Australia's domestic airlines ripping consumers off, Choice says.

By Lily Mayers

Consumer group Choice has listed six ways it believes Australia’s domestic airlines have been ripping off their passengers and has called on the consumer watchdog to intervene.

Choice said it had identified “systemic breaches” of the Australian consumer law and called on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to launch action.

So, what sort of things are airlines doing that has Choice so upset?

1. No refund policy

Three out of four major domestic airlines have a blanket no refund policy, contradicting consumer law that gives everyone the right to a refund, the group said.

It is a practice Choice director of campaigns and communications Matt Levey said had gone unchecked for too long.

“We often see other businesses in other industries held to task for exactly these sorts of practices; it’s time that airlines cleaned up their act,” he said.

2. Exorbitant cancellation fees

Airlines are charging cancellation fees of up to 100 per cent of the ticket, or up to $550 per ticket.

However, Matt Levey said changing airline fees, such as excessive credit card surcharges, was more difficult than in other industries.

“Even in recent days we’ve seen Jetstar reluctantly remove the pre-ticked boxes from its booking process,” he said. “They [the airlines] are not responsive to consumer needs in the way that other industries are.”

3. No accountability

Customers are not being offered any compensation for having their flights cancelled or delayed.

Choice said its investigation found Australians were not being offered fixed compensation if their flight was cancelled or delayed within the airline’s control.

4. Zero responsibility

Airlines are dodging responsibility to deliver flights on time despite charging premium prices for peak flight times.

5. No access to credit

Passengers who are given credit on future flights are not being given access to the credit, Choice says.

6. Ticket voids

People who miss a leg of a flight are having multiple tickets voided.

Matt Levey said these cancellations had been banned in other countries, such as Germany and Spain.

He said airlines could act immediately without any action by the ACCC.

“So it’s not all about the regulator getting involved. If the airlines wanted to actually start treating their customers better they could get rid of the blanket no refund sign,” he said.

“They could make their terms and conditions way clearer and simpler to read, they could clearly communicate their cancellation fees and actually reduce them to reasonable levels that reflected the cost of reselling that flight.”

This post originally appeared on ABC News.