Summary
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned ads from four major hotel and travel companies in Britain for showing misleading prices for rooms. The companies involved include Hilton, Travelodge, Booking.com, and Accor. The ASA found that these ads promoted prices that were not widely available, which could mislead customers.
Key Facts
- The ASA banned ads from Hilton, Travelodge, Booking.com, and Accor for misleading price promotions.
- The ads used "from" prices, suggesting more rooms were available at the stated rates than actually were.
- ASA found only a few rooms were available at the advertised prices, which could mislead consumers.
- Hilton and Travelodge had specific ads banned for not having enough availability of rooms at the promoted rates.
- The ASA used artificial intelligence to identify these misleading advertisements.
- The investigation is part of a larger effort by the ASA to ensure advertised prices align with actual availability.
- The ASA also criticized Butlins for extending the deadline of a sale, which could pressure consumers unfairly.
- The action coincides with a probe by the Competition and Markets Authority into misleading online price claims by several companies.
