Airline chastised for ski promotion
Swiss International Airlines (SWISS) has been rapped by advertising watchdogs for a promotion with the Ski Club of Great Britain in which it offered a 10% discount to members.
The Advertising Standards Authority said the ad was misleading because the discount did not apply to taxes and surcharges, so Ski Club members ended up paying more than 90% of the full fare.
The ASA, which investigated the offer following a complaint from a member of the public, warned SWISS not to offer discounts on basic fares exclusive of VAT and surcharges and to ensure that their ads did not exaggerate the level of savings available.
SWISS admitted the Ski Club booking tool had quoted the discounted price alongside the non-promotional fare for the flight, and acknowledged that in some cases it appeared that that non-promotional fare had not matched the price quoted at the same time for the same flight on the standard booking tool.
However, it said that issue had occurred because of a systems error and it has since removed the fare comparison feature from the Ski Club booking tool to prevent it happening again.
SWISS stressed, however, that in all cases the 10% discount had been properly calculated and applied to flights booked by Ski Club members, in accordance with the terms of the advertised offer.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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