Texas AG Ken Paxton reached a $9.5 million settlement with Booking Holdings Inc.—the parent company of travel platforms like Booking.com, Priceline.com, and Kayak.com—to resolve allegations that the company deceptively marketed hotel room prices to consumers by omitting mandatory fees from advertised rates.

According to the complaint , Booking’s websites allegedly engage in “drip pricing” and omit mandatory fees from advertised room rates which, as a result, thwarts comparison shopping, lures consumers with artificially low room prices, and places its competitors at a disadvantage because they will lose customers to Booking even when Booking’s actual rates are not lower.

As part of the settlement, Booking is also required to disclose all mandatory fees upfront when displaying hotel p

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