Package Travel Regulations UK: Your Rights (2026)

At a glance

• What makes a package: at least two different types of travel service (for example a flight and a hotel) combined for one trip and sold at an inclusive price, under a single contract, or through a linked online booking within 24 hours — regulation 2(5), Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018.
• Who's responsible: the organiser is liable for the performance of every travel service in the package, whoever actually supplies it — regulation 15(2).
• If the organiser goes bust: it must hold "effective security" (bonding, insurance, a trust arrangement, or ATOL) to refund you and, if needed, bring you home — regulation 19.
• Price rises: only allowed if the contract says so, limited to fuel, tax and exchange-rate changes, and notified at least 20 days before departure; a rise over 8% lets you cancel for a full refund — regulations 10 and 11(4).
• Significant changes before you go: if the organiser has to significantly alter a main part of the trip, you can accept it, take a substitute package, or cancel and get a full refund within 14 days — regulation 11.
• If something goes wrong on the trip: the organiser must put it right within a reasonable period, and you may be entitled to a price reduction, compensation, or both if it doesn't — regulation 16.
• Linked travel arrangements get less: mainly insolvency cover for the facilitating trader, not the full package rights — regulation 26. Reform confirmed for 6 April 2027 changes this.

What counts as a "package" under the Regulations?

A package is a combination of at least two different types of travel service — for example the carriage of passengers, accommodation that isn't for residential purposes, car or motorcycle hire, or another significant tourist service — put together for the same trip or holiday (regulation 2(5)). It doesn't matter whether the organiser assembled the combination itself or built it around your choices.

You have a package if any of the following apply: the services were combined by one trader before you paid; you bought them from a single point of sale in one booking process; they were offered, sold or charged at one inclusive price; they were advertised or sold under the word "package" or something similar; or they were combined after you agreed a contract that let you choose from a range of services. A package can also arise where you book with one trader, and that trader passes your name, payment details and email address to a second trader who confirms a further service within 24 hours of your first booking (regulation 2(5)(b)(v)) — even if you end up with two separate contracts.

There's a narrow carve-out. If you buy no more than one "core" travel service (carriage of passengers, accommodation, or vehicle hire) plus one or more other tourist services, the combination isn't a package if those other services don't account for a significant proportion of the total value and aren't advertised as, or otherwise representative of, an essential feature of the trip (regulation 2(6)). A flight booked with a small optional airport lounge add-on, for instance, is unlikely to become a package on that basis alone.

The Regulations don't apply to trips lasting under 24 hours with no overnight stay, to packages offered occasionally and not for profit to a limited group, or to travel booked under a general business-to-business agreement (regulation 3(2)).

Linked travel arrangements: a narrower category

A linked travel arrangement (LTA) involves at least two different travel services for the same trip that don't add up to a package, resulting in separate contracts with separate providers, where a trader facilitates the connection in one of two specific ways (regulation 2(3)):

1. On a single visit to, or contact with, a trader's point of sale, you separately select and separately pay for each service.
2. In a targeted way, the trader procures at least one further travel service from another trader, with a contract for that further service concluded within 24 hours of your first booking being confirmed.

An LTA gets meaningfully less protection than a package. The facilitating trader must have insolvency security in place broadly equivalent to the package rules (regulation 26), and must give you specific pre-contract information about that protection, but you don't get the full package rights on price changes, significant changes, or the organiser's liability for how the trip is performed — because, by definition, there's no single organiser responsible for the whole thing. If an LTA is facilitated without the trader meeting these requirements, the rights that would apply to a package — including regulations 9 and 12 to 14 and the whole of Part 4 on performance — apply instead (regulation 26(11)).

Confirmed reform changes this balance from 6 April 2027 — see the section below.

What the organiser must tell you before you pay

Before you're bound by a package travel contract, the trader responsible for the information duties (the organiser, or the retailer if you booked through one — regulation 4) must give you the information set out in Schedule 1 to the Regulations, covering the main characteristics of the trip, in a clear, comprehensible and prominent way (regulation 5). That information — things like the destination, the itinerary, the accommodation type and standard, meal arrangements, and the price — then becomes part of your contract and can't be changed afterwards unless you expressly agree (regulation 6). If the trader doesn't tell you about additional fees or charges before you book, you don't have to pay them.

The contract itself must be in plain, intelligible language, and you're entitled to a copy or confirmation of it on a durable medium (paper, email, or similar) at or shortly after booking (regulation 7). Before you travel, the organiser must also give you your tickets, vouchers and receipts, along with departure times, check-in deadlines, and connection and arrival times.

A genuinely useful protection sits behind all of this: if there's a dispute about whether the organiser complied with these information duties, the organiser has to prove that it did — not the other way round (regulation 8). Keep your booking confirmation, any pre-departure emails, and the version of the itinerary you were shown when you paid; they're what your case rests on if something doesn't match what you were told.

