Antitrust lawsuit against mega hotel chain moves forward

A federal judge on Thursday rebuffed a request by hotel chains including Hyatt Hotels Corp, Marriott International Inc and Wyndham Hotel Group to throw out a class-action suit accusing them of conspiring not to compete with one another online. 

The case, which was filed last year by a group of hotel customers, alleges that Hyatt, Marriott, Wyndham, Hilton Domestic Operating Company and Six Continents Hotels, Inc, now called InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, agreed not to advertise against one another on online travel agencies, like Expedia. 

Similarly, the lawsuit alleges, the companies stopped advertising against one another in search results. The lawsuit says the changes came shortly after a 2014 hotel industry conference.

“These allegations show, at best, that defendants had an opportunity to conspire; they do not support an inference that a conspiracy occurred,” Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois wrote in allowing the lawsuit to go forward.