Holidays, travel and motoring

Helpful guidance on the advertising rules for ads about Holidays, Travel or Motoring, and examples of previous Advertising Standards Authority rulings in these areas.

When it comes to buying a holiday or a car, there is an array of consumer choice. There are dozens of comparative websites out there to make the decision easier but it is important consumers can trust all holiday, travel and motoring ads they see not least because their purchasing decisions can often be expensive ones.

Holiday and travel ads should ensure they don’t mislead consumers and should contain all non-optional taxes, duties, fees and charges that apply to most buyers in their quoted price. Holiday advertisers should ensure that their descriptions are accurate and the photos which they feature in their ads are representative of what’s being offered. They should also ensure they have evidence to back up any comparative claims they are making in their ads and proof of availability of an offer.

Motoring ads must also make sure they don’t mislead consumers but another important part of the advertising rules they must adhere to are those around social responsibility.

Adverts for cars must not condone or encourage unsafe or irresponsible driving, such as not wearing a seatbelt, or depict speed in a way that might encourage motorists to drive irresponsibly or break the law. Car ads are permitted to give general information about a vehicle's performance such as acceleration, braking power, road holding and top speed, but they cannot make speed or acceleration claims the main message of their ads or link speed with excitement.

+ Read more - Show less

Latest rulings

Bristol Airport Ltd
- Not Upheld
- E-mail
- 09 October 2019
An email promoting return flight deals from Bristol to North America was not considered misleading.
We Buy Any Car Ltd
- Not Upheld
- Television, Radio
- 18 September 2019
Ads on TV and radio for webuyanycar.com were not misleading about the advertiser’s vehicle valuation because a used car’s worth was not an objective measure and the ads focused on the speed and simplicity of the service.
BVS Ltd
- Upheld
- Internet (on own site)
- 21 August 2019
A downloadable brochure for a car tuning service – Tunit Performance tuning – entitled “PERFORMANCE AND ECONOMY SOLUTIONS FOR ALL PETROL AND DIESEL CARS, 4x4s, COMMERCIAL AND AGRICULTURAL VEHICLES”, seen on 13 May 2019. It featured text which stated “An independent university study foun...
Sunspot Tours Ltd t/a Mercury Holidays
- Upheld
- National press
- 03 July 2019
Two national press ads for Mercury Holidays, which promoted holiday deals, seen in June 2018: a. The first ad featured text which stated “A week 4* Half Board with a 2nd week FREE from £359”. The ad featured a table which showed the “from” prices of different durations between September...

View all rulings

Holidays, travel and motoring

Helpful guidance on the advertising rules for ads about Holidays, Travel or Motoring, and examples of previous Advertising Standards Authority rulings in these areas.

Latest news

Consumers warned of Thomas Cook refund scams

Make room for this advice on hotel advertising

Don’t just ‘wing’ it - Pricing and availability in travel marketing

New online training on the motoring advertising rules

ASA welcomes sentencing of criminals behind fraudulent Copycat Websites

Selling used cars - advertising ex-fleet vehicles

Latest rulings

Bristol Airport Ltd

We Buy Any Car Ltd

BVS Ltd

Sunspot Tours Ltd t/a Mercury Holidays

Help getting it right

Popular advice

Motoring: Fuel consumption and emissions figures

Travel marketing: Availability

Motoring: Finance and leasing

Relevant codes

19 Motoring

20 Motoring