Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

1256 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE (18) It should also be clarified that contracts by which a trader entitles the traveller after the conclusion of the contract to choose among a selection of different types of travel services, such as in the case of a package travel gift box, should constitute a package. Moreover, a combination of travel services should be considered as a package where the traveller’s name or particulars needed to conclude the booking transaction are transferred between the traders at the latest when the booking of the first service is confirmed. Particulars needed to conclude a booking transaction relate to credit card details or other information necessary to obtain a payment. On the other hand, the mere transfer of particulars such as the travel destination or travel times should not be sufficient. (19) Since there is less need to protect travellers in cases of short-term trips, and in order to avoid unnecessary burden for traders, trips lasting less than 24 hours which do not include accommodation as well as occasionally organised packages, should be excluded from the scope of this Directive. (20) The main characteristic of package travel is that at least one trader is responsible as an organiser for the proper performance of the package as a whole. Therefore, only in cases where another trader is acting as the organiser of a package should a trader, typically a high-street or on-line travel agent, be able to act as a mere retailer or intermediary and not be liable as an organiser. Whether a trader is acting as an organiser for a given package should depend on its involvement in the creation of a package as defined under this Directive, and not on the denomination under which it carries out its business. Where two or more traders meet a criterion which makes the combination of travel services a package and where those traders have not informed the traveller which of them is the organiser of the package, all relevant traders should be considered as organisers. (21) In relation to packages, retailers should be responsible together with the organiser for the provision of pre-contractual information. At the same time it should be clarified that they are liable for booking errors. To facilitate communication, in particular in cross-border cases, travellers should have the possibility of contacting the organiser also via the retailer through which they bought the package. (22) The traveller should receive all necessary information before purchasing a package, whether it is sold through means of distance communication, over the counter or through other types of distribution. In providing this information, the trader should take into account the specific needs of travellers who are particularly vulnerable because of their age or physical infirmity, which the trader could reasonably foresee. (23) Key information, for example on the main characteristics of the travel services or the prices, provided in advertisements, on the organiser’s website or in brochures as part of the pre-contractual information, should be binding, unless the organiser reserves the right to make changes to those elements and unless such changes are