When you're booking a holiday, you'll probably hear about the Package Travel Regulations - so what are they and how can they help you?
In the UK, anyone who sells package holidays has to comply with the Package Travel Regulations 1992. The Regulations were brought in to set out tour operators' (and other travel organisers') responsibilities, and what consumers can do if they have a problem.
These rules have been put into place in the UK to implement a European Directive which affects all member states, so if your holiday is booked in Europe, you should be covered by the Regulations. UK Regulations don't apply to packages sold in other countries by operators established in the UK.
What is a Package Holiday?
A package holiday is defined by law as having at least two of these three components, all as part of a 'package' that you pay an inclusive price for:
- transport (such as flights, transfers etc)
- accommodation
- another tourist service which makes up a significant proportion of the package.
To be a package holiday, it also has to last for more than 24 hours, or at the very least include overnight accommodation as part of the trip. As an example, a day-trip to a tourist attraction in the UK which includes entry and travel to the attraction wouldn't count.
The package also has to be sold as one - If travel and accommodation (for example) are paid for separately, it's not a package holiday.
What Do The Regulations Mean for Me?
There are certain rules that apply to selling a package holiday.
- the destination and how you'll get there
- full details of the accommodation, where it is, its rating and main features
- which meals which are included
- any itinerary
- basic information about passport, visa and health requirements
- when and how much you have to pay
- minimum traveller requirements if necessary
- deadline for informing customers in the event of cancellation
- arrangements covering inward and outward delays
- how consumers' money is protected and how they'll get home if the operator goes out of business.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
Contracts Under The Package Holiday Regulations
When you buy a holiday, you should receive a copy of a contract in writing. The contract needs to include the same information about transport, dates, accommodation, food and location as the brochure, essentially setting out in great detail what you are getting for your money.
If you have any special requirements such as non-smoking rooms, no children, accommodation for pets, and the tour operator has confirmed this will be acceptable, the arrangements should be included in the contract too.
If the operator changes the contract, you can either agree to the amendments, or you can decide to cancel the holiday without penalty. So you should receive a full refund of whatever you've paid to date. A surcharge can only be added if it is due to changes in transport costs, taxes or fees for certain services, and exchange rates.
The Package Travel Regulations are really there to make sure that you know exactly what you're getting when you book a holiday, and to ensure that you aren't unfairly treated by a tour operator adding charges or making changes to your holiday.
We wait for 35 minutes, eventually it did turn up.
In the terminal no one is around, just our 4 suitcases going around the conveyer belt!!
We head to what we believe to be some exit and there was no one around to guide us.
We ask a taxi driver where we are supposed to go for a coach transfer to Gatwick, he told us it's the one pulling away now, someone flagged it down and we got on it.
We arrived at Gatwick a fair few hours later.
We put this complaint to Tui, we got back the flight compensation which everyone on the original flight that was cancelled was entitled too.
But nothing else, we were offered £100 gift voucher off another flight/holiday. When I told them it was an insult for 4 days of holiday being ruined through the whole saga, it was soon withdrawn!
Maybe it does seem greedy to want more, but all cancelled flights are entitled to flight cancellation compensation, this is more than that.
All it would have taken was a flag on our booking to be added, so that special assistance was swapped over with the booking. Numerous times (I have photographic evidence of all correspondance) I asked for special assistance to be added to my 1st booking, let alone all the other flight changes too.
It ruined the final part of our holiday. Our daughter was distressed.
Please advise of what I could possibly do next.
We were lucky enough to get away for a holiday to Greece in September.
What wasn't so good was Tui and their attitude towards disability and we are after some advice.
We book 1 year in advance of our holiday, as our daughter is disabled and special needs and Autistic.
This also includes booking Special assistance for her, to get to the plane, on and off the plane with the ambilift and specific seating.
Our holiday this year was going wonderfully, even tho Boris said we had to isolate when we got back home!!
Before we had even left the UK, the correspondence was poor, our flight number and the terminal had changed but with no email notification. I found this out by downloading the Gatwick app to see what restaurants were open for breakfast!!
On the Tuesday before we were due to fly home (on the Friday morning), we were sent a message stating that due to operational reasons our Tui flight had been cancelled.
We were rebooked on a Easyjet flight instead.
No problems with this but, at this point I asked if special assistance had been added to our booking, as it's on our original booking? From here, for the next 3 days, I messaged back to them about special assistance being added.
I kept being fobbed off that someone would get back to me, I even involved the resort rep whom contacted his offices, who tried to get Tui to sort it out with Easyjet, with the special assistance.
On the Thursday night, I contacted them yet again, they did fob me off, but as out flights were Fri morning, they magically came back to us saying it had now been added.
Our flights were again cancelled but this time due to a Medicane/cyclone, I was notified in early hours of Fri morning, and I rebooked on the app from one of the 2 choices we were given, for the Saturday instead, with Easyjet again.
During the cyclone we lost power, water and electricity meaning no WiFi either.
Our phones were buzzing with civil protection Greece messages to stay safe. All Greek schools were closed too, all flights from Thursday were diverted or cancelled.
12.10 pm we had a knock at the door, we were told our transfer was here for the airport??!!!!
After a long discussion it was agreed that we would chuck everything in the suitcases and throw some clothes on and go.
But no, the coach transfer had refused to wait for us!
We got a taxi to the airport and was overcharged, not Tui's fault!
We got to the airport with 20 minutes until our flight was due to take off.
We still had the PLF details for the flight for Easyjet, so this was illegal, but we had no notification about new flight, with Tui!
We were now flying to Birmingham, and no special assistance had been sorted.
We now had to sort this all out, ourselves at the Greek airport.
We had a stressful flight, due to a screaming baby for 3.5hrs, as our seats were not allocated correctly for our special needs daughter.
We lan
Can we turn down this offer under the regulations and get a full refund for the holiday ?
They’ve emailed today to inform us that the they have changed our accommodation because they believe it is not suitable for our daughter who will be 10 months old at the time.
They’ve also downgraded us from all inclusive to a hotel that only covers half board.
My question is can they change our accomodation based on what they think is best for my child even after we have already booked it?
And what can we do about the downgrade from all inclusive to half board? And a downgrade in hotel that I have previously stayed in and did not enjoy?
Purchased Fleetway package holiday to Madeira, depart on Easyjet flight 23/04/18 from Bristol, flying to Madeira, high winds at Madeira divert to Lisbon refuel return to Madeira, again high winds divert to Porto refuel and for refreshment break then return to Bristol, landing 12 hours after departure.
Just before arrival at Porto Easyjet announced cancellation of flight.
Holiday that was promised as being 5* - it however wasn't! Building work was still going and the water park was shut amongst other things.
I accepted an exclusion from the hotel due to a leak in our room leading to a required room change. I was asked to sign a disclaimer for the excursion and now I'm back in UK I am complaining to the tour operator because they sold me an expensive over priced holiday for what it was- every English family in the resort was angry and complaining too. The tour operator is now saying that the disclaimer i signed relinquishes them from from any responsibility.
Could someone advise me please - thanks
Do I have any recourse under the package tour regs ?
Thank you
Brian
What can I?
RA
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