Trading Standards Institute slams travel industry over misleading prices

Travel companies and airlines have come under fire from the Trading Standards Institute for continuing to mislead consumers with internet prices.

The TSI is encouraging the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to use the Enterprise Act 2002 to take action against companies which advertise holidays and flights at prices that fail to include must-pay extras, particularly high fuel supplements.

Its random check of online booking last week revealed companies, including Thomson, Thomas Cook, Mytravel and First Choice, were advertising flights and package holidays at prices that significantly increased once various compulsory extras were added.

A seven-night self catering holiday from Birmingham to Lanzarote advertised at £84 per person ended up costing £392 for two people including fuel supplements of £40 per person.

One budget airline, meanwhile, advertised £95 per person return flights from Heathrow to Brussels which ended up costing £298 for two, including compulsory extras of £108.

TSI’s lead officer on travel, Bruce Treloar, said: “This misleading and illegal cocktail of confusion is being allowed to flourish and consumers are clearly being enticed to check out particular holidays and flights with unrealistic prices.

“Travel firms are adding the word ‘from’ and then think it is acceptable to fail to offer any holidays which even come close to that magical figure, once must-pay supplements are added in.”

The TSI said the travel industry claims flight supplements are necessary because of rising fuel costs, but in the past three months prices have stabilised and even reduced.

“Shops that advertised goods for sale at a particular price and then tried to charge a higher price at the till by telling customers they had to pay towards the shop’s lighting and heating costs would be rightly criticized,” said Treloar.

“Yet parts of the travel industry are allowed to advertise holidays abroad to consumers at one price and then add on compulsory extra charges to cover the cost of the fuel to fly you there, for the use of the airport and even for printing out the tickets.

“Surely it is not too much to ask for consumers to be told a clear and transparent price at the start of their transaction?”

Ron Gainsford, TSI’s chief executive said: “The standard industry response of ‘everybody is doing it’ is not the sort of level playing field we or consumers want.

“The industry should be far more robust in setting standards of pricing transparency and fairness but it seems unable to do so.”

By Bev Fearis