Hospitality · Pricing
The first price should tell the whole relevant story.
Price transparency moved from a guest-experience preference to a regulated subject. The difficult parking question is not whether clarity is good; it is whether a particular charge is mandatory, optional, part of lodging, or a separate service.
Dated August 23, 2026
The FTC's Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees has applied since May 12, 2025 to live-event tickets and short-term lodging.
When a covered business displays a lodging price, the rule generally requires the most prominent total price to include mandatory fees the business knows and can calculate upfront. Government charges, shipping, and optional ancillary services receive different treatment.
This is general education, not legal advice. Whether a specific valet or parking charge belongs in a covered lodging total requires analysis of the offer and facts.
Classify before displaying
The parking label does not decide the rule
Ask what the guest can actually choose
→A fee is not optional merely because the page calls it an amenity.
What the federal guidance says
The FTC's official FAQ says covered businesses must show the total price upfront and more prominently than other pricing, and may itemize mandatory charges without overshadowing that total. It also explains that truly optional ancillary goods or services may be excluded, with required disclosures before payment.
The rule's scope is short-term lodging and live-event tickets. It is not a general federal all-in pricing rule for every parking sale.
California is a separate layer
SB 478
Broad consumer pricing
California generally requires advertised prices for covered consumer goods and services to include mandatory charges, subject to exceptions.
SB 1524
Food-service amendment
Certain restaurant and similar mandatory fees receive a disclosure-based treatment rather than the ordinary SB 478 inclusion rule.
AB 537
Short-term lodging
California separately addressed advertised room rates and required fees for lodging.
Local facts
Parking classification
A property's offer, guest choice, payer, and transaction structure still need review.
Use the California Attorney General's SB 478 guidance and the Legislature's text of AB 537. Do not collapse the federal lodging rule and California regime into one checklist.
The guest-safe default
Make the price understandable before it becomes unavoidable.
Even where classification is uncertain, a property can inventory every parking charge, name what it is for, state who pays it, remove vague fee labels, and align the website, booking path, front desk, valet stand, and receipt. Clarity is not a substitute for legal review, but ambiguity is never a service feature.
