The recent announcement of Oasis reuniting after 15 years apart generated significant excitement from fans worldwide. However, reports of surge pricing and cancelled accommodation left many fans looking back in anger. Andrew Buchan explains dynamic pricing from a legal perspective ahead of the 2025 reunion tour.
Dynamic pricing
In the wake of Oasis' tour announcement, criticism has been levelled at the hospitality industry's use of dynamic pricing.
Also known as surge pricing, dynamic pricing is used to increase prices for goods and services when demand is high and to decrease prices when demand is low. In the hospitality industry, this means high room prices when a major event comes to town and lower prices on an overcast Tuesday in February.
While dynamic pricing is nothing new, the attention it has received in the media has grown significantly in recent years. This isn't, after all, the only time that the hospitality sector has come under fire for its use of dynamic pricing.
The practice drew the attention of the mainstream media in the run-up to both Eurovision in 2023 and the Taylor Swift "Eras" tour in 2024.
The practice of dynamic pricing is perfectly legal and is used in a variety of industries.
When it comes to major events such as Oasis' upcoming tour, increasing prices little by little can benefit not only the provider of goods or services but also the consumer. While low prices can certainly help those working to a budget, they can also encourage those with less interest in events to consider purchasing tickets, in turn making it more difficult for dedicated fans to attend.
However, hospitality providers should be careful to ensure that in utilising such systems they remain compliant with consumer protection laws.
Businesses should ensure that they are fair and transparent in their dealings with customers. Where dynamic pricing is used, hospitality providers should ensure that they give customers clear and accurate information about what they will have to pay for their booking.
Cancelled bookings
In addition to dynamic pricing, several hotels across the UK have come under criticism for cancelling bookings following the announcement of Oasis' 2025 tour.
While several hotels have released statements denying reports that bookings were cancelled in an attempt to benefit from soaring hotel prices, a number of consumers have reported that their bookings had been cancelled only for rooms to appear available again online hours later at marked-up prices.
The question therefore remains, can hospitality providers cancel bookings to benefit from surging prices?
The answer lies in the terms and conditions of any contract entered into between hospitality providers and customers. As a starting point, customers should ordinarily be entitled to rely on their agreement with hospitality providers.
Where a contract has been entered into, hospitality providers may be in breach of their obligations to consumers when they terminate that agreement without cause. Additionally, businesses that mislead customers or who accept bookings which they do not intend to honour may be at risk of being found in breach of consumer protection legislation.
In addition to the legal considerations, hospitality providers should continue to consider the reputational risks associated with practices which seek to capitalise on major events.
Even if it is possible to cancel bookings and take advantage of dynamic pricing, the risks of negative publicity and long-term damage to reputation may outweigh the short-term financial gains that may be achieved.
Conclusion
Dynamic pricing is nothing new. However, when overused or combined with cancelled contracts it has the potential to draw significant backlash from consumers.
If businesses make use of such pricing models in a way which is not fair and transparent to consumers, then such practices also run the risk of falling foul of consumer protection laws.
Businesses operating in the hospitality sector should take steps to ensure that they comply with consumer protection laws when using such pricing models. This means ensuring that they provide customers with clear and accurate information about the prices they will be required to pay for bookings and ensuring that where they terminate contracts with customers they do so in accordance with the terms of conditions of the contract.
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