MGM Resorts Charges $15 Extra Per Night to Book Vegas Rooms Via Humans

Posted on: August 23, 2024, 12:01h. 

Last updated on: August 23, 2024, 12:09h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

Booking directly from a casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip may sometimes still get you a better rate than an online travel agency. But if you try to do it over the phone, beware of a new fee that’s recently come to light.

The 12 Las Vegas Strip properties operated by MGM Resorts are all suspected of charging $15 more per room, per night, for reserving it through a live agent. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

MGM Resorts is apparently charging $15 extra per room, per night, if the room was reserved through a human. The charge will show up on your final receipt upon checkout, where it’s called an “ICE Contact Center Fee.”

One recent visitor — who shared their bill, and their displeasure, with Twitter user @HeatherBenson75 — paid MGM $15 for each night of a three-day stay booked through a live agent. Including the $6.03 tax charged on the fee, the total charge for not booking online was $51.03.

That’s 1,020 nickels, or 510 dimes.

The live-agent booking fee is shown on this bill, reportedly from an MGM Las Vegas property that was not identified. (Image: X/Twitter/@heatherBenson75)

“@MGMResortsIntl trying to phase out their Reservations department by slapping a $15 per night fee on every booking you make with a live agent in their call center is disgusting,” @HeatherBenson75 tweeted. “They do NOT care about their employees!”

“For seniors or those who prefer to speak to an actual person, this is obscene,” noted @702YankeeBabe in the tweet’s comments. “People shouldn’t have to pay to book a stay. Hit with parking and resort fees, what’s next? Fees for toilet paper?”

“Charging a booking fee per night is highway robbery,” added @buffalodazzler. “Not a good look.”

Junk Heaping

The push for full transparency in hotel fees — which can add hundreds of extra dollars to a final bill — resulted in the No Hidden FEES Act of 2023 (H.R. 6543). Introduced by Young Kim (R-CA) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) last December, the bill would require hotel operators to include all mandatory fees when displaying or advertising the price for a reservation.

The bill passed by a whopping 384-25 vote in the GOP-controlled US House of Representatives on June 11, and is now under consideration by the Senate, where the similar Hotel Fees Transparency Act – introduced by Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kans.) in July 2023 — also awaits a full Senate vote.

If MGM Resorts responds to Casino.org’s request for a comment on this policy, we will update this story with that comment.