Ask In Advance To Have Hotel Safe And Parking Fees Taken Off Your Bill

Staying in a hotel comes with its own array of fees, some of which are tacked on with no thought to whether or not you’re actually using the services being charged. Ask the front desk a couple of questions as soon as you check in to make sure you’re not charged for services you won’t use, such as an in-room safe or hotel parking.

Photo by czarcats.

More than once I’ve seen people review their expenses well after they’ve returned home from holidays only to find that a hotel charged a daily parking fee despite the fact that they flew in and took a taxi to the hotel. Ask the desk when you check in if parking is automatically added to your bill, and ask them to remove it if you’re not using it.

Many hotels also charge fees for the in-room safe, regardless of whether you actually use the safe or not. You can debate this one after the fact with or without success (since there’s no way to prove you used the safe), but it’s better dealt with up front. According to Wise Bread:

In most modern hotel rooms you’ll probably find a safe bolted to the floor in the closet or near the entryway. This safe is available to guests if they notice it, if they have something to put in it, and if they choose to use it. For most guests, I assume the safe becomes just part of the visual landscape in the room — like the dressers that no one really uses or the tiny coffee makers that make really bad coffee. But the safe is quite different from all of those other objects. Why? Because you’re being charged for it every single day of your stay. Typically, the in-room safe fee runs about $1 — $3 per day, and it’s added to your bill whether you use the safe or not.

Avoiding getting hit with the safe charge is relatively simple if you act promptly. Upon check-in, scout around quickly for a safe. If you find one, but don’t plan on using it to stash your pearls, call the front desk. Tell them you won’t be using the safe and request that they deduct the fee from your bill (and then make sure they’ve actually done it when it’s time to check out).

It’s obviously not a lot of money, but every little bit helps, and no one likes paying for something they don’t use or don’t have to pay for. Hit the link below for a few other hotel fees that may be lurking in your bill that you can easily avoid.

Is Your Hotel Hiding These 5 Fees In Your Bill? [Wise Bread]