Greenwashing is marketing that makes a trip, hotel or airline look greener than it is. When a hotel or airline calls itself green, ask one question: green how? A specific claim, like "solar panels on our roof supply part of our electricity," is one you can check. "Eco-friendly" on its own tells you nothing, and regulators on both sides of the Atlantic agree.
As of September 27, 2026, companies selling in the EU can't call anything "eco-friendly" unless they can prove it, and they can't call a product "carbon neutral" because of offsets. In the US, the FTC's Green Guides, last updated in 2012, warn against vague green claims. Between them, those rules make a handy checklist for the claims you'll see when you book.
Vague claims like "eco-friendly": ask "green how?"
The EU rules name the words they're after: "environmentally friendly," "eco-friendly," "green," "climate friendly" and "ecological," among others. A company can only use them if it can show "recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim."
The FTC Green Guides say the same in US terms: "marketers should not make unqualified general environmental benefit claims." Their example is a product named "Eco-friendly," which they say may suggest it has "no negative environmental impact."
So treat a vague word as the start of a conversation. If a hotel can't tell you what it does, in numbers or specifics, the word isn't doing any work.
"Carbon neutral" flights and offset add-ons
Be most skeptical when a flight or trip is sold as carbon neutral because of offsets. That's the claim regulators have gone after hardest:
- In March 2024, an Amsterdam court ruled that 15 KLM ads were misleading, including ads suggesting that paying into its CO2ZERO product offset part of a flight's climate impact.
- In November 2025, 21 airlines, including Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, Ryanair and easyJet, committed to the European Commission "to stop claiming that the CO₂ emissions of a specific flight could be neutralised, offset, or directly reduced" by paying into climate projects or alternative fuels.
- Since September 27, 2026, EU rules have banned claims that a product has a neutral or reduced climate impact because of offsetting.
- In the US, a lawsuit over Delta's claim to be "the world's first carbon-neutral airline" is still working through a federal court in California.
The FTC's Green Guides use a travel example too: a travel agency inviting you to "neutralize the carbon emissions from your flight" with projects that won't cut emissions for 2 years. The FTC calls that deceptive unless the delay is disclosed.
You can still buy an offset at checkout. Think of it as funding a project, rather than erasing your flight. Our guide to carbon offsetting for business travel without greenwashing covers what separates a credible offset from a weak one.
One green feature sold as the whole trip
Watch for a single real measure being used to color everything. The EU now bans claims about "the trader's entire business" when the claim "concerns only a certain aspect" of it.
Sustainable aviation fuel is the big one. The airline industry body IATA puts it at 0.6% of all jet fuel used in 2025. Back in 2023, the UK's advertising regulator ruled a Lufthansa ad misleading for inviting people to "Fly more sustainably." The fare behind it covered 20% of the flight's CO2 with sustainable fuel and offset the other 80%.
Hotels have their own versions. The EU rules ban presenting something the law already requires as if it were a company's own green feature. And under the FTC Guides, a business that sells the renewable energy certificates for all the power from its solar panels can't then claim it uses renewable energy. Panels on the roof don't prove the power is green.
Badges, leaf icons and awards
Before you trust a badge, find out who handed it out. The EU now bans any sustainability label that doesn't come from a certification scheme or a public authority. The FTC's example is a company's self-designed seal, which it calls deceptive when no independent party evaluated anything.
Booking sites have been caught at this. In 2024, one took its sustainability badge offline after the Dutch consumer regulator ACM objected: the name implied the stays were sustainable, the scores weren't transparent, and some listed measures were already required by EU law.
The UK regulator also upheld a complaint against an Etihad ad that paired sustainability language with an industry "Environmental Airline of the Year" rosette. An award isn't a certification.
How to check a hotel's certification
The name you'll see most is GSTC, the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. It doesn't certify hotels itself; in its own words, "GSTC certify the certifiers." So you'll see three different claims:
- Certified by a GSTC-accredited body. An independent certifier, checked by GSTC, audited the hotel. This is the strongest of the three. GSTC keeps a list of accredited certification bodies, including SGS, Bureau Veritas, Control Union and Vireo.
- A GSTC-Recognized standard. The rulebook covers GSTC's minimum criteria. GSTC says recognition "does not ensure that the certification process is reliable."
