Yahoo Finance Travel websites to be held responsible for ALL aspects of your holiday
About 10 million Britons who book holiday package trips online will soon get the same level of protection as those who use ‘traditional’ high street travel agents.
Under a government shake-up, travel websites will be culpable should the holiday be a disaster.
The websites will be responsible for all aspects of the holiday, regardless of whether they use a third party to book or supply hotels, flights, transfers or car hire, for example.
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The government has launched a consultation for the Package Travel Regulations, which will be based on the European Package Travel Directive, and must be in force by July 2018.
The proposals would see better information given to holidaymakers when they book, making it clear what their refund rights are, plus an extension to current protections to cover those UK travellers who buy package holidays online.
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Millions of Brits use online services to ‘build’ their own holidays – separately booking flights, reserving hotel rooms, hiring cars, etc rather than going for a traditional package deal from an agent.
But a loophole meant that the travel website could claim not to responsible should one or more elements of the trip backfire.
The Association of British Travel Agents says changes to how we book travel means some 50% of holidays are not financially protected if a company goes bust.
Once the new proposals come into force it basically means that the business that helps put the holiday package together is responsible for the entire holiday, even if some elements are to be fulfilled by third parties.
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Consumer Minister Margot James said: “While consumer laws protect millions of holidaymakers from the fallout if a travel company goes into administration, the way we book holidays has changed significantly in recent years and it is important that regulations are updated to reflect this.”
She said that British households put aside £100 every month for their holidays and that the proposals means an additional one in five holidays can be booked online with holidaymakers “safe in the knowledge that they will get their hard-earned money back if something does go wrong”.
