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Online travel booking site Webjet has been slugged with a $9 million fine by the ACCC.
The Federal Court ordered Webjet to pay the penalties after it admitted to making false or misleading statements about the price of flights and booking confirmations between 2018 and 2023, having advertised prices that excluded compulsory fees.
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“Webjet also admitted that between 2019 and 2024 it provided false or misleading booking confirmations to 118 consumers for flight bookings which had not actually been confirmed,” the ACCC said.
“Webjet later asked for additional payments, of up to $2,120, from consumers to complete the booking. Webjet has refunded these consumers.”
According to the consumer watchdog, the investigation was launched after Webjet advertised a price “from $18” that ended up costing almost three times the price after compulsory fees were added.
“We took this case because we considered that Webjet used misleading pricing by excluding or not adequately disclosing compulsory fees in its ads,” Gina Cass-Gottlieb, chair of the ACCC, said.
“Seeking to lure in customers with prices that don’t tell the whole story is a serious breach of the Australian Consumer Law.
“Retailers must ensure their advertised prices are accurate. They should clearly disclose additional fees and charges.”
The fees, comprising the “Webjet servicing fee” and “booking price guarantee”, ranged from $34.90 to $54.90 per booking depending on whether the flights were domestic, short-haul international, or long-haul international.
The ACCC said these fees represented 36 per cent of the company’s total revenue between 1 November 2018 and 13 November 2023.
“While Webjet’s website, app and most emails contained information about the additional fees, some users had to scroll to the fine print near the bottom of the screen to see them. In its social media posts, Webjet didn’t disclose the additional fees at all,” it said.
“Webjet co-operated with the ACCC, admitted liability and agreed to make joint submissions to the Court about orders, including the penalty.
“The Court also made declarations and other orders proposed, including that Webjet review its compliance program and pay a contribution to the ACCC’s costs.”
Webjet is Australia and New Zealand’s biggest online travel agency, with 8.2 per cent of all GDS bookings, four per cent of international bookings, and 11.1 per cent of domestic bookings, in the 2023–24 financial year.
