EU unveils stronger consumer protections for holidaymakers ahead of summer

A long and rainy winter has prompted many Irish families to book package holidays in the sun. Under new EU laws, these holidaymakers will be better protected going forward, according to lead negotiator on the new EU travel rules, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú.

The Transport and Tourism MEP has welcomed a raft of new protections for Irish holidaymakers that protect them when they book package holidays. She said the new rules will ensure greater transparency and fairness in the travel industry.

The revised Package Travel Directive is expected to be passed in a vote in the European Parliament on Thursday. The new EU travel rules give holidaymakers enhanced protection when things go wrong with their package holidays.

This includes situations where travel companies go bankrupt, something which impacted thousands of holidaymakers when Thomas Cook collapsed in 2019.

Cancelling your holiday

The new EU rules give passengers more rights when it comes to cancellations. Holidaymakers can cancel, penalty-free, when faced with unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances. This includes sudden natural disasters, conflict or public health emergencies. Tour operators are required to have insolvency protection so that in the unlikely event that they go broke, holidaymakers will be entitled to a refund within six months.

Those same insolvency protection schemes must be sufficient to guarantee not only consumer refunds but also the repatriation of holidaymakers if things go wrong on the package holiday. When a tour operator cancels someone’s package holiday, they are now required to issue a refund within 14 days. The definition of what constitutes extraordinary circumstances for a cancellation will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

In practice, this means that if a holiday destination is hit by intense flooding or forest fires and official travel warnings are issued, consumers can cancel their package holiday without incurring costs and should receive a prompt refund. Ní Mhurchú pointed out that this is particularly important given the increasingly erratic weather patterns in parts of Europe, leading to flooding, fire and more extreme events.

Specific voucher protection

Amongst the measures in this revised Package Travel Directive is that holidaymakers who are offered vouchers by way of compensation by travel companies will now have the right to refuse a voucher and opt for a cash refund within 14 days. If a voucher is accepted but not used, its value must be reimbursed at expiry. Vouchers should be valid for up to 12 months, and transferable or extendable once. Importantly, vouchers must be backed by insolvency protection and usable across all services offered by the organiser, either in full or in instalments.

Making a complaint

Holiday makers can make complaints which must now be acknowledged within 7 days and replied to within 60 days.

The new EU laws require tour operators to provide clearer information on payment methods, passport/visa requirements, accessibility for people with reduced mobility, and termination fees if you cancel.

Where an “add-on” booking doesn’t create a package, for example, when booking a hotel or a car rental through the Ryanair website after you have booked a flight, the onus is on the business, Ryanair in this example, to clearly explain in advance that the package travel protections do not apply. If the business does not make that distinction clearly enough in the booking process, and the extra service is bought in the same sales flow within the conditions set out in the directive, the arrangement may be treated as a package.

Ní Mhurchú said that MEPs strived to bolster protections for holidaymakers without adding any great additional bureaucracy on package tour operators. The new rules will apply to package tours or package holidays. Once voted on this Thursday, Member States have had 28 months to transpose it into national law, with the new rules applying 6 months after that deadline.