93 percent ticked off with Jetstar

22 June 2015

93 percent ticked off with Jetstar

A Consumer NZ survey found 93 percent of respondents want Jetstar to stop using pre-ticked boxes for travel insurance, seat selection and check-in baggage.

Consumer chief executive Sue Chetwin said the survey showed an overwhelming majority did not like Jetstar’s practice of pre-selecting optional services. “The survey results should send a clear message to Jetstar it needs to clean up its pricing,” she said.

Last month, Consumer launched its “Ditch the Ticks” campaign calling on Jetstar to stop using pre-ticked boxes that risked misleading people into paying for services they did not want. Air New Zealand stopped pre-ticking its travel insurance box after a formal warning from the Commerce Commission this year.

Ms Chetwin said Jetstar’s booking process required customers to un-tick multiple boxes for optional services or they’d have the cost of the services added to their fare. On a booking for a return flight, checked baggage has to be un-ticked three times.

Consumer’s survey found nearly one third (32 percent) had been caught out by pre-ticked boxes when booking tickets online. Fifty percent of people who flew once a month or more said they’d been tripped up by the practice and had extra charges added to the ticket price.

Eighty-six percent of respondents said they preferred to select any extra services themselves.

Comments included:

“It should be left to customers to choose what they want. A supermarket doesn’t give you a trolley full of groceries and ask you to remove the items you don’t require.”

“I think it’s definitely put there as a way of catching people who may be booking in a hurry or are not careful to read through.”

“I would never ever fly Jetstar and one of the many reasons is the practice of opt-out pricing.”

A total of 2247 Consumer NZ members participated in the survey.

Consumer encourages people who want to support the campaign to email Jetstar’s CEO David Hall and ask the airline to stop opt-out pricing. A sample letter can be found on Consumer’s website atwww.consumer.org.nz/tickedoff

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