Flights Direct

Over a third of airline and travel-agency websites have been faulted for placing misleading flight prices on their websites and adverts, by a European Union investigation.

The EU has warned it will take action against companies that continue to break the rules. The on-going investigation to airline pricing already sited some companies for misleading pricing and some of the companies have changed their practices.

“Although we welcome the commission’s efforts in this area we can’t help but notice that half the Web sites which were criticized in the first study some months ago continue to get away with misleading consumers,” said the European Consumers’ Organisation in a statement.

The main problem with displayed prices is that they do not include taxes and extra fees. Other problems include inaccurate contract terms, automatic selections of optional services and advertised offers not being available.