Consumer rights issue? Go legal
Our experts will guide you to the best outcome at a fair price.
Get legal adviceIf something goes wrong on your package holiday, you’ll want to get the issue sorted quickly so you can enjoy the rest of your trip.
However, if you’ve paid for something you didn’t get, you’ll also want to use your travel rights to ask for money back.
Here we explain when you can complain about a package holiday and how to do it.
Package holidays are holidays where you booked your flight and accommodation at the same time, through the same travel company. They could also include transfers, car hire and tours booked at the same time as your flight and accommodation.
If you've booked a package holiday you're protected by the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018.
If you're holiday is cancelled, delayed or substantially changed it gives you the right to make a claim for:
Find out how to complain about a flight-only booking, or make a complaint about holiday accommodation.
Our experts will guide you to the best outcome at a fair price.
Get legal adviceIf your holiday is cancelled the Package Travel Regulations gives you three options. You can:
If a tour operator makes a significant change to your accommodation, it must:
You do not have to pay for an enforced upgrade. The Package Travel Regulations say the tour operator is responsible for the hotel owner’s actions, so they have to make suitable alternative arrangements for the continuation of the package.
Once a holiday is confirmed, a tour operator can only increase the cost if all of the following conditions are met:
If the increase equals 8% or more of the total cost of your package holiday, you must be told at least 20 days before the holiday is due to start and be provided a clear calculation of the price rise.
If you don’t want to pay an increase of 8% or more, you can cancel the booking without termination fees.
When you booked your holiday, you should have been given plenty of paperwork, including a description of your holiday, an itinerary and terms and conditions.
If not, you can usually find a lot of this information on the travel company's website.The terms and conditions in particular will outline the company's responsibilities to you, and your responsibilities as a customer.
If you think the company has let you down on its part of the deal, you'll have a strong argument to make a complaint.
If you want to complain about your holiday, do it as soon as you notice the problem. If you’re still on holiday there should be a local representative from your holiday company you can speak to, or email, directly. They should be able to rectify the problem, but if not you should contact the company explaining what has happened.
If you’re making a complaint after you’ve returned from the holiday, start by writing directly to the company you booked with within 28 days of the holiday ending.
If the travel agent was acting for another party, such as an airline or tour operator, follow its complaints procedure. It should be explained in the paperwork you were given when you booked the holiday or on the agents website.
Collect as much evidence as possible, including photos and receipts of anything you’ve had to buy because of the issue with the holiday. You’ll need to include these details in your complaint letter.
Use our tool to start your letter of complaint.
Complain about a holiday
If the tour operator is a member of a travel trade association, you can make a complaint and try to resolve your issue using their arbitration services.
If you paid for your holiday using a credit card, you might be protected by Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act if you didn't get what you paid for.
Section 75 can cover holidays costing more than £100 and up to £30,000.
If you paid for your holiday using a debit card, you might also be able to claim your money back using chargeback.
If you’re not getting anywhere with the travel company, trade organisations or your credit card company you could escalate the problem to the travel ombudsman.
It’s an independent arbitration service which can look into travel complaints, but you can only contact it if you’ve complained directly to the travel company and the issue is still unresolved.
You can contact the travel ombudsman and provide details of your complaint on its website.
Getting compensation from a tour operator can sometimes be difficult, and you usually have to be persistent.
If you think you have a strong grounds for making a claim, keep complaining using the company’s formal complaints procedure.
If this doesn’t work, as a last resort you could consider taking the tour operator to the small claims court.
You can use the small claims court for most claims that involve a breach of contract. In other words, when you didn't get what you were told you were paying for.
In England and Wales, you can claim up to £10,000 in the small claims court. In Scotland and Northern Ireland it’s £5,000.