The Council and European Parliament reached a provisional agreement last week on revising the package travel directive to provide more effective protection for travellers.
The bill, informally approved by Parliament and Council negotiators, clarifies the definition of a travel package, the terms for cancelling a trip and travellers’ rights to information, assistance and refunds in various situations, including tour organiser bankruptcy or emergency circumstances causing trip disruptions.
The agreement must now be formally approved by both the European Parliament and Council in early next year before taking effect. EU countries will then have 28 months to adapt their legislation to the new rules and another six months to begin applying the new provisions.
Online purchases where linked booking processes allow easy combinations of services from separate traders will be considered a package if the first trader transmits the traveller’s personal data to other traders and the contract is concluded within 24 hours.
If a tour organiser goes bankrupt, customers must receive refunds for cancelled services from insolvency guarantee funds within six months. In exceptional cases of high workload, the deadline can be extended to nine months.
If unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances arise at the travel destination or departure point before a trip or affect the trip, travellers have the right to cancel without penalty with a full refund.
Such cases should be assessed individually, and official travel recommendations will be important elements to consider when examining whether termination of the contract is justified.
However, an official travel warning alone will not be considered sufficient reason for a refund after trip cancellation, as EU countries don’t use travel warnings in a coordinated way.
If travellers are aware of a risk at the time of booking but decide to purchase a trip anyway, they cannot request cancellation without a termination fee.
Negotiators agreed that travel agents must establish a clear arrangement for handling complaints to ensure reported issues are addressed in a reasonable timeframe.
They must confirm receipt of a complaint within seven days and give the customer a reasoned response within 60 days.