Advertising watchdogs have chastised a travel agent for misleading customers into paying a premium to buy US visas via its website.
The Advertising Standards Authority said Major Travel should have made it clear to clients they were not obliged to use its website for the service.
Major Travel charges £21.99 to process a customer's ESTA application to the US government, on top of the $14 visa fee.
In July, the online travel agency sent out emails to customers who had booked flight to the US inviting them to visit its website to complete their visa application. It said: "Please visit www.majorvisas.com to complete your ESTA. Did you know that you need an ESTA for travel to the US and this is a compulsory process? We can do this for you."
The ASA said not all customers would realise they could obtain a visa direct from the US government, avoiding Major Travel's fee.
In upholding a complaint received from one customer, the ASA said: "We considered that, because the ad did not make clear that an ESTA could be obtained directly from the US government for $14.00, it was likely to mislead some customers into believing that that it was compulsory to obtain an ESTA from the advertiser, and paying the additional £21.99 for their application processing service.
"We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading."
Major Travel has been order not to repeat the ad in its current form and to make it clear to customers they can obtain visas direct from the US government.
By Linsey McNeill
