Watchdog bans easyJet cabin bag price claim advert 

An easyJet advert has been banned for making misleading claims about cabin bag prices. 

 

The advert by the budget airline stated that passengers could take large cabin bags onboard from £5.99. 

 

However, consumer protection group Which? challenged whether this claim was misleading and could be substantiated. 

 

EasyJet was unable to provide evidence to the advertising watchdog to show that large cabin bag spaces were available at the advertised price across a significant proportion of its flights. 

 

The Advertising Standards Authority found the pricing claim made on the airline’s website last September was misleading and banned the advert. 

 

Upholding the complaint, the ASA said it “considered that consumers would understand the claim ‘from £5.99’ to mean that large cabin bags would be available to book for £5.99 across a significant proportion of flight routes and dates. 

 

“We therefore expected to see evidence, in the form of relevant pricing and availability data, demonstrating that large cabin bags could be booked at the ‘from £5.99’ price across a range of flights and dates.

 

“However, easyJet said they were not able to provide specific data to substantiate that price. Consequently, we were unable to make an assessment of the proportion of large cabin bags that could be booked at the advertised price across a range of flights and dates. 

 

“Whilst we acknowledged easyJet’s assurance that large cabin bags could be purchased for £5.99, we considered that alone was insufficient to substantiate the ‘from’ pricing claim.

 

"Because we had not seen sufficient evidence to demonstrate that large cabin bags were available to book for £5.99 across a range of flight routes and dates, we concluded the ‘from’ pricing claim had not been substantiated and was misleading.”

 

The ASA added: “The marketing communication must not appear again in the form complained of. 

 

“We told easyJet to ensure when using ‘from’ price claims in the future that large cabin bags were available at the advertised price across a significant proportion of flights.”

 

EasyJet argued that it believed the general availability of large cabin bag allowances at £5.99, and the fact that there were no bag allowances available below that price, meant the information on the page was not misleading.

 

The airline said that the ‘fees and charges’ page on its website was intended for information purposes, not for use in broader promotions or marketing campaigns. 

 

It noted that large cabin bags could be purchased across the network for prices starting from £5.99. 

 

EasyJet was not able to provide specific figures, but stated the advertised price was accurate and available on a range of routes, according to the ASA. 

 

The carrier “explained that prices for a large cabin bag could vary depending on factors such as availability, demand, and operational cost, so it was not possible to display an exact price on the ‘fees and charges’ page. 

 

“The page was intended to inform consumers that £5.99 was the starting price point for a large cabin bag, and was not linked to a promotional sale or campaign. 

 

“If customers chose to add a large cabin bag to their booking, the actual price was shown clearly during the booking process before purchase to ensure transparency.”