- A GSTC member. The hotel joined the organization. GSTC is blunt that membership "does not imply that the member's operations are certified."
The GSTC's page on accreditation, certification and recognition explains the difference in more detail. LEED works differently: it rates a building. A LEED certificate for a new building tells you how it was designed, not how it's run now; LEED O+M is the rating for operations. Our guide to hotel sustainability certifications like LEED and Green Key compares the main schemes.
How to compare flight emissions
The emissions figure in Google Flights has a public method behind it. According to Google's explanation of its estimates, since July 2025 it has used the EU Flight Emissions Label "whenever available," which is based on an airline's own verified data for the route. Otherwise it uses Google's Travel Impact Model, whose method is open and overseen by an independent advisory committee.
The EU Flight Emissions Label is voluntary and run by EASA, the EU's aviation safety agency, for flights to or from the EU. It's still being phased in, with airlines applying for 2027, so you won't see it on every route yet.
Google Flights also shows a separate contrail estimate in each flight's details, and it's worth a look: Google says persistent contrails "account for about a third of aviation's total warming impact." Compare flights on the same route with these figures, and give an airline's own green marketing less weight. Our guide to reading airline emissions data goes deeper.
Eco fees and the total price
Some hotels add an "eco" or "green" fee at checkout. In the US, since May 12, 2025, the FTC's rule on unfair or deceptive fees has required hotels to show the total price up front, including "all fees or charges a consumer must pay." The rule doesn't name eco fees, but in our reading, a mandatory hotel fee belongs in the first price you see, whatever it's called.
Government charges are different. The rule lets hotels leave them out of the total, so a city's tourist tax can still appear separately.
Greenwashing checklist: 5 questions before you book
- Is the claim specific? A named measure with numbers is worth more than a word like "green."
- Does it rely on offsets? Treat it as funding a project. EU sellers can no longer call that carbon neutral.
- Who awarded the badge? Look for a named certifier, ideally a GSTC-accredited one. A logo with no name behind it counts for little.
- Is one feature standing in for the whole? A small share of sustainable fuel, or a towel card, doesn't make the trip green.
- Is there a plan behind a future pledge? The EU now treats a "net zero by 2050" style claim as misleading without a detailed, independently checked plan with measurable targets.
Apply the same test to us
We make a green claim too, so here are the specifics. We earn a commission from travel providers on each booking and put part of it into solar projects for schools and hospitals. As of this writing, 5.5 MW of those projects are built and operating, with 20 MW more in development.
We don't sell offsets, and booking through us doesn't make your trip carbon neutral. We publish the math behind our numbers, and our page on how we calculate Dyme's renewable energy impact shows the calculation and the assumptions it rests on.
FAQ: greenwashing in travel
How can you tell if a travel company is greenwashing?＋
Look at how specific the claim is. Vague words like "eco-friendly" or "green" with nothing behind them, "carbon neutral" claims that rest on offsets, badges with no named certifier, and one small measure presented as the whole business are the patterns regulators have banned or ruled against. A specific claim, such as the share of electricity a hotel gets from its own solar panels, is one you can check.
Can a flight be carbon neutral?＋
Not in a way sellers in the EU can now claim. Since September 27, 2026, EU rules have banned claims that a product has a neutral or reduced climate impact based on offsetting. In November 2025, 21 airlines committed to the European Commission to stop saying a flight's emissions could be neutralized or offset by customer payments. Sustainable aviation fuel is still a sliver of supply: 0.6% of all jet fuel used in 2025, according to IATA.
What does GSTC certified mean for a hotel?＋
It usually means the hotel was certified by a body that GSTC has accredited. GSTC doesn't certify hotels itself. A GSTC-Recognized standard or GSTC membership is weaker: GSTC says recognition doesn't ensure the certification process is reliable, and membership doesn't mean the hotel is certified.
Are hotel eco fees allowed in the US?＋
A hotel can charge one, but since May 12, 2025, the FTC's fees rule has required hotels to include mandatory fees in the total price they show you up front. The rule doesn't name eco fees; in our reading, a hotel fee you can't decline belongs in that total. Government charges, such as a city tourist tax, can be shown separately.
