “ridiculous” add-on at hotels: PARKING.”
- – - – - – - – - – - -
When I have stayed at hotels where they charged for the parking, they were usually located in the downtown area of a large city or by the airport.

If a hotel is located in a downtown location where parking is a premium, the chances are that the hotel is going to charge for parking. If they don’t then people that work in the surrounding businesses will park in their parking garage taking spaces away from their guests. If the hotel is located by the airport and parking is a premium, the hotel is probably going to charge for parking.

It is very common that the parking garage is NOT owned or operated by the hotel. Also, it is common that the valet service is NOT owned or operated by the hotel.

There are people that will argue that the hotels should include parking in their hotel rates. I disagree. What if you took a taxi or public transportation to and from the hotel? Why should you pay for parking when you don’t have a car?

I don’t understand people that are surprised when they find out that a hotel charges for Internet and parking. Before I make a reservation, I check to see what Internet services (i.e. wireless, wired, Wi-Fi in the lobby, etc.) are available; if there is a shuttle service (i.e. to\from the airport, to local business\malls, etc.); if parking is complimentary (if I am renting a car), etc.
Arizona Road Warrior

@ Joe Farrell – “I find that in many many lower and intermediate level places internet is free as an amenity designed to get you in – its in the high end and business places where they see it as a profit center . . . e.g., almost every since Four Seasons and their ilk charges for internet – whereas not a single Springhill Suites or Hampton charges – the cost at a Hilton/Marriott etc depends on level of status in their programs .”
- – - – - – - – - – -
I agree with you. The lower and middle tier hotels offer free Internet, free continental breakfast, free local telephone calls, etc. to compete among themselves, to compete with the higher tier hotels, etc…in other words, to get you in their rooms.

The reality is that the majority of the guests at hotels are business travelers. In the 90’s, I can remember sitting in hotels with dial-up connections. It was common to take an hour to download a file from my employer FTP site, etc. Once broadband services were introduced, I can remember having a choice of dial-up or broadband (for a charge). Hotels started to offer free high-speed Internet service to attract the business travelers. I remember seeing hotels with banners, signs, etc. touting ‘Free Internet Service’. Then chains like Marriott offered free high-speed Internet at their lower and middle tier hotels (i.e. Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites, Courtyard by Marriott, Residence Inn, etc.) to attract the business travelers.

If you want free high-speed Internet service (wired or wireless) then stay at a hotel that offers free Internet services. There are thousands of Fairfield Inns, SpringHill Suites, Courtyards by Marriott, Residence Inns, Holiday Inn Expresses, Hampton Inns, Hilton Garden Inns, etc. that offer free Internet services.
http://garrym@panix.com Garry

This is precisely why I carry a Sprint Overdrive. It gives me an internet connection wherever I can get cell phone reception — in many areas, I get a 4G connection of around 4 megabits/second.

It’s secure, unlike many public and private wi-fi connections as well as wired connections that can be “sniffed” by a moderately capable hacker. If I want, I can also share the connection with up to 5 others to whom I give an easily changeable password.

Cost: $60/month. I saved my organization $1,000 during a recent pair of hotel meetings by obviating the hotel’s usurious charge of $500 for an internet drop.

Disadvantages: the above rate only works in the USA. I can roam in Canada, but the cost is exorbitant, and Sprint hardware isn’t compatible with the GSM system in most other countries.

Additionally, data via a 4G connection is unlimited, but 3G data is capped at 5 GB/month.

Just as cell phone users bypassed hotels’ usurious phone surcharges, I get cheaper, better, and more secure Internet service using the cell network.
http://www.skoosh.com Matt

What would be great would be a database of hotels with free wifi – on our site we’d love to be able to allow customers to filter by Free Wireless options as we know that many are business customers who would appreciate this. I know there are sites such as http://www.wififreespot.com/hotels.html but nothing too universal I don’t think.

I think as is reflected in these comments different people have different expectations of their hotels, and perhaps it just comes down to hotels knowing their own market well enough to fulfil those expectations. That said, it still seems a bit cheap for a large hotel not to provide wireless as standard.
DJP

One time I was traveling for work and had them rebook me on an earlier flight because I was done…at least that was what I asked. When i get up there I find out the agent booked me on the wrong day (next day). I didnt realize this until I was about to check my bags because I did this over the phone. The airline was very cooperative and was able to change my flight. There was no fee because it was a business traveler fare.

This was some 15 years ago…before online systems. So I went to a travel agent to book a flight. On my return flight from Denver to National she initially suggested this route on Delta….

Denver-salt lake city-seattle- LAX-atlanta-national. What a fun route–not. Needless to say I didnt book on that one.
Ron

I very seldom travel where I need internet access. My whole point is to get away from the technology that bombards my daily life. I find it very interesting that the same people who complain about the airlines going a la carte and charging for everything are the same ones who are arguing for “free” high speed internet that not everybody uses. What is the difference?
y_p_w

@ Ron … Some people travel on business. Internet is also useful for finding addresses or phone numbers even on vacation, as well as look up sites to visit. I’ve also had to change plans in the middle of a trip and internet access is useful to make, change, or cancel reservations.

There are always going to be bundled amenities that not all guests use, whether it’s parking, swimming pools, complimentary internet kiosks (where the wait can be long), irons, toiletries. in-room coffee, complimentary breakfast, etc. Some people use the concierge or bellhops. It’s all guests who pay when some people request extra towels or a rollaway crib.

