Ryanair passenger's discovery lands airline in hot water after 'misleading' ad

A complaint to Ireland's Advertising Standards Authority about a 'misleading' Ryanair summer sale advert has been upheld after a passenger made a telling discovery. 

The advertisement was a banner on Ryanair’s website for the ‘Big Summer Sale.’ The advertisement included the statement “Prices Will Rise.”

The complainant said that they considered the statement “Prices Will Rise” as misleading. They discovered that some prices actually dropped after they had availed of the summer sale prices and the flight they purchased had a lower price the following month.

In response to the complaint, Ryanair said that the promotion ran from 26th December 2024 to 31st January 2025 and offered flights from €29.99 for travel between April 2025 and October 2025. They said that the terms and conditions of the promotion stated that the offer was subject to availability and was applicable to bookings made on selected routes and dates. The terms also clarified that route and seat availability may be modified.

The airline explained that their lowest fares were limited and sold out quickly. These fares, they claimed, required "adjustment based on sales and customer demand due to dynamic pricing within the airline industry."

They added that adjusting a fare did not guarantee identical routes, flights, or availability of low fare seats. Nor, they said, did it guarantee that current fares would be comparable to future fares. They said that adjusting fares due to demand actually increased the customers access to low fares as it meant that they could offer fares at competitive rates.

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They believed that the complained-about advertising was in fact accurate. They provided evidence that, at the time of their response, the flight purchased by the complainant was on sale for a higher price than that offered during the promotional period.

The Council, however, upheld the passenger's complaint, noting that the advertising said “Prices Will Rise” but did not offer qualification as to when.

Their conclusion read: "The statement was not asterisked to direct to the terms and conditions and nowhere in the advertisement did it say that these price rises will occur generally after the sale while the individual prices may fluctuate during it. On the terms and conditions, the Council noted that they were not clear as to when a price rise would have occurred.

"In the context of an advertising claim that “Prices Will Rise”, the Council considered it was reasonable for a consumer to presume that after the sale price promotion the price would increase rather than decrease. Further, they considered that consumers would have reasonably understood that prices would not fluctuate upwards during the promotional period unless they had additional clarifying information.

"The Council also considered that the statement “Prices Will Rise” created a pressure to purchase and a customer would likely have purchased a flight as soon as possible based on this information.

"The Council concluded that the advertising was therefore misleading and in breach of Code sections 4.1; 4.4; and 4.9."

Ryanair has been told the advertisement must not reappear in its current form.

The Ryanair issue came to light as the Advertising Standards Authority’s independent Complaints Council released its latest Complaints Bulletin which contains 10 case reports on complaints recently investigated by the organisation.

Nine cases were upheld in full. Advertisements across Radio, Social Media, Television and Online were found to be in breach of the Advertising Standards Authority Code on grounds related to Misleading, Environmental, Principles, Safety and Responsibility. The Complaints Council chose to not uphold one complaint.

The Complaints Council is a completely independent arm of the Advertising Standards Authority and is responsible for considering and adjudicating on complaints submitted by the public, by an organisation, by a Government Department, or any other person or body. The Council is made up of a range of experts from the advertising, media, education, consumer, and marketing sectors. 

Commenting on the latest Advertising Standards Authority rulings, Orla Twomey, Chief Executive of the Advertising Standards Authority, said: “The Advertising Standards Authority is committed to protecting consumers from advertising that is harmful, misleading, or offensive. Our latest complaints bulletin showcases the broad scope of our work in maintaining honesty, transparency, and integrity across Irish advertising.

"In addition to ensuring adherence to the Code, we actively promote its values throughout the industry. Our approach goes beyond addressing non-compliant advertising, we also focus on educating both consumers and advertisers. Through these efforts, we strive to build and sustain public trust in advertising.

"Additionally, to assist advertisers, we offer a free and confidential copy advice service, guiding them in creating responsible and compliant advertisements. This service provides invaluable guidance for advertisers, agencies and media that carry advertisements who may have questions or concerns about the compliance of marketing communications. We encourage anyone in the industry to take advantage of this resource to ensure their advertising is both responsible and effective."