Hopper's own staff called it tricking users. FTC fined $35M.
Summary
The FTC's complaint against travel app Hopper describes a company that hid "optional" Tip and VIP Support fees behind a pre-selected checkbox a customer would only see by scrolling down past the total-price screen -- a design its own employees flagged internally, with one writing, "the problem here is that we're tricking users." The company's internal testing reportedly confirmed it: disclosed properly and unselected by default, most customers would have declined the fees. On July 2, 2026, Hopper agreed to pay $35 million and submit to a court order banning the practice, more than three years after the deception is alleged to have begun.
A fee you'd only find by scrolling down
Until mid-2023, the 's complaint alleges, customers ready to book saw a "total price" screen with a Swipe to Book button that didn't disclose⧉ the company was adding "Tip" and "VIP Support" charges -- fees labeled optional but pre-selected by default, visible only if a customer scrolled past the total. Even after a partial fix to that screen in mid-2023, the complaint says Hopper kept failing to disclose that the Tip fee was optional at all.
"The problem here is that we're tricking users"
The complaint's sharpest detail is internal: Hopper's own employees flagged the tactic⧉ in company communications, with one writing, "To me, the problem here is that we're tricking users." The alleges Hopper's own internal testing confirmed the point: if the fees had been clearly disclosed and left unselected by default, most customers would have turned them down. A customer quoted in the complaint put it more bluntly: "I did not intend to buy the VIP support. Honestly it feels like ya'll snuck that in on the final screen at the bottom and opted me in."
View data as table
| Since FTC's Unfair and Deceptive Fees Rule took effect (May 12, 2025) | 13.7 |
|---|---|
| Since Hopper continued non-disclosure of optional Tip fees (2023) | 36 |
The fees didn't deliver what they promised, either
Beyond the disclosure failures, the alleges the products themselves fell short⧉. VIP Support was marketed as reaching customer service "instantly" or within a few minutes; many buyers, the complaint says, couldn't reach an agent at all or waited substantially longer. "Price Freeze" (also called "Hold the Room") was supposed to lock in an advertised fare and apply its fee toward the eventual booking -- but the complaint alleges Hopper didn't clearly disclose that the price lock only applied up to a certain amount and only if the original booking was still available, and didn't apply the fee toward the purchase as promised.
The takeaway
- The company's own staff called it deception, in writing. "We're tricking users" isn't the 's characterization -- it's an internal Hopper communication the complaint quotes directly.
- Internal testing reportedly proved the fees wouldn't survive honest disclosure. The complaint alleges Hopper knew that showing the fees clearly and unselected by default would make most customers decline them -- and kept the hidden version anyway.
- The deception outlasted a fix attempt and a new federal rule. A mid-2023 change didn't stop the Tip-fee non-disclosure, and the practice continued more than 13 months past the 's Unfair and Deceptive Fees Rule taking effect in May 2025.
All findings are from the 's press release, "Travel App Hopper to Pay $35 Million to Settle Allegations It Charged Fees Without Consent and Deceived Users About Fees and Benefits of Some Products," published July 2, 2026, and read directly from 's own release page (fetched via curl with a standard browser User-Agent), not a secondary summary. The 's Commission voted 2-0 to file the complaint and a stipulated proposed order in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts; as of this article's publication, the settlement is a proposed order, not yet a final court judgment, and the allegations described are Hopper's alleged conduct as characterized in the 's complaint, not proven facts.
Sources(1) ▾
- Federal Trade Commission, Travel App Hopper to Pay $35 Million to Settle FTC Allegations It Charged Fees Without Consent and Deceived Users About Fees and Benefits of Some Products (2026-07-02) — Official press release announcing a proposed settlement with Hopper Inc. and its U.S. subsidiary, published July 2, 2026. Read directly from 's own release page (fetched via curl with a standard browser User-Agent), not a secondary summary -- the internal-communications quotes, the specific consumer complaint, and the Price Freeze mechanics are only in the full release. The settlement (a stipulated proposed order filed in federal court) is not yet a final judgment as of this article's writing. ftc.gov · original document
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The Federal Trade Commission announced a $35 million settlement⧉ with travel-booking app Hopper on July 2, 2026, over allegations the company hid "optional" fees from customers for years while marketing itself with a "no hidden fees" promise. "Hopper deceived consumers by showing them a total price that did not include hidden, pre-selected fees," said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the 's Bureau of Consumer Protection.