On the other hand, I do remember Disney parks used to have more or less a la carte offerings via ride ticket books. There was a certain charm to it although it never seemed like being nickeled and dimed like I’ve seen with hotel amenities and recent airline fees. Now that it’s like a buffet, the lines can be longer (although increased visitation is a reason). Anyone remember what an “E Ticket” was?
Chris

I got so incensed about all of this that I just rent a
mobile broadband card when I travel. It costs slightly less than if
I had used the hotel “service” but it’s the principle of the thing.
If I continue to pay the hotel, they will continue to charge. Next
thing you know it will be soft toilet paper vs. harsh or soft
towels vs. coarse. The nickle-and-diming is driving me
nuts.
HI Innkeeper

Here’s one example from the other side of the check-in desk:

We have 2 high-speed lines dedicated to the free guest internet access at a cost to the hotel of $4K/mth. Out here on the lava field, there is no such thing as fiber optic so we make do with ADSL or cable. When more than 10 guests download illegal movies (it happens, we’ve been warned by Time Warner already) or watch Netflix, that consumes the majority of the bandwidth and everything slows to a crawl for the other hundred or so guests online. Other than adding even more bandwidth (and having to raise the room rates to cover it) limiting the speed during peak usage to 10X dial-up seems like a fair solution.

For those that feel the internet access should be all-you-can-use like other utilities in the room, a better analogy to water and electricity use is if a guest left the tub running and used the outlets to power their own tanning bed all day and night. That’s a clear abuse of resources that nobody would question but when it comes to internet, why should the hotel incur the cost?
y_p_w

@ HI Innkeeper – Thanks for the perspective from the other side. It does sound like the constant clashes with internet service providers. A small proportion of customers using torrent clients are responsible for the majority of use.

There could be something like a short term speed boost. Comcast has a system where the nominal speed is doubled for the first 10 MB access to a web page or large file, with a drop in speed beyond that. Something like that could be implemented by special hardware, which would allow web pages/email to load up quickly and would be enough for Skype, but would throttle stuff like large movie downloads.
http://www.thetravelinggiraffe.com Crissy

I do find that paying for internet in this day and age at a hotel is a bit absurd, especially with rates (15 POUNDS for 24 hours in Scotland – insane) so high for it. I wouldn’t mind if there were limits on the free wifi. I think most people are looking to check email, facebook, surf the internet type of stuff. I wouldn’t mind if they charged extra for faster internet for the people who want to stream movies or do major downloading.

I also find it really irritating when you have to pay for WIRED internet, do you hear me Disney World? Seriously???
Michelle

Sorry but you guys have it lucky in USA and Canada. Here in Australia the majority of hotels charge for broadband/wireless internet (I’ve seen anywhere between $20-$30 for WAY less than 1 GB internet within a 24 hour period and some even then charge excess usage fee’s if you go over). It’s because of the crappy internet we have here! Most North Americans come over and complain because they aren’t use to it. Some hotels usually have one or two computers in the lobby you can use free of charge to check email or charge a couple of dollars for an hour of use.
I just have to laugh at you guys, you don’t know how good you have it over there. I’d take the $11 dollars for a day anytime!!
DAN

I can understand charging for wifi on a cruise ship or airplane–it costs a lot more to provide internet in a moving environment. But charging for it at a hotel or coffee shop is chintzy.

It tells me that the establishment is too lazy or stingy to provide the service the right way and instead allowed some outside contractor to come in and charge for it.

A big tip-off is when they refer to the wireless network as a “hot spot.” This is a gimmicky buzzword that tells me they are going to charge for what should be a free service to customers.
y_p_w

@ Crissy. Why would you feel irritated paying for wired internet in particular? If anything, it would cost a hotel more than wireless because of the cost of infrastructure. They have to snake through long lengths of cables and install outlets, as well as pay for the maintenance and repairs (I know since I accidentally yanked an ethernet cable too hard). Of course I’d prefer complimentary internet, but if you’re going to pay, wired isn’t actually cheaper.

If anything, I prefer wired internet because it’s generally more secure and suffers less from interference.
Jesse

I hope we can still get establishments which will have regular wifi available at no cost…they will always get my dime!
kanehi

When I went to Orlando for a vacation I stayed at Best Western at Kissimmee and the wireless was free although it was slow due to the wifi signal was low. When I went to Las Vegas the major hotels had internet for a fee. I usually use the net to confirm flights and check emails. I tethered my 3G phone to my laptop and was amazed at the speed I got! Since I had unlimited data plan I will be doing this more often when travelling. I tethered my phone when I was a passenger in a long car ride but the connection was really slow. I guess the cell towers can’t keep up with the signal while the phone is in motion.
http://twitter.com/PaveIP Pavel

Guys, the reason why hotels are still charging internet are clearer than you think:

1. CAPEX is constantly rising, due to higher and higher demands on
bandwidth and more and more devices connected to hotels’ internet
systems. One guest often connects three devices – laptop, tablet and
smartphone. Now multiply this by 500 rooms and try to imagine how ROBUST
the system has to be!

2. OPEX is always there. All of you surely expect a help, should you
have an issue to connect (in 98% of cases due to settings of your
devices, not the system’s failure). Such a help has to be there 24/7.
Guess, huw much it costs (a hint – minimum four people are needed for 1
support language).

3. Hotels are in similar situation like low cost airline industry. Due
to the economic downturn and a huge competition many hotels are forced
to sell rooms with absolute minimum margin. Their only way to survive is
to profit on other services they offer, internet including.

Given all the above it must be clear to you that hotels just cannot afford to provide internet free of charge.

Now let’s be completely honest. Without water or electricity, as you imply, you cannot USE your room. Without internet, you obviously can. If not, well, see your doc…

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