Consumer NZ ramps up campaign to get Qantas's Jetstar to drop pre-ticked booking forms

Wednesday 20th May 2015

Consumer NZ is calling on the public to lobby Qantas Airways's Jetstar subsidiary to drop the use of pre-ticked boxes in its online booking forms that add extras to ticket prices some travellers may not want.

The consumer rights group has put a form letter on its website that Kiwis can use to email Jetstar chief executive David Hall, asking him to stop the practice. Consumer chief executive Sue Chetwin said pre-ticked boxes risk misleading people into paying for extras they don't want.

“It takes a truly canny consumer to make their way through a Jetstar booking without having additional charges appear on the fare,” Chetwin said in a statement.

Jetstar hasn't followed rival Air New Zealand, which scrapped a pre-selected travel insurance option in its online booking system after receiving a formal warning from the Commerce Commission. The regulator is cracking down on businesses misleading consumers with 'opt out' additional products online and wants them to use an 'opt in' approach when selling add-ons to avoid any possibility of breaching the Fair Trading Act.

Chetwin said the Jetstar booking process had pre-selected boxes for travel insurance, seats and baggage. On a return flight from Wellington to Auckland, the service charges would add $42.95 to the fare and customers may also have to pay a credit card surcharge, she said.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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