Australian Hotel Bill Extra Charges

Australia Hotel Charges by Bearman Cartoons

 

Today is just a small example of some of the funny hotel charges we incurred while in Australia.

First, I find whether in the States or in Australia, if a hotel charges you for internet access, it will suck. ย I almost always have that issue when staying at an Embassy Suites for work. ย  Don’t nickle and dime me on internet especially if you can’t get some blazing speeds.

Second, as usual when you eat in a hotel, they always charge you crazy prices. ย  I have learned how to order ala carte or find a coffee shop near the hotel to save money. ย However, my wife had her first encounter with Vegemite and I can be sure there probably won’t be a second.

GST, or as we in the states like to call sales tax. ย But of course where I live it is 6.5%. ย There it is 10%. ย However, counties and cities in the US add a whole bunch of taxes to hotel stays so as far as overcharging goes, I think we have the Aussies on that.

Sunday/Holiday upcharge. ย OK to be honest this wasn’t at a hotel but rather a restaurant. ย See image below:Restaurant-Surcharge-Australia Bearman Cartoons

I might be able to see a Public Holiday Surcharge but a Sunday one. ย Does everyone get paid time and a half on Sundays? ย  It’s not like they couldn’t have a day off another day of the week.

Finally the biggest real peeve of mine was the surcharge for using a credit card versus cash or ATM. ย I get it at a small retailer but a HOTEL? ย This was a first. ย I would prefer you surcharge everyone and then tell the people who pay cash, you will give them a discount. ย I know it is the same but it seems a bit more honest.

So any crazy surcharges any of you encountered when traveling?

Comments

75 responses to “Australian Hotel Bill Extra Charges”

  1. Comedy Plus Avatar

    I live in California, so everything is taxes and sometimes more than once. Crazy I tell you. What are you going to do? If you want to travel you just suck it up. Bugger.

    Have a terrific day. ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Bearman Avatar

      In California they tax the tax

  2. Red Dwyer Avatar

    So, how do you reserve the room if not a CC? What tripe. I am so glad my hotel membership takes care of all the dumb stuff. Ugh.

    And what is so special about Sunday?

    1. Bearman Avatar

      You can reserve it with a credit card but they tell you at check out if you don’t use cash or ATM that they will charge an extra x%

  3. lisleman Avatar

    I learned the hard way from staying in big cities that it can cost as almost as much to have your car spend the night there.
    Believe it or not – our small village uses the extra lodging tax to pay for our 4th July firework show. Stay here and we will celebrate it later.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      At least your town uses it for something useful.

  4. Tony McGurk Avatar

    Sunday is double time I think. It used to be when I worked for a mining company on a 7 day shift roster. Paid internet should be top quality or you shouldn’t have to pay in my opinion. They really know how to rip people off. It’s a wonder they don’t have a water meter & electricity meter installed in every room too. To save money take your own jar of Vegemite is the best option.

    We stayed at a hotel in Hobart recently & they took my credit card details to cover any “incidentals” in case we took stuff from the mini-bar, the chocolates etc & left without paying for them. That sort of stuff was complimentary once. We used none of that stuff & they didn’t have to charge anything to my credit card. When I checked my credit card balance on Netbank recently the hotel had hit me up for a $2 credit card surcharge!!! I didn’t pay for anything with it!!!

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I hope you got them to remove it.

      I get it about Sunday historically when people never got days off. But in this day and age if you get two days off and they happen to be Monday and Tuesday, you shouldn’t get a bonus for working Sunday. Otherwise 90% of the people would want Friday and Saturday off and work the rest of the week. I would.

  5. She Who Carries Camera Avatar

    interesting…but at least you got to go to Australia!! ๐Ÿ™‚ (My bad, I didn’t even know you went!)

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Good paying attention..haha

  6. Mike W, Avatar

    I like the “Are You Being Served” caption. two thumbs up.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Used to love reruns of that show.

