Jetstar ditches 'opt-out' ticketing after formal warning

Jetstar has agreed to stop pre-selecting extra services when selling airline tickets online after the Commerce Commission deemed the booking system was misleading customers. The Commission issued the airline a formal warning following a formal investigation. Chair Mark Berry said the Commission was prepared to take the airline to court for potentially breaching the Fair Trade Act. "The Commission believes the practice of preselecting optional extra services during an online sales process can mislead consumers over the price of the product or service they are buying and can cause them to purchase something they did not intend to," Berry said. CE Sue Chetwin says the extra charges can add more than NZ$40 to a ticket on a flight from Wellington to Auckland and customers are being charged for services they never wanted. <br/>