The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018

Made: 24th May 2018

Coming into force: 1st July 2018

The Secretary of State has been designated for the purposes of making Regulations under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 in relation to measures relating to consumer protection.

A draft of these Regulations has been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament pursuant to section 2(2) of, and paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 2 to, the European Communities Act 1972.

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 , the Secretary of State makes the following Regulations:

PART 1 — General

Citation and commencement

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• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018.

• (2) Except as set out in paragraph (3), these Regulations come into force on 1st July 2018.

• (3) Regulation 38(4) comes into force on the later of the following—

• (a) 1st July 2018;

• (b) the day on which Schedule 1 to the Wales Act 2017 (which inserts Schedule 7A into the Government of Wales Act 2006 , which regulation 38(4) amends) comes into force.

Interpretation

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• (1) In these Regulations—

• ...

• “commencement date” means the date on which these Regulations come into force;

• “durable medium” means any instrument which—enables the traveller or the trader to store information addressed personally to them in a way accessible for future reference for a period of time adequate for the purposes of the information; andallows the unchanged reproduction of the information stored;

• “lack of conformity” means a failure to perform, or the improper performance of, the travel services included in a package;

• “minor” means a person below the age of 18;

• “organiser” means—a trader who combines and sells, or offers for sale, packages, either directly or through another trader or together with another trader; orthe trader who transmits the traveller's data to another trader in accordance with paragraph (5)(b)(v);

• “package travel contract” means a contract on a package as a whole or, if the package is provided under separate contracts, all contracts covering the travel services included in the package;

• “... passenger rights legislation” means—Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 295/91 ;Regulation (EC) No 1371/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council on rail passengers' rights and obligations ;Regulation (EC) No 392/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the liability of carriers of passengers by sea in the event of accidents ;Regulation (EU) No 1177/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the rights of passengers when travelling by sea and inland waterway and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 ; andRegulation (EU) No 181/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 .

• “point of sale” means—any retail premises, whether movable or immovable;a retail website or similar online sales facility, including where retail websites or online sales facilities are presented to travellers as a single facility; ora telephone service;

• “repatriation” means the traveller's return to the place of departure or to another place the contracting parties agree upon;

• “retailer” means a trader other than the organiser who sells or offers for sale packages combined by an organiser;

• “start of the package” means the beginning of the performance of travel services included in the package;

• “trader” means any person who is acting, including through any other person acting in their name or on their behalf, for purposes relating to their trade, business, craft or profession in relation to contracts covered by these Regulations, whether acting in the capacity of organiser, retailer, trader facilitating a linked travel arrangement or as a travel service provider;

• “travel service” means—the carriage of passengers;the provision of accommodation which is not intrinsically part of the carriage of passengers and is not for residential purposes;the rental of—cars;other motor vehicles within the meaning of Article 3(16) of Regulation (EU) 2018/858 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on the approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles; ormotorcycles requiring a Category A driving licence in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 2 (categories and sub-categories of vehicle for licensing purposes) to the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999;any other tourist service not intrinsically part of a travel service within the meaning of paragraph (a), (b) or (c);

• “traveller” means any individual who is seeking to conclude a contract, or is entitled to travel on the basis of a contract concluded, within the scope of these Regulations;

• “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” means a situation—beyond the control of the party who seeks to rely on such a situation for the purpose of regulation 12(7), 13(2)(b), 15(14) or (16), 16(4)(c) or 28(3)(b); andthe consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken;

• (2) In these Regulations, a reference to an organiser or a retailer being “established” is to be construed according to the meaning of “establishment” given by regulation 4 of the Provision of Services Regulations 2009.

• (3) In these Regulations, subject to paragraph (4), a “linked travel arrangement” means at least two different types of travel service purchased for the purpose of the same trip or holiday, not constituting a package, resulting in the conclusion of separate contracts with the individual service providers, if a trader facilitates —

• (a) on the occasion of a single visit to, or contact with, a trader's point of sale, the separate selection and separate payment of each travel service by travellers; or

• (b) in a targeted manner, the procurement of at least one additional travel service from another trader where a contract with such other trader is concluded at the latest 24 hours after the confirmation of the booking of the first travel service.

