Biden to meet with Live Nation, SeatGeek and Airbnb executives to end junk costs
US President Joe Biden will host executives from Live Nation, Airbnb and other companies at the White House on Thursday to emphasize his administration’s push to end so-called junk fees that surprise consumers.
Biden, in his State of the Union address, prioritized efforts to combat surprise or covert reimbursements and has called for legislation, regulation and private sector action to end them. Biden was expected to announce actions at Thursday’s event by companies that have eliminated or plan to eliminate those surprise fees.
Consumer advocacy is part of the Democratic president’s pitch to voters leading up to his 2024 re-election that government can help improve their lives in ways big and small.
At the White House, Live Nation, based in Beverly Hills, California, announces that it will offer customers all-inclusive prices for its own venues by September and that Ticketmaster will offer consumers the ability to view all-inclusive prices in advance for other locations on the live entertainment tickets platform. SeatGeek, based in New York, will also be unveiling features to make searching for tickets with the actual cost easier.
San Francisco-based Airbnb rolled out its all-inclusive pricing tool in December, after Biden first called on companies to stop hiding fees.
“President Biden has been working to reduce costs for hard-working families by lowering inflation, limiting insulin prices for seniors and eliminating hidden junk costs,” Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, said in a statement. “More companies are heeding the president’s call, so Americans know in advance what they are paying for and save money as a result.”
