In the ever-competitive world of travel deals, Secret Escapes has found itself in hot water with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over recent pricing claims. 

The ad in question promised a "Sublime seaside hotel in buzzy Bournemouth", "time limited", with discounts "up to -46% today" and a tantalising "From £135 [£233 was crossed out] per room per night." An 'i' hover over icon expanded on the claim: "On selected offers. The discount percentage is the maximum discount value we've found across a significant proportion of our dates in comparison to the hotel's standard rate or the [competitor] rate for this offer. The strike through price is illustrative of that maximum discount. See Offer Details for full information".

As well as being confusing, a closer look revealed that all was not as it seemed.

The complaint

One consumer raised concerns about the claim "up to -46% today," questioning its accuracy and whether it could be substantiated. The complaint prompted an investigation by the ASA.

Secret Escapes' defence

Secret Escapes Ltd defended their claim by explaining that the "from" price and the "up to" discount percentage were available across a significant number of check-in dates within the offer period. They acknowledged that the cheapest "from" price did not necessarily coincide with the biggest percentage discount. They believed that the formatting and layout differences between the "from" and "up to" offers were sufficient to distinguish them from each other.

To support their claims, Secret Escapes provided a spreadsheet detailing the price and percentage discount savings for all rooms and dates available during the offer period. They also highlighted that their savings calculations included additional benefits such as late check-out and dining credits, which were not available on other sites. They argued that the term "offer" referred to these additional benefits, not just the cost of the room.

Secret Escapes also pointed out that the ad included two icons near the "from" price and percentage discount saving, which, when hovered over, displayed further information explaining how each was calculated. They had even reviewed their website following the complaint to ensure their promotions were clear to consumers and had amended the explanatory wording next to the "up to" and "from" offers.

The ASA's verdict

Despite Secret Escapes' efforts to clarify their pricing practices, the ASA was not convinced. The ASA concluded that consumers would interpret the claim "up to -46%" to mean that Secret Escapes offered hotel stays with a discount of up to 46% compared to the usual selling price of the same hotel stay on the hotel's own website. The proximity of the "from" price and "up to" percentage discount in the ad led consumers to believe that the £135 per night price represented a 46% discount on the hotel stay.

However, the ASA found that the £135 price actually represented a 42% discount from the room rate of £233, not 46%. There was no correlation between the "from" price and the "up to" percentage discount seen in the ad. The explanatory icons and text did not sufficiently clarify that the two figures did not relate to each other. The differences in font and layout were not significant enough to dispel the assumption that they were connected.

Moreover, the ASA noted that Secret Escapes added the value of additional benefits to the usual selling price of the room on competitor sites and calculated the percentage discount from that higher figure. This meant that the reference figure for the discount was not the actual standard rate charged to consumers. As a result, the percentage discount figure did not reflect the true discount customers would receive compared to the standard price of the room.

Conclusion

Because the percentage discount had not been calculated against the standard price of the hotel room, and the presentation of the "from" price and the percentage discount suggested they related to the same figure, the ASA concluded that the savings claims were misleading.

The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.22 (Prices), and 3.39 (Price comparisons). The claim must not appear again in its current form.

The full ruling is available here.

A lesson in transparency

This ruling serves as a reminder to all businesses making discount claims that:

• such claims are under intense scrutiny by the ASA at present (and will be high on the agenda for the CMA from April 2025)
• the higher price must be genuine, and those making discount claims must be able to prove that higher claim is the 'standard price', or more accurately, the genuine, usual selling price.

Get DMCC Ready

The CMA's new powers kick in from April this year. Pricing claims are top of their agenda. If you would like to find our more, visit our Get DMCC Ready hub.