A new legal framework was opened from July 1, 2018, with the obligation to apply the rules set out in European Directive 2015/2302, relating to package and linked travel, and which directly affects travel agencies, given that to date the transposition of said European regulation into Spanish law has not yet occurred through a Spanish regulation that included it - which should have been before January 1, 2018, which has not yet been approved.
1. Main developments with the new European standard:
– Both wholesalers and travelers will be able to buy packages outside national borders without risks (in any EU country from Spain).
– Travel agencies acting as wholesalers marketing vacation packages, They will be able to sell outside national borders from Spain to customers in any EU country.
Same obligations and rights for contracts made online as those made offline.
– A distinction is now made between purchasing a package or combined trip, or a linked service (different travel services but contracted with different providers).
– The traveler may cancel their travel booking at any time, recovering a large part of their money subject to a series of conditions.
– Obligation of a second insurance policy for travel agencies to guarantee the correct provision of contracted travel services, in addition to the wholesaler's guarantee (in the draft of the Spanish regulation not yet approved but which may significantly affect Spanish travel agencies and it is necessary to keep this possibility in mind).
– Whenever a traveler's name, payment details and email address are transferred between companies, and a second contract (including car and motorcycle rental) is subsequently closed within 24 hours of the first service being booked, it will be considered a package tour (previously only package tours were considered as such).
2. In other words, the new legislation is changing the world of package travel in Europe. The most noteworthy aspects are these:
- Both wholesalers and travelers will be able to buy packages outside national borders without risk because the regulations are standardized, including Great Britain, despite the fact that it is about to leave the EU.
- The traveler can cancel his or her travel reservation at any time, recovering all the money, except for a small reasonable amount derived from the expenses incurred by the reservation. Among the new rights, the most important is that the traveler may cancel the purchased trip at any time “with a reasonable price” that must not be extortionate. This cancellation will be completely free if there are security problems at the destination (disasters, conflicts... etc.).
- There are many more provisions that become mandatory, which were previously voluntary (for example, facilitating overnight stays in case the return flight does not leave..., etc.)
- The new model of rights protection depends on the regulations of each country, but in general it represents the entry of the digital world in the protection of travelers: no more printed insurance, no more paper brochures, no more signed documents, now everything will circulate on the network, with even more guarantees than before.
3. The customer must be given clear, standardized information about everything, and without any surcharges appearing at any time.
4. Protection is extended to travelers in the event of the tour operator's bankruptcy, a situation already covered in many European countries, but not all, and which, in any case, has now been significantly improved. In the event of the tour operator's bankruptcy, the recovery of money paid and the repatriation of the traveler are guaranteed at no cost to the consumer, for which operators must purchase insurance. This insurance must cover all these expenses.
Furthermore, the draft of the Spanish regulation, which has not yet been approved, stipulates that travel agencies must be jointly responsible with wholesalers and must also take out additional insurance to cover such situations, thus ensuring and offering complete consumer protection. The sector has expressed concern about this for obvious reasons and its desire to eliminate this requirement for travel agencies.
This guarantee is also provided for in the case of linked trips (with different services but contracted from different suppliers).