  7. Binky Avatar

    $300 for one night, what a bargain! You could have stayed in my burrow for 50 bucks. It includes all the native grasses you could eat.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      No wine gums and chocolate?

      1. Binky Avatar

        For you, sure! But not for Wombies. They’d eat me out of house & home.

  8. Bo Lumpkim Avatar

    In my limited travels I have found in many cases that a mid range motel is nicer and gives better service than some of the more expensive ones. If they charge for internet..I don’t stay there. I won’t be staying in any for awhile now because most of them don’t allow pets and I ain’t leavin’ Molly at home.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      When I travel for work i tend to stay at the business hotels. Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton, Courtyard so they tend to have everything I need at a reasonable price. Some of my coworkers stay at Marriott’s etc and they wonder why they can’t come under budget every year.

  9. Bo Lumpkim Avatar

    BTW was there anything about Australia that you liked? ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Bearman Avatar

      95% of everything else. But when you live in a country you only look at the humor centrically. This gave me an opportunity to make fun of someone else for a change.

      1. Bo Lumpkin Avatar

        That must be nice. I have to make fun of the same old people all the time.

        1. Bearman Avatar

          You need more visitors

  10. George Avatar

    Padded bills are one of my extreme dislikes when it comes to traveling abroad. You can’t escape it, you just have to shake your wallet out until you return home.

    I recall, after a pleasant-yet-expensive vacation to the Bahamas, how happy I was to get back in the U.S. where I could actually buy a dollar-bag of chips without having to pay 5 bucks plus tip three people just to get them. I’ll never forget that joy and exhilaration. ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I want to see a picture of when they braided your hair on the beach.

      1. George Avatar

        I thought you would rather hear the story of how I got my groove back.

        1. Bo Lumpkin Avatar

          None of us want to hear a story about your groove, George. ๐Ÿ™‚

          1. Bearman Avatar

            Stella is the only one I am interested in

  11. J-Dotson Avatar

    Can’t say I have much experience with padded bills. You have to admit you did make them work on a Sunday though… I think you should have stayed with Binky… Wonder what his Sunday charge would have been…?
    J-Dotson

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Binky is in Canada haha

      1. Binky Avatar

        But I have burrows all over the world. Wombtel 8.

        1. Bearman Avatar

          They’ll leave the bug light on for you.

  12. Valentine Logar Avatar

    Don’t you love these! As someone who has spent 20 years on the road I got use to them, now I just check to make certain they haven’t double dipped. My husband is from the Bahamas, we travel there frequently to visit his family and always stay at a hotel. All hotels there charge a ‘resort fee’, even if they are not a resort. That fee is anywhere from $25 to $50 per night. Add their very high taxes and it gets very pricey.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Resort fees are probably my biggest pet peeve. Just throw it in the price and let me judge based on real info.

  13. spilledinkguy Avatar

    This is why I just sleep up in a tree most of the time.
    Seriously though… seems kind of lame. Annabelle and I didn’t even charge extra for credit and we were about as small-time as it gets (although the ‘merchant services’ contract was one of the things that wound up biting the hardest).
    ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Should have went with Square.

  14. Michael Corley Avatar

    This is a matter I am all too familiar with. The internet is always the worst!

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Frustrating it is.

  15. JerryBenedict Avatar

    I can’t say we’ve really had any obnoxious surcharges in hotels, but there are some hotels we’ll definitely stay away from… like the Motel 6 where we found little hairs in the wash cloths…

  16. Rent textbooks Avatar

    those charges do seem a bit excessive especially cause they were not explained prior to or while checking in.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      They point it out but it is in the fine print.

  17. Mark Stokes Avatar

    Don’t forget the “and we have to look at your face” charge!

