A number of the world's biggest online hotel booking sites have agreed to make major changes aimed at ending pressure selling, misleading discount sales and hidden charges within their UK offerings.

It's after the UKs Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) took enforcement action against Expedia, Booking.com, Agoda, Hotels.com, ebookers and trivago.

The CMA said it took the action last year due to concern that practices including "giving a false impression of a room’s popularity or not displaying the full cost of a room upfront could mislead people, stop them finding the best deal and potentially break consumer protection law."

The companies have all voluntarily agreed to:

• Make hotel rankings clearer by ensuring that customers are informed when search results have been affected by the amount of commission a hotel pays.
• End the practice of giving a false impression of the availability or popularity of a hotel based on incomplete information.
• Make discount claims clearer by only promoting deals that are actually available at that time.
• Tackle hidden charges by always displaying compulsory fees like taxes, booking or resort fees in the headline price.

The changes mean that when a website warns that other people are looking at the same hotel as you, it must make it clear that they may be searching for different dates.

The sites have also pledged not to strategically place sold out hotels within search results in an effort to put pressure on people to book more quickly.

In terms of misleading discount claims, the CMA said some sites had been comparing prices with a higher price that was not relevant to the customer’s search criteria.

It said some sites had been "comparing a higher weekend room rate with a weekday rate or comparing the price of a luxury suite with a standard room."

"Misleading sales"

In a statement, CMA chairman Andrew Tyrie said the UK body aimed to "bring to an end misleading sales tactics, hidden charges and other practices in the online hotel booking market."

"These have been wholly unacceptable," he said.

"Six websites have already given firm undertakings not to engage in these practices.

"They are some of the largest hotel booking sites.

"The CMA will now do whatever it can to ensure that the rest of the sector meets the same standards."

Agreement

He noted that not all of the companies mentioned had engaged in all of the practices cited above, " but all have nonetheless agreed to abide by all the principles set out in the undertakings."

The changes must be made before September 1st at the very latest.

The CMA has not ruled that the sites have broken consumer law - and agreeing to make the changes is not an admission of breaking a law.

Response

A spokesman for Expedia said: "We gave commitments to the CMA on a voluntary basis and the CMA in turn closed its investigation in respect of the Expedia Group with no admission or finding of liability.

"We continue to believe our practices did not breach any consumer laws.

"That said, we are surprised and disappointed in the CMA's description of our partnership with them in the CMA's press announcement, which we believe mischaracterises the collaborative and good faith approach taken in establishing industry standards which are new and result in more transparency for consumers than in offline markets."

A Booking.com spokesman said: "In concluding our discussions with the CMA we have agreed to test and implement new commitments, like pricing inclusive of all fees, to ensure we meet all standards for consumer transparency in the UK."