There's nothing quite like a legal battle where both parties claim total victory. The Hamburg Regional Court just handed down a series of rulings in the ongoing fight between Ryanair Holdings plc (RYAAY) and eDreams ODIGEO, and predictably, both companies immediately declared they'd won. The truth? They both got slapped around a bit.
eDreams Gets Caught Hiding Fees
On January 8, the court issued three judgments that didn't look good for eDreams. The airline booking platform was displaying prices for seats and baggage without clearly showing customers it was tacking on its own service fees on top of what the airline charges. The court called this exactly what it sounds like: misleading.
Specifically, the judge ruled that eDreams' "price display for seat reservations without disclosing the additional fee… is in any case misleading," describing it as "a misleading practice by omission." The court also found the company had been "misleading about the service fee" for checked baggage, and ruled that savings advertised under its Prime subscription program "cannot actually be achieved" by real consumers.
Ryanair immediately pounced, saying the rulings validate its campaign for pricing transparency. Dara Brady, Ryanair's chief marketing officer, said eDreams "continues to scrape our fares and overcharge consumers," urging travelers to book directly through Ryanair.com or approved travel agency partners.