Hopper to Pay $35M FTC Settlement Over Hidden Fees and Misleading Price Freeze Claims

Hopper built a reputation on AI-powered price prediction. The FTC found the business behind that reputation relied on hidden fees and overstated product benefits — practices Expedia had flagged and ended a partnership over three years before the settlement.

What Happened

On July 2, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission announced that Hopper agreed to pay $35 million to settle allegations of deceptive practices across its travel booking app. The settlement covers violations of the FTC Act and the agency’s Unfair and Deceptive Fees Rule on junk fees.

The core allegations:

Pre-selected hidden fees. Hopper pre-selected “Tips” (tips to the company, not service workers) and “VIP Support” as mandatory add-ons in the checkout flow, buried within scrolling interface sections that most users didn’t notice before completing purchase. These were not clearly disclosed as optional.

Overstated Price Freeze benefits. Hopper’s Price Freeze product — which allows users to lock in a price for a period of time — was marketed with claimed benefits that the FTC found were misrepresented. Users paid for protection that didn’t deliver the outcome described.

The scale. Hopper earned approximately $85 million over three years from the Tip and VIP Support fee practices alone.

Under the proposed order, Hopper must pay the $35 million for consumer redress and is permanently prohibited from misrepresenting fees, pre-selecting charges without clear consent, and overstating the benefits of add-on products.

The Expedia Connection

The settlement comes three years after Expedia ended its B2B partnership with Hopper, citing the same deceptive practices. Expedia’s 2023 complaint effectively documented the conduct; the FTC settlement validates and adjudicates it.

The settlement covers only Hopper’s own consumer app. It does not extend to Hopper’s B2B partnerships — the white-label booking technology it has operated with Capital One, RBC, and Uber, among others.

Why It Matters for Travelers

The Hopper case is a useful illustration of how AI-branded travel apps can use algorithmic sophistication as a trust proxy for business practices that deserve more scrutiny. Hopper’s price prediction is a genuine capability. The hidden fee structure was a separate business decision that had nothing to do with AI.

The FTC’s Unfair and Deceptive Fees Rule — the newer regulatory framework cited in this case — is specifically designed to address the pattern Hopper used: mandatory fees buried in a flow, obscured from clear view, pre-selected rather than opt-in. The Hopper settlement is the first significant enforcement action under this rule against a travel platform.

What to Watch for When Booking

The pattern the FTC targeted is common beyond Hopper:

• Pre-selected add-ons in checkout flows — look for anything checked by default
• “Tips” framed as optional but selected — particularly on booking apps vs. service-tip contexts
• Price lock or freeze products with vague or overstated benefit descriptions

The FTC case establishes that pre-selection without clear disclosure is an actionable violation, not just a dark pattern. Other travel apps using similar checkout designs should expect increased regulatory attention.

Source: Federal Trade Commission

Content created with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.