• (4) Where—

• (a) not more than one travel service of the kind listed in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of the definition of “travel service”, and

• (b) one or more tourist services of the kind listed in paragraph (d) of that definition,

are purchased, those services do not constitute a linked travel arrangement if the tourist services referred to in sub-paragraph (b) do not account for a significant proportion of the combined value of the services and are not advertised as, and do not otherwise represent, an essential feature of the trip or holiday.

• (5) In these Regulations, subject to paragraph (6), a “package” means a combination of at least two different types of travel services for the purpose of the same trip or holiday, if—

• (a) those services are combined by one trader, including at the request of, or in accordance with, the selection of the traveller, before a single contract on all services is concluded; or

• (b) those services are—

• (i) purchased from a single point of sale and selected before the traveller agrees to pay,

• (ii) offered, sold or charged at an inclusive or total price,

• (iii) advertised or sold under the term “package” or under a similar term,

• (iv) combined after the conclusion of a contract by which a trader entitles the traveller to choose among a selection of different types of travel services, or

• (v) purchased from separate traders through linked online booking processes where—

• (aa) the traveller's name, payment details and e-mail address are transmitted from the trader with whom the first contract is concluded to another trader or traders, and

• (bb) a contract with the latter trader or traders is concluded at the latest 24 hours after the confirmation of the booking of the first travel service,

irrespective of whether the traveller concludes separate contracts with one or more travel service providers in respect of the services.

• (6) A combination of travel services where not more than one type of travel service of the kind listed in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of the definition of “travel service” is combined with one or more tourist services of the kind listed in paragraph (d) of that definition is not a package if the latter services—

• (a) do not account for a significant proportion of the value of the combination and are not advertised as, and do not otherwise represent, an essential feature of the combination; or

• (b) are selected and purchased after the performance of a travel service of the kind listed in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of the definition of “travel service” has started.

Application

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• (1) These Regulations apply to—

• (a) packages offered for sale or sold by traders to travellers, and

• (b) linked travel arrangements,

which are concluded on or after the commencement date.

• (2) These Regulations do not apply to—

• (a) packages and linked travel arrangements covering a period of less than 24 hours, unless overnight accommodation is included;

• (b) packages offered, and linked travel arrangements facilitated, occasionally on a not-for-profit basis for a limited group of travellers;

• (c) packages and linked travel arrangements purchased on the basis of a general agreement.

• (3) In paragraph (2)(c), a “general agreement” means an agreement which is concluded between a trader and another person acting for a trade, business, craft or profession, for the purpose of booking travel arrangements in connection with that trade, business, craft or profession.

PART 2 — Information duties and content of the package travel contract

Information duties and “the relevant person”

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• (1) Where a package travel contract is sold through a retailer—

• (a) the organiser and the retailer must ensure that the duties imposed by regulations 5, 6 and 7 (“the information duties”) are performed;

• (b) the organiser and the retailer may agree whether the information duties are to be performed by the organiser or the retailer; and

• (c) either the organiser or the retailer must perform the information duties.

• (2) Where a package travel contract is not sold through a retailer, the organiser must perform the information duties imposed by regulations 5, 6 and 7.

• (3) In this Part, the person who, in accordance with this regulation, performs, or it is agreed is to perform, a duty imposed by a provision of regulation 5, 6 or 7, is “the relevant person” for the purposes of the provision of regulation 5, 6 or 7 under which the duty is performed or it is agreed is to be performed.

Information to be provided by the relevant person before concluding a contract

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• (1) Subject to paragraph (3), before a package travel contract is concluded, the relevant person must provide the traveller with the information specified in Schedule 1, where applicable to the package.

• (2) Subject to paragraph (3), before a package travel contract is concluded, the relevant person must also provide the traveller with—

• (a) where the use of hyperlinks is possible, the information in Schedule 2, using the form and wording set out in that Schedule;

• (b) where the use of hyperlinks is not possible, or the package travel contract is to be concluded by telephone, the information in Schedule 3, using the form and wording set out in that Schedule.

