Webjet fined by ACCC for misleading customers about flight booking prices

Darshana Gupta

28th Jul 2025

Online travel agency Webjet has been fined $9 million for making false or misleading statements about flights and booking confirmations after an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). 

The company admitted to making false or misleading statements in advertisements for airfares, which excluded compulsory fees between 2018 and 2023 on its website, social media posts and in promotional emails.

It also admitted to providing false or misleading booking confirmations to 118 customers during that same period, but this is yet to be confirmed. 

In these cases, the company asked for additional payments of up to $2120 from consumers to complete bookings, and has since issued them refunds. 

The ACCC began its investigation after a consumer reported an airfare advertisement that claimed to be “from $18” but instead cost almost three times the price after the addition of Webjet’s compulsory fees. 

“We took this case because we considered that Webjet used misleading pricing by excluding or not adequately disclosing compulsory fees in its ads,” ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.

“Seeking to lure in customers with prices that don’t tell the whole story is a serious breach of the Australian Consumer Law.”

The fees comprised a “Webjet servicing fee” and a “booking price guarantee” fee, ranging from $34.90 to $54.90 per booking, depending on the destination of the flights and whether they were domestic or international. 

Although the company’s app and emails consisted of information about the additional fees, customers had to scroll to the bottom to find it in the fine print, with social media posts not including the information at all. 

These fees represented 36 per cent of Webjet’s total revenue between November 2018 and November 2023. 

Webjet cooperated with the ACCC, admitted liability, agreed to pay the penalty and to make a contribution to the ACCC’s costs.