02/2020 KIPLINGER’S PERSONAL FINANCE 65How to beat them: Resort fees, which
some hotels add on to guests’ regular
nightly rate for amenities (whether
or not you use them), are under fire.
Both Marriott International and Hil-
ton are facing lawsuits that, if success-
ful, may cause hotels to ditch the fees
or disclose them more prominently,
and a bill proposed in the U.S.
House of Representatives would
require the fees to be
included in a hotel’s
advertised price. At
ResortFeeChecker
.com, you can look up
hotels to see how much
they charge. Try asking your
hotel to waive the fee; if you
don’t plan to use its amenities or if,
say, the gym is closed for repairs, you
may be able to make a case. Certain
chains, including Hilton and Hyatt,
typically charge no resort fee when
you book a room with rewards points.
WIRELESS PLANS
Activation and upgrade fees
Typical amount: $20 to $40
How to beat them: When you start a
new line of service with a wireless
carrier or upgrade to a new phone
with your current provider, you may
be charged a fee for it. An activation
fee is sometimes avoidable by switch-
ing to a new carrier during a promo-
tional period in which it waives the
fee. And some carriers reduce or elim-
inate the fee if you upgrade your de-
vice online. Verizon Wireless, for ex-
ample, cuts its $40 fee to $20 if you
upgrade online or through the Verizon
app, and you’ll pay no fee if you buy an
unlocked phone and use your previous
device’s SIM card. T-Mobile doesn’t
charge its $20 “assisted support” fee
if you upgrade your phone online or
through T-Mobile’s app.
International roaming
and data charges
Ty p i c a l a mo u n t : About $2 for each
megabyte of data used, 25 cents to
50 cents for text messages sent and
the trial ends. Verizon customers who
activate a new Android device also get
30 free days of premium visual voice-
mail service, which comes with a $3
monthly fee if you don’t unsubscribe
after the free period.BANKING
AT M s u r c h a r g e s
Typical amount: An average of $4.72
in combined charges from the with-
drawer’s bank as well as from the ATM
operator, according to Bankrate.com
How to beat them: A recent survey of
consumers conducted by personal fi-
nance site MagnifyMoney found that
ATM surcharges were the most hated
of any kind of fee. You can avoid them
by selecting a checking account that
charges no fee when you use an out-
of-network ATM and that reimburses
the fees that ATM owners charge. Pre-
mium accounts from large banks often
refund ATM fees (you’ll likely have
to carry a high minimum balance to
qualify), and so do some free online
checking accounts. Or pick a bank that
participates in a large ATM network.
With Ally Bank’s checking account,
you can access more than 43,000 U.S.
ATMs in the Allpoint network fee-
free, and you’ll be refunded up to
$10 monthly in out-of-network fees.
Another idea: When you use your
debit card for a purchase at a store, ask
for cash back. But be aware that a few25 cents to $3 per minute for calls
How to beat them: Heading out of the
country without first tweaking your
wireless plan could result in painful
surcharges. “If you’re using your
phone as you regularly do at home,
your daily cost could be upward of
$100,” says Tina Chang, of WhistleOut,
a website that compares phone plans.
Check out your carrier’s international
packages if you intend to use your phone
frequently while overseas. Verizon
and AT&T both offer add-ons that al-
low you to access your regular domes-
tic plan in more than 100 countries for
an extra $10 per day that you use your
phone while you’re overseas.
If you travel abroad often, consider
a plan that includes international ser-
vices. Some T-Mobile and Sprint plans
include text messages, low-speed data
and calls for 25 cents per minute, and
you can add passes for high-speed
data. Sprint, for example, charges $5
per day or $25 per week for high-speed
data in most international destinations.Miscellaneous fees
Ty p i c a l a mo u n t : A few dollars per month
How to beat them: Keep an eye on your
wireless bill for services that you don’t
want or never requested. Verizon, for
example, offers new customers a free
trial of its cloud storage service for 30
days, then charges $5 per month if you
don’t cancel the subscription before