The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint about a city break promotion on the deals site Wowcher.
The promotion, seen on wowcher.com on 30 November 2025, was for a ‘5* Prague City Break at Hilton Prague City Centre Hotel with Return Flights’. Further text said: “5* Prague, Czechia hotel stay with return flights from six airports with The Travel Makers. Enjoy a two, three, or four-night stay overlooking the Vltava River! – Save up to 27%.”
A calendar on the page showed availability for 20 December to 26 December 2025, with prices ranging from £249 to £389.
Further down the page, under the heading ‘The Fine Print’, it said the holidays and hotels were subject to availability and ‘pricing is not guaranteed once the voucher has auto redeemed’.
A customer complained that they’d purchased a holiday voucher, but had been unable to book the Hilton Prague City Centre Hotel.
Wowcher said the supplier, The Travel Makers, claimed the package – including the Hilton property and flights providing approximately 60 hours in the city – was available at the time of purchase. It said issues arose after the customer asked to change flight times and itinerary, which altered the original package, and affected both availability and price.
However, the ASA was not shown evidence that the advertised hotel and flights were available to book at the time the voucher was purchased and PCM Travels UK Ltd, trading as The Travel Makers, did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
The ASA said the complainant had purchased a voucher for the holiday but had been unable to book the Hilton Prague City Centre Hotel for the date for which the voucher was purchased. Although an alternative hotel was agreed, the flights offered resulted in less than 60 hours in resort and required a further payment.
The ASA concluded the complainant had not been able to book the holiday as it was described in the ad. It warned promoters are responsible for all aspects and all stages of their promotions, adding that claims such as ‘subject to availability’ did not remove that obligation.
It said the ad must not appear again and told Wowcher Ltd and The Travel Makers to ensure promotions were fair.
