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A legal victory for an online travel search company could be a big win for consumers if it translates into cheaper hotel stays.

Skyscanner successfully appealed a decision by Britain's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over discounts on hotel room rates and is championing the judgment as a victory for consumers.

The Scotland-based metasearch company argued that the original ruling by OFT, now the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), restricted consumer access to discounts.

Court victory: Skyscanner won its appeal against a ruling over discounts on hotel room rates

Skyscanner took its case to the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), which ruled in its favour and sent the case back to the CMA.

Carolyn Jameson, director of general counsel at Skyscanner, said the outcome is good news for consumers and 'the wider travel industry'.

The appeal revolved around CMA's investigation into online hotel booking in the UK following a complaint from Skoosh, an online travel agency.

Skoosh complained that it was being prevented from offering discounts due to the terms of agreements between large online travel agents and hotels.

In January, the CMA accepted commitments from Expedia, Booking.com and Intercontinental Hotels Group, which meant consumers would need to join a membership scheme, or closed group, to view discounted pricing for hotel rooms in the UK.

The deals would only be visible to members, who would have to make one full price booking through the scheme in order to claim a discount.

Better deals? Skyscanner says the judgment is good news for consumers and 'the wider travel industry'

Skyscanner argued that the CMA's original decision was not in the best interests of consumers or metasearch providers and smaller online travel agencies. 

Skyscanner said the closed group made it tougher for consumers to compare available rates and find the best prices because they were forced to log into multiple websites rather than visit a single website to view all the rates in one place.

Ms Jameson said in a statement: 'This reduced transparency in pricing and potentially hindered competition in the online travel market.'

The CMA said it will consider Friday's judgment carefully before deciding on its next steps.

It said in a statement: 'The commitments concerned aimed to encourage competition by enabling online travel agents and hotels to offer discounts on rates for hotel rooms.'