Flight Price Sites Taking You For A Ride: Watchdog

The Consumer Council says people using airfare comparison websites to buy airline tickets are often being taken for a ride because they don't always show the cheapest prices available.

The watchdog compared six airfare search engines – including Skyscanner, KAYAK, and Cheapflights – and found that even with the same search details entered they could come up with vastly different ticket prices.

In one case, the price shown on one website was almost double that quoted on another.

And for the same flight, the difference between the prices shown on the websites could be more than HK$400.

Clement Chan, chairman of the watchdog's publicity and community relations committee, said although all six comparison websites claimed the airfares they displayed were the lowest available, “results of the actual trials showed a huge price difference among the websites for the so-called cheapest air tickets”.

“The biggest variations were recorded in a return ticket from Hong Kong to Jeju, Korea, for July 2019. Consumers should take note that the difference may be due to factors related to different airline and departure times,” Chan said.