80% of airline passengers faced sneaky tricks on booking sites last year
A new survey shows 4 out of 5 airline passengers in India ran into "dark patterns"—those annoying, misleading tricks on apps and websites—while booking flights, picking seats, or dealing with cancelations and refunds.
Over 124,000 people from all across the country weighed in.
What's bothering travelers?
Complaints spiked during major disruptions like IndiGo's mass flight cancelations.
The biggest issues? "Bait & Switch" (like promising a full refund but paying less), surprise price hikes at checkout, and making it hard to cancel tickets.
Hidden charges were especially noted on Air India, SpiceJet, and Akasa.
Hidden fees and guilt trips
Eighty percent of consumers surveyed experienced hidden charges ("Drip Pricing") at payment time.
Others noticed guilt-tripping popups ("Confirm Shaming"), fake urgency messages, and relentless reminders.
What happens next?
LocalCircles is sharing these findings with government regulators to push for stricter action against these shady practices—and hopefully make flying a bit fairer for everyone.