278 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM administrative and IT infrastructures necessary to guarantee the service as a whole. The Competition Authority stated that from first contact, the tariff must include all elements foreseeable at the time of the offer, so as to make the overall amount to be paid visible and be in compliance with the provisions of Directive 2005/29/EC53.Therefore, the act of separating an amount from the remuneration included in the first page of the site and later adding this fee during the online booking process was considered unfair. This amount is “of an inevitable and obligatory nature”54, as it relates to the issuance of each ticket and should have been indicated as a constant component of the tariff55. This conduct may distort the choices of consumers, since it leads them to believe that the fee coincides with the advertised tariff and, therefore, is lower than what was requested at the end of the booking, since the online booking item was added to the overall fee. In the same way, information on the alleged gratuity of online check-in was evaluated since the check-in at the airport fee was always charged (hence it was a fixed component of the tariff ). The company pointed out that some travellers could have benefited from a reduction in the fee for subsequent flights after acquiring travel points.The imprecise and ambiguous content of this information was deemed appropriate to mislead, leading to a wrong decision56. The Authority’s provision is convincing. The Authority is aware of the fact that, among the fixed components of the tariff, the company may provide items that allow it to recover the costs incurred for issuing tickets or for check- -in before boarding, and this was never in dispute, as this is a legitimate choice. However, travellers must be clearly informed of all the elements of the tariff, foreseeable at the time of the offer, allowing them to evaluate the convenience of the flight from the very first contact with the company. Once 53 See G. De Cristofaro, La nozione generale di pratica commerciale “scorretta”, cit., 143 an following; Battelli, Codice del consumo, codice civile e codici di settore, loc. cit., 425 and following; Camardi, Pratiche commerciali scorrette e invalidità, loc. cit. 498 and following. 54 See the action taken by the Italian Competition Authority on 20 December 2017, no. 26914, cit. 55 See Bocchese, La Corte di giustizia europea interpreta le disposizioni sulle tariffe aeree presenti nel Reg. (CEE) no. 1008 (2008), loc. cit., 439 and following. See also Rasi, I supplementi di prezzo opzionali per prestazioni offerte da persona diversa dal vettore aereo, loc. cit., 173 and following; Lenzoni Milli, Sulla trasparenza del prezzo nei biglietti aerei e sui rapporti tra la disciplina nazionale a tutela dei consumatori e la libertà dei vettori in materia di tariffe, loc. cit., 133 and following. 56 See Labella, Pratiche commerciali scorrette e rimedi civilistici, loc. cit., 688 and following; Lamanna Di Salvo, La tutela del consumatore nell’ordinamento italiano tra strumenti civilistici e pubblicistici, loc. cit.,2658 and following; Nobile, Le tutele civilistiche avverso le pratiche commerciali scorrette, loc. cit., 180 and following.
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