Price changes after you've booked

The price in your package travel contract can't go up once you've paid unless the contract expressly allows it, limits any increase to genuine cost changes — the price of fuel or other power sources, taxes and fees imposed by third parties (tourist taxes, landing fees, and similar), or exchange rates — and gives you an equivalent right to a price reduction if those same costs fall before departure (regulation 10). Any increase, whatever its size, must be explained and calculated for you clearly, on a durable medium, at least 20 days before the start of the package.

Where a price increase would exceed 8% of the total package price, it's treated the same as a significant change to the trip (regulation 10(4)): you get the right to accept it, accept a substitute package, or cancel and get a full refund, rather than simply having to pay it.

Significant changes to your holiday before you go

Before the trip starts, the organiser generally can't unilaterally change the contract terms — other than the price, under the rules above — unless the contract allows it, the change is insignificant, and you're told about it clearly (regulation 11(2)). Genuinely minor tweaks, communicated properly, don't give you extra rights.

It's a different story where the organiser is forced by circumstances beyond its control to significantly alter one of the main characteristics of the trip, can't meet a special request it had agreed to, or proposes a price rise of more than 8% (regulation 11(3)). In any of those situations, the organiser must tell you promptly, clearly and on a durable medium, set you a reasonable deadline to respond, and tell you about any substitute package on offer. You can then:

• Accept the change and continue with the (possibly adjusted) package; or
• Terminate the contract without paying a fee, and accept a substitute package if one's offered, or get a full refund of everything you've paid within 14 days (regulation 11(5), (8)).

If the changed or substitute package is of lower quality or cost than what you originally booked, you're also entitled to an appropriate price reduction (regulation 11(7)). If you don't respond within the deadline, the organiser has to chase you a second time before it can treat your silence as a decision (regulation 11(10)-(11)).

Cancelling before you travel

If you cancel

You can terminate the package travel contract at any point before departure (regulation 12(2)). Unless one of the exceptions below applies, the organiser can charge a termination fee — either a standard fee set out in the contract that reflects how close to departure you are and what the organiser saves by not having to provide the services, or, if there's no standard fee, the package price minus those savings (regulation 12(4)-(5)). You can ask for a breakdown justifying the amount.

If unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occur at the destination or its immediate vicinity and significantly affect the trip or the journey there — a natural disaster, an outbreak of serious civil unrest, or comparable events — you can cancel without paying any fee and get a full refund, though not additional compensation (regulation 12(7)-(8)).

If the organiser cancels

The organiser can cancel your package and give you a full refund, without owing you extra compensation, in two situations (regulation 13): where too few people booked to meet a stated minimum and it tells you within a set deadline before departure (20 days for trips over 6 days, 7 days for trips of 2–6 days, 48 hours for shorter trips); or where unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances make it impossible to run the trip and it tells you without undue delay. Any refund owed after a valid cancellation must reach you within 14 days (regulation 14).

When something goes wrong on the trip

The organiser is responsible for every travel service in the package actually being delivered as promised, whether it performs the service itself or a third party does (regulation 15(2)). If a service isn't provided, or isn't provided properly — a "lack of conformity" — tell the organiser or its local representative without undue delay so it has the chance to fix it. The organiser must then remedy the problem within a reasonable period you set, unless that's impossible or would cost disproportionately more than the value of what's affected (regulation 15(4)). If it refuses to help, or the problem needs fixing immediately, you can sort it yourself and claim back the reasonable cost (regulation 15(6)).

Where the organiser can't provide a significant part of what was promised, it must offer suitable alternative arrangements at no extra cost, of equivalent or better quality where possible (regulation 15(8)). You can only turn down an alternative if it isn't genuinely comparable, or the price reduction offered alongside a lower-quality alternative isn't adequate (regulation 15(10)). If the failure substantially affects the trip and isn't fixed in time, you can end the contract on the spot without paying a fee, and — where the package includes travel — the organiser must still get you home (regulation 15(11), (13)).

Price reduction and compensation

Under regulation 16, the organiser must offer an appropriate price reduction for any period affected by a lack of conformity, and appropriate compensation for any resulting damage, unless it proves the problem was your fault, was caused by an unconnected and genuinely unforeseeable third party, or was due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances. A package travel contract can cap compensation, but the cap can never go below three times the total price of the package, and it can never limit liability for personal injury or for loss caused intentionally or negligently (regulation 16(6)). Where you're also entitled to compensation under airline, rail, sea or bus passenger-rights rules or an international convention, the organiser deducts what you've already recovered there to stop you being paid twice (regulation 16(9)).

