ASA complaint about total holiday cost

A booking webpage for Holiday Gems, www.holidaygems.co.uk featured confirmation details for a hotel and flights to Gran Canaria. Text stated, “Your Holiday Summary. Total Cost: £1740.73”.

The complainant, who had booked the holiday, but had subsequently been told the price stated in the ad was no longer available and that they would have to pay an additional £34, challenged whether the price claim was misleading.

Holiday Gems said the ad was described as a “holiday summary” and not a “booking” and that customers had to accept their terms and conditions before proceeding on the website. They said the fact it was a summary and not a finalised booking was then communicated again to consumers via an email.

The ASA upheld the complaint and said it considered consumers would understand the price claim “Total Cost: £1740.73” to mean that amount was the total price that they would pay for that holiday, notwithstanding the cost of any optional extras. That particular price claim was repeated throughout the online booking process and when the complainant had their payment authorised. The ASA did not consider that consumers were likely to interpret the claim as a quote that was subject to change.

The ASA acknowledged that the claim in the ad was a quoted price for a particular holiday and not a confirmed booking. However, the fact that it was not a confirmed booking was not sufficient to avoid the price claim misleading consumers in the event that it was not available.