Travel app Hopper has agreed to pay $35 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit alleging the company used deceptive design tactics to hide fees and mislead users about the true costs of its services, the FTC announced on July 2, 2026.
The FTC accused Hopper of employing “dark patterns” — interface designs that manipulate users into choices they might not otherwise make — to obscure charges and misrepresent the value of features including “VIP Support” and “Price Freeze.” Fees labeled as optional were frequently pre-selected and buried in the app’s interface, only visible when users scrolled down, leading many to incur charges they believed they had not agreed to.
Regulators also took issue with Hopper’s “Price Freeze” and “Hold the Room” offerings, which the company marketed as ways to lock in travel prices for a set period. The FTC found that Hopper failed to clearly disclose key restrictions — including that the freeze only applied up to a specific price limit and only if the booking remained available.
Under the settlement terms, the $35 million will be directed toward consumer redress. Hopper is now prohibited from misrepresenting pricing and is required to clearly disclose all fees before users complete a transaction.
In a statement to TechCrunch, a Hopper spokesperson said the company chose to settle rather than pursue lengthy litigation, characterizing the allegations as “outdated, ticky-tacky issues” tied to display practices used during the pandemic and discontinued by mid-2023, before the FTC’s inquiry began. “The settlement amount does not reflect the merit of the claims,” the spokesperson said.
The case is part of a broader FTC push against junk fees in consumer apps. Recent comparable actions include a $10 million settlement with StubHub over ticket price displays and a $9.5 million settlement involving Booking Holdings following a Texas lawsuit over hidden hotel fees.
Hopper, which launched in 2014 and reached 120 million lifetime downloads worldwide in 2024, is known for its AI-driven flight and hotel price predictions.
Source: TechCrunch