European high court rules that flight cancellation insurance cannot be included automatically in the price of airfare

Companies selling air travel tickets online cannot automatically include cancellation insurance with the airfare, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled.

“‘Optional price supplements’ relating to additional services which are not compulsory must be communicated clearly at the start of any booking process and accepted by the customer on an ‘opt-in’ basis,” the court ruled in Case C-112/11 ebookers.com Deutschland GmbH.

The company ebookers.com Deutschland operates an online portal through which it sells air travel. When a consumer selects a specific flight during the booking process, the costs listed in the top right-hand corner of the Internet page automatically calculates the cost of cancellation insurance.

A notice at the bottom of the Internet page indicates how the consumer should proceed if he or she wishes to reject the cancellation insurance, which is included as a default setting. The procedure requires the consumer to “opt out” of the insurance.

A German consumer protection group took the matter to the German courts to prevent ebookers.com from automatically including cancellation insurance as part of the airfare. It called on the court to determine whether flight cancellation insurance is an “optional price supplement,” meaning it must be offered to consumers on an opt-in basis.