Drip pricing – JetStar

Last year, the ACCC announced it was going to “crack down” on drip-pricing

http://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-takes-action-against-jetstar-and-virgin-for-drip-pricing-practices

Of course, with the ACCC having no real teeth, the practice still occurs with many service providers.

Jetstar is a prime example of that.

Today I booked some flights at an advertised price of $119. For 3 people, return, that adds up to $714.

Yet the final price was $916.55 – almost 28% more than the headline price.

I, like many people, have come to expect the ludicrous charges….

$20 each for baggage (and it has to be the same for all passengers, I cant select “no baggage” for my little girl… 2 year olds don’t tend to have suitcases)

$17.50 per-person credit card charge….. how on earth a charge per-person is appropriate when a transaction fee is a per-transaction fee is as mind-boggling as Tony Abbott knighting a foreign duke.

These are incredibly stupid and inflexible, Jetstar (and others) know this and use these to their advantage – but everyone knows this – and its expected.

The bit that really shits me is the website…. they are trying to sell you such an incredible amount of absolute shit and in addition, some add-on “services” are automatically selected, so you just cant scroll to the bottom and hit “continue”.

Today I inadvertently signed up for “travel insurance”…. or as I believe its known in the industry – “incredibly high profit margin useless service that is worth nothing” – and while $38 isn’t going to break the bank – its the dishonest and deceptive way the Jetstar website sells this service that gets me steamed.

While I know its a pipe-dream, it would nice to have an ACCC that could appropriately punish this practice.

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