Repatriation and stranded travellers

If unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances mean the organiser can't get you home as agreed, it must cover reasonable accommodation costs — of an equivalent standard where possible — for up to three nights per traveller, or longer where relevant passenger-rights legislation requires it (regulation 15(14)). That three-night cap doesn't apply to disabled travellers, people with reduced mobility (and anyone accompanying them), pregnant travellers, unaccompanied minors, or anyone needing specific medical assistance, provided the organiser knew about the need at least 48 hours before departure (regulation 15(15)).

Insolvency protection: ATOL, bonding, insurance and trust accounts

An organiser established in the UK must provide "effective security" against its own insolvency, sufficient to refund payments for any travel service that isn't performed because it has gone under, and — where the package includes carriage of passengers and the failure affects your trip — to repatriate you and cover any accommodation needed first (regulation 19(1)). This has to be in place regardless of where you live, where you departed from, or where the package was sold (regulation 19(2)).

In practice, organisers meet this duty through one of a small number of routes recognised by the Regulations: a bond with an authorised institution (regulation 20), a bond backed by an approved body's reserve fund or insurance (regulation 21), direct insurance with an authorised insurer (regulation 22), or a trust account arrangement. Where the package includes a flight, most UK organisers instead rely on the ATOL (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) scheme, run under the Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) Regulations 2012, which the Package Travel Regulations recognise as satisfying the insolvency-protection duty in its own right (regulation 19(6)). Check your booking confirmation, invoice or ATOL certificate to see which form of protection applies to your trip — it should be stated clearly. Failing to provide this security is a criminal offence for the organiser, prosecutable on summary conviction or on indictment (regulation 19(9)).

If your organiser does become insolvent mid-trip, you can agree to continue the package if it's still possible to do so and another party is willing to step in and carry out the organiser's remaining responsibilities (regulation 19(10)).

Reform on the way: what changes from 6 April 2027

Following a government consultation that ran from April to June 2025, the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/455) have now been made. They come into force on 6 April 2027 and apply only to contracts entered into on or after that date — bookings made before then continue under the rules described above.

The confirmed changes:

• The type of linked travel arrangement created when you separately select and pay for services during a single visit to a trader's point of sale is absorbed into the definition of a package, so it gains full package protection.
• The other type of linked travel arrangement — where a trader passes your details to a second trader who confirms a further service within 24 hours — is removed from the Regulations entirely, on the basis that it currently offers limited protection while creating compliance burden for smaller businesses (for example B&Bs referring guests to local activity providers).
• The current right of redress in regulation 29 is replaced with separate refund and redress provisions, intended to establish a clearer 14-day period for organisers to recover refunds from suppliers.

If you're booking a trip for after 6 April 2027, or you're a business trying to work out which regime applies, treat the date of the contract — not the date of travel — as the trigger point.

Making a complaint and escalating a dispute

If a problem arises while you're still on the trip, report it to the organiser's representative or the organiser itself straight away, and keep evidence — photos, dated notes, names of who you spoke to. This gives the organiser the chance to remedy things under regulation 15 and strengthens any later claim.

If the issue wasn't resolved on the trip, or only becomes clear once you're home, write to the organiser setting out what went wrong, what you reported and when, and what outcome you want, with copies of your evidence attached. Give a reasonable deadline for a response. If the organiser doesn't engage, or you can't agree an outcome, you can pursue the dispute through alternative dispute resolution or, for lower-value claims, the small claims track of the county court — GOV.UK's money claims service explains how to start a claim online. Local weights and measures authorities (Trading Standards) and the Civil Aviation Authority are the bodies responsible for enforcing the Regulations (regulation 31), though they act to uphold the law generally rather than to fix an individual booking.

What to do if your package holiday goes wrong

1. Check whether your booking is actually a package. Look at how it was sold — one inclusive price, one booking process, or the word "package" all point to yes (regulation 2(5)).
2. Keep every piece of paperwork. Your booking confirmation, the pre-contract information you were shown, receipts, and any ATOL certificate or insolvency-protection document.
3. Report problems on the spot, in writing where you can. Photos, dated notes and the name of who you spoke to all matter later.
4. Give the organiser a reasonable chance to fix it before you assume you're entitled to walk away — but you don't have to wait if the problem needs an immediate fix (regulation 15(6)-(7)).
5. Put a full written complaint to the organiser after you return, with your evidence attached and a clear deadline for a response.
6. Know your refund timelines. Valid cancellations and terminations must be refunded within 14 days (regulations 11(8), 14).
7. Escalate if you're stuck — alternative dispute resolution, or the small claims track for lower-value disputes, are the usual next steps if the organiser won't engage.

This guide provides general information about package holiday rights under the law of England and Wales. It is not legal advice and does not take account of your specific circumstances; reading it does not create a solicitor–client relationship. LegalDocuments.co.uk is not a law firm and is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. For advice on your own situation, speak to a regulated adviser. The law described was accurate as at August 2026 and is subject to change — always check GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk for the current position.

Last reviewed: August 2026 · Next review due: August 2027 or on legislative change.