• (3) Before a traveller is bound by a package of the kind described in regulation 2(5)(b)(v)—

• (a) the relevant person and the trader to whom the data are transmitted must ensure that each of them provides the information specified in Schedule 1, in so far as it is relevant for the respective travel services they offer; and

• (b) the relevant person must provide, at the same time, the information in Schedule 4, using the form and wording set out in that Schedule.

• (4) Any information provided to the traveller under this regulation must be provided—

• (a) in a clear, comprehensible and prominent manner; and

• (b) where the information is provided in writing, in a legible form.

• (5) Where the relevant person fails to provide information to the traveller in accordance with this regulation, the organiser or, where the package travel contract is sold through a retailer, both the organiser and the retailer, commit an offence and are liable—

• (a) on summary conviction, to a fine in England and Wales, or in Scotland and Northern Ireland to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

• (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

Binding character of information provided before the conclusion of the contract

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• (1) Where the relevant person provides to the traveller the information specified in paragraphs 1 to 10, 12 to 14 and 16 of Schedule 1, that information—

• (a) forms an integral part of the package travel contract; and

• (b) must not be altered unless the traveller expressly agrees otherwise with the relevant person, as the case may be.

• (2) The relevant person must communicate to the traveller any change to the information provided under regulation 5, in a clear, comprehensible and prominent manner before the conclusion of the package travel contract.

• (3) Where, before the conclusion of the package travel contract, the relevant person does not provide the information which is required to be provided under paragraph (1) in respect of additional fees, charges or other costs referred to in paragraph 12 of Schedule 1 the traveller is not required to bear those fees, charges or other costs.

• (4) It is an implied condition (or, as regards Scotland, an implied term) of the package travel contract that the relevant person complies with the provisions of this regulation.

• (5) In Scotland, any breach of the condition implied by paragraph (4) is deemed to be a material breach justifying rescission of the contract.

Content of the package travel contract and other documents

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• (1) The relevant person must ensure that—

• (a) the package travel contract is in plain and intelligible language; and

• (b) where the contract, or part of the contract, is in writing, the contract or the part of the contract, is in a legible form.

• (2) The relevant person must ensure that the package travel contract sets out the full content of the package and includes—

• (a) the information specified in Schedule 1; and

• (b) the information specified in Schedule 5.

• (3) Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), when the package travel contract is concluded, or without undue delay after its conclusion, the relevant person must provide the traveller with a copy or confirmation of the contract on a durable medium.

• (4) Where the contract is concluded in the simultaneous physical presence of the parties, the relevant person must provide to the traveller a paper copy of the package travel contract if the traveller so requests.

• (5) Where an off-premises contract is concluded, the relevant person must provide a copy or confirmation of that contract to the traveller on paper or, if the traveller agrees, on another durable medium.

• (6) Where a package of the kind described in regulation 2(5)(b)(v) is concluded—

• (a) the trader to whom the data are transmitted must inform the relevant person of the conclusion of the contract leading to the creation of a package; and

• (b) the trader must provide the relevant person with the information necessary to comply with their obligations as the relevant person.

• (7) As soon as the organiser is informed, under paragraph (6), that a package has been created, the relevant person must provide the information in Schedule 5 to the traveller on a durable medium.

• (8) The relevant person must provide the information referred to in paragraphs (2) and (7) in a clear, comprehensible and prominent manner.

• (9) The relevant person must provide the traveller in good time, before the start of the package, with the necessary receipts, vouchers and tickets, information on the scheduled times of departure and, where applicable, the deadline for check-in, as well as the scheduled times for intermediate stops, transport connections and arrival.

• (10) It is an implied condition (or, as regards Scotland, an implied term) of the contract that the relevant person complies with paragraphs (1), (3) to (6) and (9).

• (11) In Scotland, any breach of the condition implied by paragraph (10) is deemed to be a material breach justifying rescission of the contract.

• (12) Where the relevant person fails to comply with paragraph (2), (7) or (8), the organiser or, where the package travel contract is sold through a retailer, both the organiser and the retailer, commit an offence and are liable—

• (a) on summary conviction, to a fine in England and Wales, or in Scotland and Northern Ireland to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

• (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

• (13) In paragraph (5), “off-premises contract” has the meaning given in regulation 5 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

Burden of proof

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