• Wizz Air Hungary held a birthday promotion last May 18. During its term, airline tickets could be purchased at PLN 35. Most of them were cancelled by the company as soon as the contract had been concluded.
• The President of UOKiK has charged the carrier with violating the collective interests of consumers.
• These are not the only actions by UOKiK against the entrepreneur.

Wizz Air, one of the leaders among low-cost carriers, has accustomed its clients to frequent promotions during which you can buy airline tickets at extremely attractive prices. Also on the occasion of the airline’s 19th birthday, it prepared an offer including various discounts - on May 18 last year, the carrier offered flights to any destination at PLN 35. Ticket could be booked on the Wizz Air app and on the company’s website. The price was for a flight from a Polish airport, choosing the cheapest carry-on baggage option and random seat assignment.

Promotional flights cancelled

However, most consumers who bought tickets at the price of PLN 35 did not have the opportunity to take advantage of them. The company cancelled the agreements the day after the purchase, citing a technical error and declaring an immediate refund of the costs incurred. It only recognised orders that were for travel taking place within 72 hours of the transaction. Numerous complaints have been received by UOKiK, with signals reading, among other things, that “the airline is excusing itself with a system malfunction even though it urged all day to use its promotion.” Indeed, information about the birthday promotion discounts was distributed through multiple channels - from a banner on the website and app, to the newsletter and Instagram service. Since the ticket price of PLN 35 was close to the amounts for which you can book flights organised by Wizz Air under various other promotions (starting at PLN 39 for a round trip), there was no indication that there was no possibility of realising an air flight under these conditions.

In connection with Wizz Air Hungary’s actions, the President of UOKiK has charged the company with violating the collective interests of consumers.

– Consumers have the right to assume that an entrepreneur presents the features of a given offer in a fair and not misleading manner. With so-called low-cost airlines, travellers are accustomed to numerous price promotions. Acting in confidence in the Wizz Air carrier, they made the decision to buy tickets, processed the payment and received confirmation of the ticket purchase agreement. The company cancelled most of the bookings, with which it may have violated the collective interests of consumers – says President of UOKiK Tomasz Chróstny.

Further charges

There are also proceedings pending in the Wizz Air case to declare a provision of a contractual template prohibited. It is about the Flexible Travel Companion service. It involves allowing reservations to be created without the names of all passengers until online check-in. In their signals to UOKiK, consumers pointed out that the carrier did not refund the fee (PLN 58 per person) when a flight was cancelled by the company. In the course of the actions of the President of UOKiK, Wizz Air replaced the questioned contractual template with a new one which, however, still contained the provisions that raised the concerns of the President of UOKiK. Currently, the company allows refunds for unperformed service only in some situations and makes them contingent on travellers submitting an appropriate request.

– There is no basis for charging consumers for a service that was not provided, for reasons attributable to the entrepreneur. Refunds should be made automatically and without unnecessary paperwork – says President of UOKiK Tomasz Chróstny.

If the charges are confirmed, Wizz Air Hungary faces fines of up to 10% of its annual turnover for both the practice that violates the collective interests of consumers and the prohibited clause.