Dynamic Package Holidays and Your Rights

Dynamic package holidays are those where different components of the holiday are booked separately, as opposed to regulated package holidays which usually include flights, accommodation and airport transfers.

Regulated package holidays are protected by powerful consumer laws including the Package Travel Regulations 1992 which were created following a European Directive which answered complaints about the lack of redress consumers had in package holiday contracts.

When holidaymakers decide to ´go it alone´ and book their accommodation, flights and transfers separately and not as part of a regulated package tour, their rights are not protected in the same way.  If problems arise, you may have difficulty in obtaining assistance and making claims can prove very difficult.

If you are unsure whether your holiday is a regulated package holiday or a dynamic package, ask when you book whether the trip is protected by the 1992 Package Travel Regulations. Also ask whether the holiday is ATOL (Air Transport Operators Licence) protected. Any company selling airline tickets must hold this licence in order to operate and this will protect you in case the airline goes out of business.

Also check your holiday is protected by ABTA or AITO (The Association of British Travel Agents or The Association of Independent Tour Operators). ABTA can help if something goes wrong with your travel arrangements and you are unable to resolve the problem with your travel agent. They will also inform you of any major incidents or events which could affect your travel arrangements and also explain about financial protection for travel arrangements.

Never leave anything to chance when booking a regulated package holiday or a dynamic package.  Check online review sites about tour operators and holiday companies to see what other people are saying about them.

If you book a dynamic package and you are unhappy about certain aspects of the accommodation or flights, you will have to make a complaint directly to the hotel or airline company and not with your travel agent. If you want to claim compensation for a holiday which falls short of your expectations and one which was booked as a dynamic package, you may have to do so using the legal system of the country you visited which can prove time consuming and very expensive. With regulated package holidays, if you want to claim compensation for any aspect of the trip, you can do so from the tour operator as they are legally obligated to protect the rights of holidaymakers abroad.

Check your travel insurance very carefully when you book it as even the best laid plans can come crashing down if your holiday is affected by industrial action by air traffic controllers or unexpected weather conditions. If you have booked a dynamic package and, for example, your flight is cancelled, you would not be able to claim your accommodation costs back as it would not be the fault of the hotel if you were unable to get there. The same would apply if the airline went out of business.

If this occurred on a regulated package tour, however, you should receive a full refund when things go wrong.

Never assume you are protected by paying with a credit card as each part of your holiday, when booked as a dynamic package, is likely to be supplied by different companies, which means you cannot claim money back through the travel agent only directly from the suppliers of your accommodation and flights.  In turn this means you cannot claim your money back from your credit card company because you must have a ‘like claim’ against your travel agent.

In order to enjoy greater consumer protection, always book a regulated package holiday with a reputable ABTA tour operator. You may be attracted to a dynamic package tour because of the low cost but, if anything goes wrong, it will be virtually impossible to claim and obtain any compensation.