The ASA has upheld a series of complaints about “from” price promotions by hotel advertisers. The ads, many of which were supported by an online search provider’s travel feed for search ads, have been found to fall foul of rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation), and 3.17 and 3.22 (Prices). The ASA’s message is clear: be aware of the rules on price promotions, and be wary of letting online search providers pick your prices, as the advertiser is still responsible.
These rulings coincide with the CMA’s launch of its consumer protection drive into online pricing practices under the new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Compliance with the law and regulation on displaying consumer prices is now more important than ever.
CAP Code – Rules on Price Promotions
Key rules on price promotions include:
The advertiser is responsible: Primary responsibility for observing the ASA rules is with the marketers (Rule 1.8). Providing data to a search engine advertisement feed to then populate ads does not pass responsibility over to the search engine for compliance with the code.
Do not mislead: advertisements must not give consumers an inaccurate overall impression, whether through the wording used, the imagery chosen, or information left unsaid (Rule 3.1). For price promotions, this means avoiding claims that suggest a level of availability or value which does not exist. Omitting key information which the consumer needs to take an informed decision, such as date limitations, may well be considered misleading.
Substantiate your claims: advertisers must hold solid, documentary evidence which substantiates any claims made, before an ad appears (Rule 3.7). Claims that state a price is “from X” must be supported by data showing that this price genuinely applies to a meaningful proportion of rooms across relevant dates. Without that proof, the ASA will treat the claim as misleading.
Price claims must not exaggerate: any price presented must be accurate, transparent, and clearly linked to the product or service being advertised. Any compulsory charges or significant conditions should be prominent so consumers can understand what they will pay, and for what, without hunting in small print (Rule 3.17).
“From” and “up to” claims: “from” and “up to” claims should not exaggerate the availability or consumer benefit (Rule 3.22). When using “from” or “up to” to advertise a saving, advertisers must ensure that (i) a “significant proportion” (generally, at least 10%) of available products are discounted at the maximum saving; and (ii) the saving claims represent the true overall picture of the price promotion. A headline rate that applies only on a single night, or only to a small number of rooms, will not meet this standard if the ad suggests broader availability.
The ASA has affirmed these rules in a number of decisions this week against a number of hotel companies, including Booking.com and Travelodge Hotels.
Booking.com
A paid-for search ad by Booking.com promoting a hotel stay as “From £28”, alongside a “Best Price Guarantee”, was found to be misleading and insufficiently substantiated. Booking.com said the ad was populated using dates and prices dynamically selected by an online search provider using data Booking.com supplied to it. Booking.com was therefore confident the information was correct, but said they did not have any control over which price was displayed.
The ASA firstly noted that online search providers’ travel feeds for search ads are optional and do not relieve advertisers of CAP Code compliance. They therefore expected to see evidence that a significant proportion of rooms were available at the advertised price across a range of dates, as consumers would expect “From £28” to reflect meaningful availability across multiple dates. Booking.com failed to provide robust pricing and availability data demonstrating significant availability at £28, and consequently the ASA found the ad breached the CAP Code in relation to misleadingness, substantiation, and exaggerating the benefits of an “up to” claim.
Travelodge Hotels
The ASA has also assessed two paid-for Travelodge ads, which stated its Nottingham Riverside and Swansea M4 hotels could be booked “From £25” and “From £21”. No qualification was given in the ad as to what dates these prices were available, which was in fact only one date.
Travelodge said an online search provider dynamically selected the prices from its Hotel Ads feed, and that clicking through on the ad showed the rates as available on 18 May. However, despite there being evidence that over 71% of Nottingham Riverside rooms and more than 88% of Swansea M4 rooms were available at the stated prices on that date, the ASA ruled the claims misleading and unsubstantiated because consumers would expect “from” prices to apply across a range of dates, not just a single night. The ads therefore breached CAP Code rules on misleading advertising, substantiation, and pricing and Travelodge was told to ensure “from” prices reflect multi‑date availability.
CMS Comment
Coming the day after the Competition and Markets Authority announced a major wave of enforcement against misleading pricing practices, these rulings stress yet again the importance of getting consumer pricing right. These advertisers got out of the complaint with no more than an upheld ASA ruling; had they been investigated by the CMA, they could have faced fines of 10% of worldwide turnover.
These investigations also form part of the ASA’s wider work on the availability of advertised hotel prices, one of its current areas of focus. The ads assessed were identified via the ASA’s Active Ad Monitoring system, which uses AI to proactively search for online ads that may breach the rules; this tool is increasing the efficiency of CAP Code enforcement. Advertisers, particularly in the hotel sector, should be aware of the ASA’s focus on their advertisements and should note that their ads may be investigated even where a third-party complaint is not brought.
Co-authored by Emily Spain, Trainee Solicitor.