    1. Bearman Avatar

      That’s a discount

  18. frigginloon Avatar

    Blame our friggin Prime minister for most of that. Fair Work Australia (friggin union!!!!!) have made it compulsory for restaurant staff to be paid extra on Sundays and Public Holidays resulting in most restaurants not opening on those days. Banks charge high fees for businesses to use credit cards which they kindly handball to the customer. The Prime Minister is considering raising the GST. Madness I say, madness. Now you know why Aussies don’t tip ๐Ÿ˜‰

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I figured everyone embraced the socialist agenda down there..haha

      1. frigginloon Avatar

        Don’t get me started !!!!

  19. frigginloon Avatar

    Oh but on a good note Consumer Affairs are currently looking into the ridiculously high charges for internet services in hotels.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Good $10 a day is all they should charge.

  20. Geoff Avatar

    The sucker charge
    I like that one ๐Ÿ™‚ lol
    Some of those charges
    are bordering on the
    wicked, and I don’t mean
    great either ๐Ÿ™ lol

    A nice offering this one ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Plenty of sucker charges when you vacation. Thanks

  21. susi spice Avatar
    susi spice

    well well well… your people over charged me ridiculously for car hire and hotels in the US, now..pay back… he he and he!

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Yes but I am American so it is funnier to make fun of others.

  22. Nate Fakes Avatar
    Nate Fakes

    Upcharge on Sunday’s and public holidays? Wow. I hope that wasn’t at McDonald’s.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Big place down there was 7/11 and subway. They were everywhere.

  23. Deb Avatar

    Now I remember why I got a 5th wheel…lol…Those prices are outrageous!

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Better than a 3rd wheel.

  24. DadaHyena Avatar

    Buying bread from a man in Brussels
    He was six foot four and full of muscle
    I said, “Do you speak-a my language?”
    He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich
    And he said, “THAT WILL BE $20!”

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I always used to think he was saying “gave me a bit of a sandwich”

      1. DadaHyena Avatar

        …and let you crash on his couch for a month and steal his beer from the fridge. What a guy.

  25. Colleen Avatar

    I have found traveling in the USA that cheap motels often include Internet. It ain’t great but hey. The posh hotels hit you $20 a day for it and it ain’t great either.

    The trick to enjoying vegemite is to spread it very thin! Vegemite over mozarella cheese is actually quite tasty.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Thin as in so thin it isn’t on the bread.

  26. Tony DiGerolamo Avatar

    Ouch. Brutal. That’s why package travel deals are sometime better.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      You would think but with those they tend to forget to add the daily resort fee until after you are there.

  27. Japanese Ghost Avatar

    Here in Germany prices are fairly reasonable for food when one goes out to eat. They get you on the drinks. .5 liter beer is 3.50 euros. If I go to the store that same beer is .80 cents!

    I could have drank 4.375 beers for that price… though those days are way behind me and never lasted long to begin with. 5 or 6 times with a hangover was enough for one lifetime.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Same in the US. You would be hard pressed to even get a Bud Light for under $4 when out versus a little more than $1 at the store.

  28. jb Avatar

    It’s always those hidden charges that get ya.

  29. susi spice Avatar
    susi spice

    well in reality this whole notion of pay per service stems from capitalism..and who is the biggest capitalist promoter and enforcer? the US.. we have no one to blame but ourselves.. hahahha

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Ourselves? You live in Australia.

  30. Tyler Avatar

    If you don’t act like an adult, can you get out of the surcharge? I’m sure throwing a tantrum would do the trick!

    1. Bearman Avatar

      No, they just threatened to call the cops

  31. Young American Wisdom Avatar

    You went to Australia! I take a little time off from blogging and this is the stuff I miss. Wow! I’m sure it was amazing…pricey, but amazing!

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Just because you take time off from blogging doesn’t mean you have to take time off from MY blog.

      1. Young American Wisdom Avatar

        Touche, green haired boy.

  32. planetross Avatar
    planetross

    Of all the taxes in Australia, I think the “Australian syntax” is the worst. hee hee!