Hopper Agrees to $35M FTC Settlement Over ‘Unfair’ Hidden Fees in Travel App

Hopper, a travel app famed for its AI-driven forecasts on flight and hotel rates, has agreed to a $35 million settlement following a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The lawsuit contended that the company deceived users by imposing hidden fees and misrepresenting the total expenses associated with Hopper’s offerings.

This case highlights an increasing regulatory scrutiny on the use of “dark patterns,” which are design techniques that manipulate users into making choices they might not typically consider. These tactics can involve obscuring fees, automatically checking optional add-ons, or muddling the understanding of actual service costs. This continues a trend seen in recent FTC settlements with companies like Match, StubHub, neobank Dave, and Fortnite.

The FTC asserted that Hopper misrepresented the benefits of its “VIP Support” and “Price Freeze” features. Many users believed these options would enhance their booking experience, only to be surprised by unexpected costs and restricted access to customer support.

Moreover, the FTC found that users were billed for “Tip” and VIP Support fees that were presented as optional but were frequently pre-checked and hidden within the app’s interface. As a result, users faced charges they thought they hadn’t consented to, with these fees typically only becoming visible when users scrolled down the app screen.

The allegations also involved the “Price Freeze” or “Hold the Room” option, which Hopper promoted as a means for consumers to lock in travel booking rates for a certain duration. However, the FTC highlighted that the app did not adequately communicate the constraints associated with this feature. For instance, the Price Freeze only secures a rate up to a specified limit and only if the booking remains available.

The settlement funds are designated for “consumer redress,” and Hopper is now barred from making false claims about its pricing structures, as noted in today’s announcement. The company is also mandated to transparently disclose all fees, ensuring users are completely aware of the total costs of transactions before finalizing their bookings.

“We chose to settle because the claims in question are outdated and irrelevant to our current business,” a company spokesperson stated in a comment to TechCrunch. “Engaging in years of litigation over minor, obsolete issues would divert us from serving our existing customers and partners… The settlement amount does not reflect the validity of the claims; it reflects our decision to move forward.”

The spokesperson further clarified that, after reviewing millions of company records spanning back to 2021, the FTC’s claims largely concentrated on “predominantly outdated display practices adopted during the pandemic, limited to the Hopper app, and which Hopper discontinued in mid-2023, prior to the FTC’s investigation.”

Prior to this, the FTC’s latest actions against “junk fees” involved StubHub, which agreed to pay $10 million to users while updating its ticket price displays. Booking Holdings settled for $9.5 million following a lawsuit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, which accused it of misleading customers by showing low room rates while hiding significant fees until the checkout phase.

Since launching in 2014, Hopper has surpassed 120 million lifetime downloads worldwide as of 2024.

This story has been updated with a statement from Hopper.