The Hidden Cost of Booking Flights Online
More and more air tickets are sold on the Internet, either direct by the airlines or through agents, and the issue of what is, and is not, included in the lead-in price has become very serious. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to book your 240 return fare to New York and discovering only when you have reached the final booking stage that there are several extras to pay. It makes comparison-shopping impossible because you simply do not know whether one of the other sites you considered would have worked out cheaper because their prices included more. One lady complained to us about Opodo and its complicated raft of extra charges. It is unfortunate that, when Opodo started, its prices were all-inclusive, but it has been forced to adopt the tactics of some other agents to makes its prices appear to be competitive!
For both the consumer and the more honest agents it is a lose-lose situation when there are no clear rules about how prices must be displayed. ABTA has also entered the argument because its code of conduct insists that High Street agents included all mandatory extras. In other words, it does not matter if the price of the ticket to Barcelona is just 30, the price quoted should include all charges that will actually enable the traveller to fly to Barcelona.
A memo has now been issued by the Trading Standards Institute, the Office of Fair Trading and the Advertising Standards Authority laying down the guidelines for how prices should be displayed on the web. The weakness of this is that it is basically advice to all parties and not set in stone. If a complaint is made against a company, it might be weeks before the case is considered, and then the company might get away with only a slapped wrist. The concept of including all mandatory charges in the up-front price is good, but it is not quite as clear-cut as it might appear, and the document produced appears rather vague on some issues. Here are some points to watch out for: Of course, prices should be quoted with all taxes and charges included.
However, some very honest companies currently quote approximate prices and calculate the overseas tax element on the day of purchase at the current exchange rate. This is definitely the best method, and we would much rather pay 346.24 for a ticket to New York than 347. Some agents currently round up all their fares to protect themselves. It is not always possible to quote fares with all taxes included, since they can change with the route taken. A good example is a round-the-world ticket that might cost 950 basic but have an extra 150 to 200 added depending on the number of stops and the airports involved. In these instances an approximate additional figure is surely fair for all concerned. Booking fees or transaction charges must be included in the quoted fare.
Do you go into a supermarket and expect them to make an additional charge for their profit margin when you reach the till? From what we can understand there is nothing to stop a website showing any, or all, of these items individually. In fact, in some cases, it might make it easier if this is done. However, the full total must be clearly displayed.
The various authorities involved in the publication of this memo are not going to police websites themselves. They will only act on complaints received; so, if you have a problem, by all means contact your local Trading Standards officers or the Advertising Standards Authority. It could take a very long time for everyone to conform. Until then, we hope that the items we have listed above will act as a warning of what to look out for.
Pre-existing medical conditions We regularly warn about this blanket exclusion imposed by most travel insurers. You also need to remember that the exclusion applies not just to you but also to any close relative whose illness forces you to cancel a trip. In other words, the death, or serious illness of an aged parent could mean you have to cancel your holiday, and so, since this is likely to be as a result of a pre-existing condition, you might not be able to claim.
Most companies are prepared to discuss giving cover for someone with a pre-existing condition. In some cases, they will give cover without any extra charge; having said this, when they do charge extra, it is difficult to compare prices. Companies have their own independent scales of charges, and there is no way of telling in advance who will be the cheapest. However, they also differ in the way they word their exclusion and how they interpret it. Be warned.
Barrhead Travel have been selling holidays, flights and cruises for 30 years, It is now the biggest independent travel agency in the UK. Please visit us at http://www.barrheadtravel.co.uk and http://www.flightsdirect.com
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