Ryanair today (8 Jan) welcomed three judgments from the Hamburg Regional Court, which ruled that eDreams’ presentation of prices misled consumers.  The Court found that eDreams displayed airline seat and baggage prices without clearly disclosing its own additional fees and that its claimed savings through its “Prime” service could not actually be achieved by consumers.

In its rulings, the Court stated that eDreams’ “price display for seat reservations without disclosing the additional fee… is in any case misleading” and further noted that this constituted “a misleading practice by omission.”  Regarding checked baggage, the Court found eDreams had been “misleading about the service fee,” and in relation to its Prime product the court held “the announcement of the concrete savings… represents a misrepresentation… since the specifically stated savings cannot actually be achieved.” (by consumers).

These judgments confirm that eDreams’ approach to pricing is “misleading”—a practice that sets it apart from most other online travel agencies such as Booking.com, Lastminute, and Kiwi, all of whom have adopted Ryanair’s price transparency standards.  For access to fares that are not “misleading”, we encourage all customers to book directly on the Ryanair.com website, or through one of our approved OTA partners—where consumers always see the true, accurate Ryanair price.

Ryanair’s Dara Brady said:

“These Hamburg Court decisions reinforce what, Ryanair has long advocated – transparent pricing for consumers.   Despite Ryanair’s repeated objections, eDreams continues to scrape our fares and overcharge consumers.  eDreams remains the only large OTA that refuses to follow the transparency standards already adopted by Booking.com, Lastminute, Kiwi and others.  Ryanair has offered to provide eDreams with free, direct access to Ryanair’s inventory — should they wish to compete on a level playing field – if/when they adopt the same transparency standards as their main OTA competitors, and desist from “misleading” or overcharging consumers.”