Wyndham Resort Fee Class Action Settlement Offers Guests Cash Or Points

Wyndham Hotel Group LLC and Wyndham Hotels and Resorts LLC reached a proposed settlement deal with customers who claimed that the company used “drip pricing” to conceal the full price of room booking from guests.

Per the terms of the proposed settlement, the two Wyndham companies will create a fund of around $6 million to compensate customers who were allegedly affected by the pricing structure.

From this $6 million, customers will be able to seek $22 in cash, or reward points that can be used for a $25 restaurant gift certificate. The settlement is anticipated to compensate around 270,000 Class Members.

The proposed Wyndham class action settlement would also cover attorneys’ fees up to $1.6 million, and reimbursement of legal expenses, up to $200,000. The lead plaintiff would receive up to $5,000 for his role in the Wyndham drip pricing fee class action lawsuit.

Additionally, a total of 2,200 Wyndham Rewards points have been set aside for Class Members who did not make claims in the drip pricing class action settlement, which ensures that the “overall value of the settlement to Class Members is not entirely dependent on the number of claims made.” 

In addition to providing compensation for customers who were allegedly misled by the “drip” or segmented pricing model employed by Wyndham, the companies have agreed to more clearly disclose the fees associated with room rates.

In the Wyndham drip pricing class action lawsuit, plaintiff Thomas Luca Jr. claimed that Wyndham charged him and other customers a “resort fee” on top of a room rate. He said that the fee was not adequately disclosed to customers before they made their purchase.

Allegedly, Wyndham intentionally conceals the fee to mislead customers into thinking that the rooms are less expensive than they are. Luca claimed that this financially injured him and other guests by preventing them from adequately comparing room prices across businesses.

He says that had he known the full price of the room ahead of time, he would not have purchased the room, or would not have paid as much for it. He claims that many other customers were similarly financially injured.

In the proposed settlement deal, Wyndham denies any wrongdoing, but has agreed to change the way the companies disclose pricing. The companies have agreed to disclose the resort fee on a “Rooms and Rates” page, which will have the fee visible on the page as opposed to visible via a hyperlink.

The companies have agreed to include this fee disclosure page for at least two years.

The Wyndham drip pricing class action settlement was reached after an unsuccessful bid by Wyndham to have the claims dismissed. A judge did trim some of the claims, but denied the dismissal of the entire Wyndham resort fees class action lawsuit.

Have you ever booked a hotel room, only to discover that it cost more than initially advertised? Share your experience in the comments below.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

Customers are represented by Gary F. Lynch and Jamisen A. Etzel of Carlson Lynch LLP and Joseph P. Guglielmo, Erin Green Comite and Carey Alexander of Scott & Scott Attorneys at Law LLP.

The Wyndham Resort Fee Drip Pricing Class Action Lawsuit is Thomas Luca Jr. v. Wyndham Hotel Group LLC, et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-00746, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

UPDATE: December 2019, the Wyndham resort fee class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim. 

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