Choice's 2026 Shonky awards name Virgin Australia, Ticketmaster and Ticketek
Consumer group Choice has named Virgin Australia, Ticketmaster and Ticketek among the winners of its 2026 Shonky awards, now in their 21st year. The awards spotlight what Choice describes as Australia's worst products and services, and The Guardian has reported on this year's results.
Choice gave Virgin Australia an award for imposing deadlines on credits issued for flights cancelled between 2020 and 2022, when Covid-19 travel restrictions were in place. Virgin required customers to book trips using those credits by 30 June 2026, for flights taking off before 27 May 2027. Choice said $75 million in Virgin Covid credits went unused and returned to the airline's bottom line. Virgin Australia said more than 93% of Covid credits had been redeemed by guests.
Ticketmaster and Ticketek received awards for dynamic pricing and for 'in demand' seating tactics that Choice said inflated the prices of live events. Choice pointed to 'Ultimate' tickets to a John Farnham tribute concert sold through Ticketek, which cost $1,650 and were not subject to variable pricing. It also cited some 2026 NRL matches sold through Ticketmaster, where 'in demand' seats were priced $50 more than regular seats only one row and one bay apart. Ticketmaster said it does not use surge pricing or algorithms that automatically raise prices in response to real-time demand, and that prices are set by event organisers.
Sony Interactive Entertainment received a Shonky for asking consumers to pay to play, but not to own, according to Choice's awards page. Hisense, Quest Protein Chips and Petcover were also named as 2026 winners. A washer/dryer cycle lasting 25 hours was included on what Choice calls its dishonour roll.
The awards also looked back at earlier decisions. Commonwealth Bank has pledged to refund $68 million in fees, after Choice gave it a 2025 Shonky for charging $270 million in excessive fees to low-income customers.
