Manchester-based online travel agent On the Beach has had its “free airport lounge” adverts banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after the regulator ruled they were misleading.
The decision relates to a TV advert and two online promotions featuring the slogan “be a booking hero and get free airport lounge access with On the Beach”.
The ASA upheld a complaint against the company, finding that the adverts omitted significant information about the limited availability of the offer.
The complainant argued that there was a cap on the number of free lounge passes available, meaning not all customers who met the conditions would receive access – a detail not clearly communicated in the ads.
In its ruling, the ASA said: “We told On The Beach to ensure that future ads did not imply to consumers that, as long as they complied with the conditions of the offer, they would receive free airport lounge passes if that was not the case.”
On the Beach had provided data showing that around 93% of bookings between February and August received free lounge access as advertised.
The company also said that customers who missed out were compensated with a cash alternative higher than that outlined in its terms and conditions.
Because of this, On the Beach argued the cap was not a “significant condition” that needed to be explicitly highlighted in its advertising.
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The firm said the cap reflected “the natural capacity limitations of airport lounges, rather than a cap imposed by On The Beach.”
It also noted that its terms and conditions stated passes were subject to availability, and that eligible customers unable to access lounges would receive compensation.
However, the ASA found that the availability of free passes varied widely throughout the year, with some weeks seeing a large proportion of eligible customers unable to benefit.
The watchdog added: “Whilst the number of eligible bookings that did not receive free lounge access was generally low between February and May, that number varied significantly during the more popular summer months.
“For example, in the first week of June 2025, approximately 44% of bookings did not receive free lounge access. This fell to 3% of bookings in the second week of June but rose again to 13% in the third week.
“There was therefore a significant chance of consumers missing out on the passes because of the cap.
“Because the overall impression of the ads was that as long as consumers complied with the conditions of the offer, they would receive free airport lounge passes, whereas that was not the case, and because the ads did not make clear that the cap meant passes were limited, and therefore consumers might not receive them, we concluded that the ads were misleading.”
As a result, the ASA ruled that the adverts must not appear again in their current form and On the Beach has been told to ensure future promotions make clear when an offer is subject to limited availability.