---
type: Tip
title: In America the advertised price isn't the price
description: Resort fees, parking, tax and expected tips are added after the number you were quoted — budget for the total rather than the rate, because Harry got caught by it in three states running.
tags: [money, budgeting, united-states, tipping, hotels]
timestamp: 2026-08-05T12:00:00Z
---

# In America the advertised price isn't the price

The one piece of country-specific advice Harry repeats across the whole
[United States](/countries/united-states.md) trip, and the only thing about the
country he genuinely complains about. The quoted number is a starting point:
what you actually pay is that plus a resort fee, plus parking, plus tax, plus a
tip that is expected rather than optional.

His framing is that he doesn't mind America being expensive — he thinks you get
what you pay for — but that he minds not being told what it costs.

## How it catches him

**Resort fees.** Quoted as covering wi-fi and parking, disclosed in the terms
and conditions rather than at booking, and applied whether or not you use
either. In [Hawaii](/places/hawaii.md) they came on top of hotels already at
$400–600 a night, and on top of the two-star at $160 he took instead. In
[Las Vegas](/places/las-vegas.md) it was $50 a night. His question both times
was why it isn't simply in the price.

**Tax and parking**, added at the end rather than shown at the start.

**Tipping**, which is the part he argues with rather than just notes. Asked to
tip for a coffee in [Miami](/places/miami.md), he refuses and then puts the
other side himself: service staff are paid below minimum wage and tips make up
the difference. His objection is not to the money but to the default — as an
Englishman he tips for good service, and being asked to subsidise a large
company's wage bill at the counter is a different proposition.

## The practical version

Budget from the total, not the rate. On a hotel, assume the headline price is
not what leaves your account, and read what the resort fee actually covers
before you decide it's an outrage.

## Demonstrated in

- [Hawaii is the Most Overrated Place in the World 🇺🇸](/videos/UPxuhl1Kpc4.md) —
  resort fee plus parking plus tax on every rate he's quoted.
- [What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas 🇺🇸](/videos/ugKRNmqEtCU.md) — $50 a
  night, buried in the small print.
- [Miami Is Like playing GTA VI in Real Life 🇺🇸](/videos/q-s7erKrjlo.md) — the
  full version of the argument, tipping included.