Wednesday, July 30, 2008

When will travel companies learn that the ad watchdogs don't like misleading emails

Jet2.com is the latest travel firm to fall foul of the UK's Advertising Standards Authority.

The latest round of adjudications handed down from the ASA includes a wrap across the knuckles for the low-cost airline for an email it sent which said discounted fares were available on certain flights.

Two potential passengers complained when they couldn't find the low fare on the Jet2 website.

Jet2, in its defence, said the fares were available and provided documentation to the ASA to prove it.

What went wrong here, then? Well, Jet2 didn't mention that the full fare would also include a "complusory fuel supplement charge".

It seems that all Jet2 needed to do in order to appease the ASA is add the word "from" in front the advertised price as only 33% of the fares on each flight were available at the discounted rate.

Read the Jet2 ASA full ruling.

Anyway, Ryanair have learned that you can push the ASA into fits of apoplexy and get a nasty ticking off. But sometimes, as someone mentioned a few months ago, that rebuke is worth it if you can get shift a heap of tickets quickly through a sale.

We are, of course, not suggesting that Jet2 did this.

Kevin May, editor, Travolution

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