The Australian federal court has approved Australian online travel agent Webjet's agreement with the Australian consumer body to pay AU$9 million ($6 million) in penalties for making “false or misleading statements” about the price of flights and booking confirmations on July 28, 2025. The agreement was made in February 2025 to resolve court proceedings against Webjet after an investigation into the company by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).
With the agreement approved, court proceedings have been formally disposed.
The ACCC said that Webjet had admitted to making “false or misleading statements” when advertising airfares that excluded compulsory fees between 2018 and 2023. The ACCC said these statements were made on its websites, promotional emails, and social media posts.
“Webjet also admitted that between 2019 and 2024 it provided false or misleading booking confirmations to 118 consumers for flight bookings which had not actually been confirmed,” said the competition authority.
The report added that the travel agent later asked for additional payments from customers to complete their bookings. The additional fees had reached upwards of AU$2,120 ($1,384). The investigation into Webjet commenced after a customer complaint.
“Seeking to lure in customers with prices that don't tell the whole story is a serious breach of the Australian consumer law,” said ACCC chair Gina Gass-Gottlieb.
The Webjet fees included servicing fees and ‘booking price guarantee’ fees. These fees represented around 36% of the company's total revenue from November 1, 2018, to November 13, 2023. The ACCC said that while the company disclosed the additional fees in its app, website and “most emails”, the details were usually in the fine print at the bottom of the page. Additionally, social media posts had failed to disclose information on the fees at all.
“Retailers must ensure their advertised prices are accurate,” continued Cass-Gottlieb. “They should clearly disclose additional fees and charges.”
In a filing to the Australian Stock Exchange, Webjet said it also agreed to publish a corrective notice agreed upon with the ACCC for a 60 day period. Additionally the company will have to review, maintain and continue to implement a consumer law compliance programme as well as pay AU$100,000 ($65,300) in contribution to the ACCC's costs.