Consumer Agency: "Global OTAs Use Consumer-Unfriendly Terms Such as Non-Refundable Airfare"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] The Korea Consumer Agency conducted an investigation into the transaction terms of global OTA companies that mediate airline ticket reservations online and found that the terms included conditions unfavorable to consumers.

According to the Consumer Agency on the 9th, an investigation of eight companies including Gotogate, BudgetAir, Agoda, eDreams, Expedia, Kiwi.com, Trip.com, and Travelgenio revealed that six companies used terms unfavorable to consumers, such as non-refundable policies.

In the case of Kiwi.com, there were clauses stating that "only 10 euros can be refunded under certain conditions" or that refunds could be issued "in points instead of cash" when requesting a ticket refund.

Gotogate's terms included provisions such as "a separate fee may be charged to consumers even if the contract is terminated due to airline circumstances."

Additionally, four companies (BudgetAir, eDreams, Trip.com, Travelgenio) stated in their terms that "airline tickets are generally non-refundable," but the actual booking screens displayed messages like "cancellation may be possible according to airline regulations," which could cause confusion.

Regarding transaction conditions, seven companies except Expedia displayed information on "changes, cancellations, and refunds" of airline tickets less adequately than the standard.

Five companies (Gotogate, eDreams, Kiwi.com, Trip.com, Travelgenio) were found to separately sell additional products such as "cancellation guarantee" and "refundable terms" regardless of the change, cancellation, and refund policies of individual tickets. These companies sold consumer rights-related services such as email consultation as add-on products and provided these services only to consumers who purchased them.

Meanwhile, over the past three years and six months, a total of 6,260 consumer complaints related to global OTAs were received at the Consumer Counseling Center, with 63% concerning delays or refusals of cancellations, changes, and refunds, making it the most frequent issue.

Based on this investigation, the Consumer Agency plans to recommend global OTAs to revise unfavorable terms, strengthen information disclosure, and improve product sales.