Adverts for three major travel brands – including two rail companies – have been banned for making misleading pricing claims.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found that ScotRail Ltd, Greater Anglia Ltd and My Train Ticket Ltd were misleading in their ‘lowest’ or ‘cheapest’ price claims.
In all three cases, the advertisers couldn’t provide any evidence to show that people would get the lowest available price by booking train tickets through them.
In the case of MyTrainTicket, the website homepage, seen on August 28, featured a journey planning tool with a button that stated ‘get cheapest tickets’.
Further down the homepage, it stated that a new ‘best fare finder’ service allows customers to find the ‘cheapest available train ticket prices’.
My Train Ticket Ltd accepted that it could not provide evidence to substantiate its ‘cheapest’ train ticket claims.
Following the complaint, the company said it would remove the claims from the MyTrainTicket website.
MyTrainTicket also confirmed that it was working on alternative wording that accurately reflected their service without making unsubstantiated price claims.
Adverts for three major travel brands – including two rail companies – have been banned for making misleading pricing claims
The website homepage of MyTrainTicket is pictured in December
The company said strengthened internal checks would be applied to ensure future ads were not misleading.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, MyTrainTicket added: ‘MyTrainTicket welcomes the ruling from the Advertising Standards Authority.
‘We regularly review and update our website to ensure it provides accurate, clear, and impartial information for our customers.
‘Trust and customer satisfaction is central to what we do, and we will continue to offer and provide a service that encourages customers to return, purchase with confidence, and recommend us to others.
‘MyTrainTicket is a member of the Independent Rail Retailers trade organisation.
‘Through this membership, we are committed to making rail travel simpler and more accessible for customers, while supporting the wider rail industry in encouraging more people to choose train travel.’
The two train companies, ScotRail Ltd and Greater Anglia Ltd, were both found to have displayed adverts that claimed customers who booked directly would get the lowest prices.
The website for ScotRail, seen on 25 August 2025, featured a page with a journey planner tool, in which text stated, ‘Get cheapest tickets’.
The website for ScotRail, seen on 25 August 2025, featured a page with a journey planner tool, in which text stated, ‘Get cheapest tickets’. The ScotRail homepage is pictured in December
Text on the page’s main image stated ‘Book direct for our best price’. Another page titled ‘Find the right ticket’ featured a tab labelled ‘Buy Tickets’.
That tab could be clicked on to reveal a drop-down box with a journey planner, under which text stated, ‘Unbeatable on price’.
In defence, ScotRail said the claim ‘Get cheapest tickets’ appeared as a call-to-action button for consumers searching for a train journey.
ScotRail believes that because its journey planner provided search results which made it clear what the cheapest available fares were, the claim was not misleading.
The train company said the claim ‘Book direct for our best price’ referred to the fact that consumers who booked directly with ScotRail always paid the lowest price they offered.
The rail company said it applied no additional booking fees to those standard fares, unlike some third-party retailers and competitors, which meant it could guarantee the best price when a consumer booked with ScotRail directly.
Regarding the claim ‘Unbeatable on price’, ScotRail argues because the company did not charge booking fees, its prices could not be beaten.
The company said that was further supported by its prices, and that consumers were reimbursed if a genuine, lower, like-for-like Seasons or Anytime fare was found elsewhere.
Regarding the claim ‘Unbeatable on price’, ScotRail believed that because they did not charge booking fees, their prices could not be beaten. A ScotRail train is pictured
It added some discounts and reduced fares were only available when purchased directly from ScotRail.
However, it did acknowledge guidance on ‘unbeatable’ claims and removed the claim to ensure greater clarity for consumers.
In the ruling, the watchdog wrote: ‘We welcomed the changes ScotRail had made to their wording of parts of their website.
‘However, because we had seen no evidence to demonstrate that consumers could obtain the lowest available price by booking directly with ScotRail, we concluded that the ad was misleading.’
Claire Dickie, ScotRail commercial director, told the Daily Mail: ‘We acknowledge the decision by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and have already taken steps to update the wording on our website.
‘Our aim is always to provide clear, accurate information to customers, and we regret that the website messages did not fully reflect the ASA’s requirements.
‘We take great care to ensure all promotional material meets advertising standards and expectations and will further review our processes to make sure we maintain the highest standards of compliance.
‘ScotRail remains committed to offering great value for money and helping customers find the best fare for their journey, including through the removal of peak fares, a wide range of discounts, and simple, easy-to-use booking systems.
On the website for Greater Anglia, seen on 28 August 2025, it featured a journey planner tool, in which text stated ‘Book direct for lowest prices & no fees’. The Greater Anglia website homepage is pictured in December
‘We will continue working hard to make travelling by rail as straightforward and affordable as possible.’
On the website for Greater Anglia, seen on 28 August 2025, it featured a journey planner tool, in which text stated ‘Book direct for lowest prices & no fees’.
In defence, Abellio Greater Anglia Ltd said the purpose of the claim was to inform consumers it was offering the lowest ticket on any given day, including where advance tickets were available.
Greater Anglia said that after reviewing the complaint, it acknowledged that its messaging was confusing and said it had amended its claim to state ‘No Booking Fees’.
The company added to the Daily Mail: ‘Following the ASA ruling, the wording on our website has been changed to “Book direct to avoid any booking fees”.
The ASA wrote in its ruling: ‘We welcomed the action Greater Anglia had taken to amend their website. However, because we had seen no evidence to demonstrate that consumers could obtain the lowest available price by booking directly with Greater Anglia, we concluded that the ad was misleading.’
These investigations form part of a wider piece of work related to online adverts in the rail industry concerning ‘lowest’ or ‘cheapest’ price claims.
