Officially

From the publisher, with its history intact.

Competition and Markets Authority gov.uk

Trainline, Virgin Atlantic and RED Driving School investigated for drip pricing

Imported from official source

Finance Classified by Officially

  • CMA will examine if companies gave consumers the total price upfront
  • Firms previously put on notice by the CMA, but concerns remain about their practices
  • Consumers could get compensation if CMA finds the law has been broken

    • The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched 3 new consumer protection investigations into firms over concerns that customers were not shown the total price upfront when buying train and coach tickets, holidays or driving lessons.

    The investigations are part of a wider CMA clampdown on misleading pricing practices, including where mandatory charges are separated from the headline price – or added later in the buying process, known as drip pricing. These practices leave consumers facing unexpected costs or having to calculate the true cost themselves.

    Such practices can also impact competition between businesses, as a firm using drip pricing may falsely appear to be cheaper than a competitor and attract more customers.

  • Trainline: being investigated over whether all mandatory fees have been included in the upfront prices displayed to consumers buying train and coach tickets in advance on the Trainline app and website. For train travel, the CMA observed transactions with fees ranging from £0.59 to £2.79. For coach bookings, it was a £1.50 booking fee. Both are costs that can add up for frequent travellers.
  • Virgin Atlantic: investigation will focus on whether mandatory resort fees and local taxes have been included in the upfront prices shown to customers buying package holidays. These fees vary but can cost hundreds of pounds and significantly increase the price of a holiday.
  • RED Driving School: being investigated over how a mandatory booking fee and ‘digital’ fee have been displayed to people booking driving lessons. Specifically, whether these fees – £7+ per booking – have been included in the total upfront price.

    • This is an extract. The publication continues at the source.

    Read the original at the source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/trainline-virgin-atlantic-and-red-driving-school-investigated-for-drip-pricing

    Officially imported this from Competition and Markets Authority’s own source and shows an extract. If you work there, claiming the profile and verifying the domain lets you choose to show the full text here.

    Provenance

    Organization
    Competition and Markets Authority — imported from official source
    Official source
    https://www.gov.uk/api/search.json?filter_organisations=competition-and-markets-authority GOV_UK_SEARCH
    Imported
    September 26, 2026 09:04
    Versions
    1 recorded
    Identity
    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/trainline-virgin-atlantic-and-red-driving-school-inv...

    Officially records where a publication came from, not whether it is true. Imported records are reproduced from an organization's own official source.