Hyatt, Hilton Among Chains Facing Antitrust Class Action

Hyatt Hotel Corp., Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Marriott International Inc. and three other major hotel chains are accused of agreeing not to use each other’s names in online search advertising to reduce head-to-head competition and raise prices.

The March 19 complaint says 60 percent of hotel room inventory in the U.S. is involved in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs sued Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, Choice Hotels International Inc., and Wyndham Worldwide Corp.

A putative class action filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois claims those agreements illegally restrain consumers from seeing competing options when ...