Budget airline Jetstar has been urged to ditch its use of pre-selected boxes from its online booking process because they "risk misleading people into paying for extras".
The call comes from Consumer New Zealand, which also posted a letter template for frustrated travellers to send to Jetstar's chief executive David Hall urging him to "do the right thing for your customers".
"It takes a truly canny consumer to make their way through a Jetstar booking without having additional charges appear on the fare," Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin said.
"Air New Zealand was recently forced to remove its pre-selected travel insurance after a warning from the Commerce Commission. But Jetstar is standing its ground."
The airline's stance was disappointing, Ms Chetwin said, and not in the best interests of its customers.
"We're encouraging people to let Jetstar know it needs to change its practices."
Jetstar's online booking process has pre-selected boxes for travel insurance, seat selection and checked baggage -- all at an extra cost, which customers have to opt-out of.
On a return flight from Wellington to Auckland, the service charges would add $42.95 to the fare, Consumer NZ said. Customers may also have to pay a credit card surcharge.
"As the Commerce Commission has already pointed out, consumers are perfectly capable of deciding for themselves whether they want to pay for additional services. They don't need boxes ticked for them," Ms Chetwin said.
She added: "It's time for the company to do the right thing."
In response, Jetstar said its pre-selected options were "in line with other low-cost carriers worldwide".
"Pre-selected items on Jetstar.com are clearly displayed and easy to deselect," a spokesman said, and referred to screenshots provided to NZME. News Service as evidence.
"Pre-selection can alert travellers to services such as travel insurance or checked baggage that they may not have considered. If they don't want to purchase a pre-selected product they just tick a button and continue with their booking.
"We believe our pre-selection processes comply with all laws and we are explaining our position to the Commerce Commission."
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The letter template can be found on Consumer NZ's website: https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/consumer-nz-says-ditch-the-ticks#ar...
It reads:
Dear David,
Air New Zealand has ditched pre-selected travel insurance from its website so why not ditch your "opt-out" pricing practices too?
If we want to pay extra to check-in baggage, select our seats, or take out travel insurance, we'll let you know.
Booking a Jetstar airfare online is a drag! But it doesn't need to be. Just ditch the pre-selected boxes and do the right thing for your customers.
Yours sincerely
[Insert name]
By Patrice Dougan of NZME. News Service