American Trans Air Alleges Hotwire.com’s Ads Deceive

American Trans Air on Monday accused online travel agency Hotwire.com of using misleading and deceptive radio advertising that ATA claims puts the airline in a poor light as a travel option. Hotwire said it stands behind the ads.

ATA alleged that Hotwire’s ads quote bogus sample fares for ATA that are intended to show that ATA’s prices are relatively high and that suggest the carrier is a “no-name airline” even though ATA is the nation’s 10th largest carrier. Based in Indianapolis, ATA serves Los Angeles International Airport and is a major carrier serving Chicago.

The ads at issue involve consumers taking the Hotwire Travel Challenge, in which they first get a fare from another travel agency and then compare it with Hotwire’s fares. In one, a consumer wants to fly to Boston and is quoted a round-trip ATA fare of $586 on Expedia.com, then gets a much cheaper price using Hotwire on an airline that’s not identified.

ATA complained that because Hotwire doesn’t indicate the originating city for the flight, a listener in Chicago might think the fare applies to a Chicago-Boston flight, when in fact “that’s totally not true,” ATA spokeswoman Angela Thomas said. The quoted ATA price is thus deceptive, she said.

But Hotwire defended its ads. “All the fares are actual,” and the firm doesn’t identify the originating city so as not to suggest “this is a guaranteed fare that will always be found on the site,” spokeswoman Amy Bohutinsky said.

Hotwire, based in San Francisco, was formed two years ago by six other major airlines and the investment firm Texas Pacific Group.