Greater Anglia, ScotRail, and MyTrainTicket have been warned over misleading advertisements that claimed they offered the lowest price available.
The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that the claims made on the websites of these train operators and by third-party site My Train Ticket were misleading.
In each of these cases, the companies advertised that customers would enjoy the cheapest prices available if they booked through their platform.
ScotRail’s advertising included phrases such as “unbeatable on price”, while Greater Anglia invited customers to “book direct for lowest prices”.
MyTrainTicket prominently featured a button that read “get cheapest tickets” and said it featured a “best fare finder” that allowed customers to find the cheapest available ticket for their journey.
These claims were found to be confusing to customers, as it is a requirement of the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement that train ticket prices are the same across all operators.
Greater Anglia noted that customers might enjoy cheaper prices through its platform compared with others as it charged no booking fees, but the company acknowledged the confusing nature of its messaging and amended its advertising to read, “No booking fees”.
ScotRail maintained that its advertising was not misleading, arguing that its journey planner provided search results that made it clear what the cheapest available fares were. However, it also changed the wording on its website to comply with the ASA’s ruling.
MyTrainTicket accepted that it could not provide sufficient evidence to substantiate their ‘cheapest ticket’ claims and removed the relevant advertising from its website.
In all the cases above, the ASA ruled that the ads in question must not appear again in the form complained about.
The authority concluded its ruling by warning the train companies to ensure they did not mislead customers by claiming they could offer the lowest price available if this is not the case.
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