The complainant challenged whether the ads omitted significant information and were misleading, understanding that there was a cap on the total number of free airport lounge passes that could be offered.

In August, an On the Beach TV ad featured a voiceover that stated: “Be a booking hero and get free airport lounge access with On The Beach. Celebrate your smarts, bury yourself in the buffet, and get ready for some holiday luxury with your 5-star hol.” Text on the screen read: “Min 7-night package holidays. Selected airports. Max 6 people. For departures at least 45 days after booking. Excludes Citybreaks.” 

There were additional adverts on On the Beach’s website, with similar messages, including a clickable tile with text that read: “Free lounge access *Terms apply”. Text underneath stated “FREE Airport Lounge Access Holiday like a VIP with FREE Airport Lounge access on 5* jollies.”

In response to the complaint, On the Beach said it always made it clear to customers that terms and conditions applied when promoting its free airport lounge offer. It stated the “cap” on the availability of free airport lounge passes was a reflection of the natural capacity limitations of airport lounges, rather than a cap imposed by On the Beach. It highlighted that its terms and conditions explained that lounge passes were subject to capacity limitations, and that any eligible customers who could not receive free lounge access would be provided with a cash alternative. 

On the Beach provided data in relation to bookings made between February and August 2025 that were eligible for free airport lounge access. It said this demonstrated that approximately 93% of bookings made during this period received the free airport lounge access as advertised, and any customers who were unable to access the free airport lounge were compensated with a cash alternative. 

In relation to ad, Clearcast (a non-governmental organisation which pre-approves most British television advertising) stated that it had fully reviewed the terms and conditions of the offer during the ad’s development. It understood that the airport lounges were managed by third parties, and that On the Beach had no control over the closure of the lounges during advertised opening hours, but would notify consumers of any closures or lack of availability.

Since On the Beach compensated customers in the event that an airport lounge was unavailable, it did not consider the cap on the number of lounge passes available to be material information that needed to be included in the ad.

However, the ASA considered that consumers would understand from the ads that, if they made an eligible booking for a five-star holiday, they would receive free airport lounge access. 
The ASA believed the overall impression to consumers from the ads would be that, as long as they complied with those conditions, they would receive free airport lounge passes. 

“We understood that, due to lounge capacity, there was a cap on the total number of airport lounge passes that could be offered at certain airports at certain travel times,” said the ASA in a statement.

The ASA highlighted that the three ads in question did not include information that the free airport lounge passes were subject to availability, although did note that information about the availability of free airport lounge passes was available in the terms and conditions on On the Beach’s website. It deemed the T&Cs were not “prominently displayed” and it would not be clear to consumers from any of the ads that there was a cap on the number of passes that could prevent them from receiving them. 

The ASA also established from the data On the Beach provided that the proportion of eligible bookings that received free lounge access was not distributed evenly throughout that time period (February-August 2025).

In the first week of June 2025, approximately 44% of bookings did not receive free lounge access. This fell to 3% of bookings in the second week of June but rose again to 13% in the third week. There was therefore a significant chance of consumers missing out on the passes because of the cap, the ASA said.

“Because the overall impression of the ads was that as long as consumers complied with the conditions of the offer they would receive free airport lounge passes, whereas that was not the case, and because the ads did not make clear that the cap meant passes were limited, and therefore consumers might not receive them, we concluded that the ads were misleading,” said the ASA.

The ads must not appear again in their current form, and the ASA told On the Beach to ensure that future ads do not imply to consumers that, as long as they complied with the conditions of the offer, they would receive free airport lounge passes if that was not the case.