Online air tickets: Read the fine print

Brussels – Consumers are getting ripped off by misleading information for airline tickets sold online, the EU’s top consumer protection official said, promising a crackdown if the industry fails to clean up its act. An EU probe found that one in three ticket booking sites in 13 participating countries have breached consumer law and that regulators had to pursue them to enforce the rules.

“It is unacceptable that one in three consumers going to book a plane ticket online is being ripped off or mislead and confused,” EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said.

“We will need to see credible evidence of improvement to clean up these sales and marketing practises within the airline sector by May 1 next year or we will be left with no choice but to intervene,” she added.

With the investigation due be wrapped up by May 2009, the industry would remain under tough scrutiny for signs of improvement over the next year before it was decided whether action was needed.

Kuneva said that misleading prices were the most common problem on ticket booking sites, followed by unfair contract terms.

Another big problem was that advertised offers were not available.

She said that the booking problems facing consumers online were rampant across the industry, with small and big airlines alike guilty.

While welcoming the commission’s interest in online ticket booking, the BEUC European consumers association said the offending companies should be named and shamed.

“The commission has done part of the work by underlining the continued presence of unfair practises in the sector of online sales of airline tickets,” BEUC director general Monique Goyens said.

“We will be asking our members to go further and to divulge, if necessary, the names of the companies in the wrong,” she added.

Source: AFP

Share

FREE  for 30 days

 Email This  Print This