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For years, travelers have used online booking services, such as Priceline and Expedia, to plan their excursions.
Now the hotel industry says the sites are scamming travelers.
The American Hotel and Lodging Association says online scams are costing travelers up to $1.3 billion a year, Los Angeles Times reported.
READ MORE:US Senator Contacts FTC Over Online Hotel-Booking Scam
The group wants legislation passed to crack down on the sites, which it says have no connection to the hotels they claim to be working with, the Times said.
A coalition of online sites, which includes Airbnb, Expedia and Priceline, argues that the hotel industry is making the problem look worse than it is so travelers will book with the hotels directly, saving the hotels the commissions they would otherwise have to pay the booking sites, according to the Times.
READ MORE:FTC Alerts Travelers to Misleading Online Hotel Booking Sites
"It's just a veiled attempt at trying to scare consumers to book directly with the hotel chains themselves," a coalition spokesman Philip Minardi told the Times.
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