07 Nov
2013

Code of Conduct update

Our Guidance on the application of the Code of Conduct has been updated and is available here on our website.

The Standards on Websites section (page 34) now contains fuller information on getting your website pricing right. The Price Policy section now reads:

Price Policy – compulsory and optional costs

If your website refers to prices, these must be indicated clearly and unambiguously.

Fully inclusive prices

All non-optional costs must be included in the basic price. Put another way, the final price to be paid by the client, aside from any optional extras they might add, should be the price that is shown at all times.

Your website prices should include the cost of paying by debit card, as this is an unavoidable cost for the majority of your clients. You can charge a credit card fee as an extra, because this is an optional cost for clients.

Optional costs

Optional extras don’t have to be included in the basic price but clients must be given information on them. You need to state what optional costs might apply and how much they are in a clear and unambiguous way.

Optional costs include your charge for payment by credit card, travel insurance and fees for luggage. The details must come at the start of the booking process on your website. One way to do this would be to provide a link to a table of optional extra prices, making sure it’s prominent and clearly worded such as Prices/fares don't include optional costs. Please click here for a list of charges.

If you make a charge for payment by credit card, it’s a legal requirement that this must not be more than the cost to you of accepting the payment.

Optional extras must be presented clearly to the client as optional and must not be displayed in a way that misleads them into thinking they must add them to their booking.

Selling flights online:

  1. Don’t use pre-ticked boxes when it comes to optional extras. It’s a legal requirement that the acceptance of optional price supplements by the client should be on an opt-in basis.
     
  2. You need to display:
  • The applicable conditions to the fares. This could be achieved via a clearly displayed hyperlink to the relevant terms and conditions.
  • The price breakdown. The final price, which includes all non-optional costs, should be shown at all times but the client should also be able to see the breakdown of the air fare or air rate and the taxes, airport charges, and other charges, surcharges or fees, such as those related to security or fuel, which have been added to it. If you display a number of flight prices on a single page on your website and don’t have space to show all the price breakdowns, you could use pop-ups, or display the breakdown only once the flight price is selected by the client.