If your holiday is cancelled or changed
If any part of your holiday, such as your hotel or dates are changed drastically before you leave, or if your holiday is cancelled, then you have the right to:
- Get a refund for the difference in price for an inferior quality holiday
- Without having to pay extra accept an equivalent or superior holiday
- A refund
- No cancellation fee to pay
You may be entitled to compensation if you are left out-of-pocket or for your loss of enjoyment or if you had already booked car rental that you now cannot use.
However you will not usually be entitled to compensation if changes are due to circumstances beyond your holiday company’s control such as a natural disaster. But you may be able to claim for stress or dissatisfaction if the holiday company knew of a problem but let you go anyway.
You have the same rights if the cost of your holiday increases considerably i.e. more than 10%. The price of the holiday can only be increased once confirmed if it is stated in the booking conditions and if it is due to:
- Changes in the exchange rate
- Increase in transport costs
- An increase in taxes and fees for services
Also the holiday company must not pass on any price increase in the 30 days before you leave and the first 2% of any increase must be covered by the holiday company.
If your resort or accommodation is not as described to you, the law says that the holiday company must offer you an appropriate alternative. It should offer to fly you home if the company really cannot provide anything that is even vaguely close to what you had paid for.
You can claim compensation for:
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Loss of enjoyment, inconvenience and/or disappointment
- Loss of bargain i.e. the difference in value between what you booked and what you got
