The European Consumer Organisation, BEUC, sent two letters this April regarding price transparency of airline tickets to Association of European Airlines and European Low Fares Airline Association. The letters are based on the UK Office of Fair Trading decision regarding surcharges in the air transport sector. The OFT considers separation of compulsory charges from the headline prices as misleading to consumers (which is in accordance with Art. 23 of the Regulation 1008/2008). Moreover, the OFT decided that if surcharges for the use of debit cards (standard online payment mechanism) are added to the final price, this would pose a serious obstacle to any price comparison that consumers were making. The OFT informed the airlines operating from the UK that they had till December 2012 to comply with price transparency guidelines and most of them adapted their policies. The BEUC argues now for the Associations to recommend these guidelines to all their members, so that all consumers across the EU were confronted with the same price transparency rules.Monday, 29 April 2013
Flight tickets' price transparency
The European Consumer Organisation, BEUC, sent two letters this April regarding price transparency of airline tickets to Association of European Airlines and European Low Fares Airline Association. The letters are based on the UK Office of Fair Trading decision regarding surcharges in the air transport sector. The OFT considers separation of compulsory charges from the headline prices as misleading to consumers (which is in accordance with Art. 23 of the Regulation 1008/2008). Moreover, the OFT decided that if surcharges for the use of debit cards (standard online payment mechanism) are added to the final price, this would pose a serious obstacle to any price comparison that consumers were making. The OFT informed the airlines operating from the UK that they had till December 2012 to comply with price transparency guidelines and most of them adapted their policies. The BEUC argues now for the Associations to recommend these guidelines to all their members, so that all consumers across the EU were confronted with the same price transparency rules.
