Claiming for a cancelled or altered package holiday: your rights against the agency

A package holiday exists when at least 2 travel services are combined for the same trip or holiday: transport, accommodation, car rental or another significant tourist service (article 151 of the texto refundido de la Ley de Consumidores [consolidated text of the General Consumer Protection Act, TRLGDCU]). It does not matter whether it is sold by a physical agency or a website: what counts is the package from a single business, as well as services booked at a single point of sale and chosen before paying. This includes tours, cruises and the classic flight plus hotel booked together.

The practical difference is huge: in a package holiday you do not have to chase the airline, the hotel and the tour operator separately. The organiser and the retailer (the agency that sold you the trip) are liable to you for the proper performance of all included services, even if they are provided by a third party (article 161 TRLGDCU).

If you booked the flight on one website and the hotel on another yourself, with no connection between the 2 purchases, there is no package holiday: each provider is only liable for their own service. Even so, you may have rights under other regulations, such as European Regulation 261/2004 for the flight.

Before the start of the trip, the organiser can only make insignificant changes, provided that the contract reserves this right and communicates it clearly on a durable medium (article 159 TRLGDCU). If the change substantially affects a main characteristic (dates, destination, hotel category, transport), you choose: you accept the proposed change or terminate the contract without paying any penalty, with the right to a substitute trip of equivalent or higher quality if offered.

The same applies to the price: it can only rise if the contract expressly provides for it and for specific reasons (fuel, tasas (official fees) and third-party taxes, exchange rates), never in the 20 calendar days prior to departure. If the increase exceeds 8% of the total price, you can terminate without penalty (article 158 TRLGDCU).

If the organiser cancels the trip, they must refund all payments within a maximum of 14 calendar days. They also owe you compensation, except in 2 cases: if the minimum number of participants specified in the contract was not reached (with 20 days' notice for trips of more than 6 days, 7 days for trips of 2 to 6 days, or 48 hours for shorter trips) or if unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occur and are notified without delay (article 160.3 TRLGDCU).

Yes, at any time before departure (article 160 TRLGDCU). If you cancel without cause, the organiser or retailer may charge you a penalty, but it must be appropriate and justifiable: the one in the contract if reasonable or, failing that, the price of the trip minus cost savings and income from reallocating the services. If you request it, they are obliged to justify the amount in writing. The old fixed percentages (5%, 15% and 25%) are no longer in force since late 2018.

If unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occur at the destination or its immediate vicinity that significantly affect the trip or transport (natural disaster, serious conflict, health crisis), you can terminate without penalty and recover everything paid, although in that case without additional compensation (article 160.2 TRLGDCU).

In all cases, the refund must reach you without undue delay and, at the latest, within 14 calendar days from the termination of the contract. If you booked the trip outside the agency's premises, you also have 14 days to withdraw without needing to provide a reason (article 160.5 TRLGDCU).

Both. You can direct your claim interchangeably to the organiser or the retailer, who are obliged to process it even if the failure falls outside their management scope and to inform you of its progress (article 161 TRLGDCU). If the party receiving the claim does not manage it, they become jointly and severally liable with the other. In practice, the agency where you bought the trip cannot hide behind the excuse that it is the fault of the tour operator, the hotel or the airline.

Furthermore, any complaint you submit to the retailer is understood to be received by the organiser from that moment, which protects your deadlines (article 163.1 TRLGDCU). A key piece of advice: report any lack of conformity without undue delay, as soon as you detect it, and leave a written record (email, complaint form, messages to the agency).

If a service is not provided in accordance with the contract (lower category hotel, cancelled excursions, transfers that do not appear), the organiser must remedy it, unless impossible or disproportionately expensive. If they do not remedy it, you are entitled to an appropriate price reduction for the entire period of non-conformity and to compensation for the damages suffered, which must be paid without undue delay (article 162 TRLGDCU).

The compensation includes moral damages. The Court of Justice of the EU recognised that the loss of enjoyment of a holiday is compensable (Leitner case, C-168/00) and Spanish courts routinely apply this to package holidays, assessing each case. The contract may limit compensation, but never below 3 times the total price of the trip, nor for personal injury or damage caused intentionally or negligently.

The organiser and the retailer must also provide you with appropriate assistance without delay if you find yourself in difficulty during the trip: health and consular information, help with communications and finding alternative travel arrangements (article 163.2 TRLGDCU). They do not owe you compensation if they prove that the failure is attributable to you, to an unforeseeable third party or to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances; even so, the assistance remains mandatory.

The usual path: a written and substantiated claim to the agency or organiser demanding a refund, price reduction or compensation; if they do not respond, a complaint form and a claim to the consumer services of your autonomous community or consumer arbitration; and, if you still do not get paid, the judicial route. Monetary claims are processed through a verbal trial for up to €15,000 (article 250.2 of the Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil [Civil Procedure Act]), and for up to €2,000 you can appear without a lawyer or a procurador (court representative). A well-constructed claim from the start, with the regulations and proven damages, multiplies the chances of getting paid without going to court.

Watch the deadline: actions derived from the rights recognised in book four of the TRLGDCU expire after 2 years (article 169 TRLGDCU). After this period, the claim lapses even if you were right, so it is advisable to act as soon as possible.

If the organiser or retailer becomes insolvent, you do not lose your money: they are required by law to have a guarantee in place (insurance, bank guarantee or fund) that covers the refund of payments for unperformed services and, if transport was included, your free repatriation, with prior accommodation if necessary (article 164 TRLGDCU). You can claim directly against this guarantee.

Managora prepares and submits it for you: we analyse your contract and what happened, quantify the refund, price reduction, compensation and moral damages, and draft the legally substantiated claim against the agency and the organiser, including the flight compensation under Regulation 261/2004 if the flight was part of the package. You can see the updated amount in the file for the package holiday cancellation or alteration claim procedure.