STA Travel allegedly misled travellers over air ticket add-on

Travel company STA Travel is in hot water over accusations its MultiFLEX Pass Product misled customers.

The pass is sold as an airfare add-on that allows travellers to change flight dates without incurring any extra fees or charges, outside of the difference in flight costs.

But the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleges travellers have been charged hidden commissions and fees – even in cases where there was no difference in the cost of the actual airfares.

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The commission has begun proceedings in the Federal Court against the Swiss travel giant, alleging nearly two-thirds of travellers who bought the passes were slugged with extra fees.

And, the ACCC claims, the company made more than $12 million in revenue from the sale of MultiFLEX Passes since 2011. The consumer watchdog is seeking penalties, costs, injunctions and other orders against STA Travel.

“We were particularly concerned about STA Travel’s advertisements because they explicitly said MultiFLEX Pass consumers would avoid fees for date changes,” ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said.

“Some advertisements, for example, said that the MultiFLEX Pass allowed consumers to purchase date changes ‘upfront’, to ‘prepay’ for date changes, or to make ‘fee free’ or ‘no fee’ date changes.”

She said some consumers were allegedly paying “hundreds of dollars in hidden commissions”.

“Many consumers who thought they were being prudent by purchasing an add-on to avoid high fees were instead worse off,” she said.

STA Travel sold three types of the passes since September 2011, including the ONEFlex Pass which allowed one flight change for $49, the Multiflex or 3 Change Pass which cost $99 for three flight changes and the Ultimate or Unlimited Change Pass which cost $149 and allowed unlimited changes.

STA Travel has 59 stores in Australia and has an international network of 450 stores. The agency markets itself to students and young people.

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