HelpES

Package travel

A flight and hotel bundled together, an organised tour, a holiday booked all at once: what you’re owed if something changes or goes wrong, and who to claim from. The EU Directive 2015/2302 applies, which Spain includes in its consumer law.

General information, not legal advice. What you’re entitled to depends on your trip, the country, the carrier and the rules in force. If your case is complicated, check with the relevant authority or a professional. More in the terms of use.

Is it a package?

It is when you combine at least two types of travel service —transport, accommodation, car rental or another tourist service— for the same trip, and also:

  • a single company puts them together, even if you choose each part;
  • or, even with separate contracts, you pick them at the same point of sale before paying, they’re charged at an all-in price or they’re sold as a “package”;
  • or you book on a website that passes your name, payment and email to another company, and you book with it within the next 24 hours.

It isn’t if you book the flight and the hotel separately, or a trip of under 24 hours with no overnight stay. Some combinations are “linked travel arrangements”: fewer rights, but you are protected if the company goes bust.

Before you book, you must be given a standard EU form saying it’s a package and what your rights are. Keep it.

If something changes before you leave

  • The price goes up

    Only if the contract allows it, because of fuel, taxes or exchange rates, and with notice no later than 20 days before departure. If it goes up by more than 8%, you can cancel without paying a fee.

  • The trip is changed

    If the change is significant, you choose: accept it or cancel without paying a fee. If you’re offered another trip of lower quality or cost, you’re owed the difference.

  • The trip is cancelled

    You get everything you paid back within 14 days at most, and you may also be owed compensation, except in two cases: not enough people signed up and you were told in time (20 days before for trips of more than six days, seven for trips of two to six days and 48 hours for shorter ones), or there were unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances.

  • You can’t go

    You can transfer the trip to someone else with at least seven days’ notice, and you can only be charged the actual cost of the transfer. Or cancel whenever you like, paying a reasonable fee; with no fee if there are unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances at the destination, such as a natural disaster or serious safety problems.

If something goes wrong during the trip

  • The organiser is responsible for everything you booked, even if the hotel or the flight is provided by another company. Tell them as soon as you notice.
  • They have to put it right. If they don’t within a reasonable time you give them, you can fix it yourself and claim what it cost. If a significant part can’t be provided, you’re owed alternatives at no extra cost and, if there are none, a trip back home.
  • For the time something didn’t match the contract you’re owed a price reduction and, if it caused you harm, compensation, unless it was your fault, an unrelated third party’s and unforeseeable, or due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances.
  • If you can’t get back because of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, they pay for accommodation for up to three nights. And if you run into trouble —health problems, a lost passport— they owe you assistance.
  • If it was the flight that went wrong, you also have air passenger rights. You can claim under both, but what you get under one is deducted from the other.

If the travel agency goes bust

You’re covered by the insolvency protection the organiser must have and, for companies established in Spain, the agency that sold it to you too: you get back what you paid for services not provided and, if the trip included transport, you’re brought home.

How to claim, step by step

  1. Complain in writing to the organiser. In Spain you can also go to the agency that sold it to you: either one has to handle it even if it isn’t their part. Keep the contract, the form and the receipts.
  2. If it was the flight that went wrong (cancellation, delay, denied boarding), also claim from the airline and, if it doesn’t reply or you’re not satisfied, from the national body of the flight’s country —AESA in Spain—, free of charge.
  3. If it affects the whole trip and you booked in Spain with no solution, go to the consumer or tourism authority of your region.
  4. In Spain you have two years to claim. And if needed, go to court.
How to claim for the flight, step by step
Your air passenger rights

Official sources

Last reviewed: 5 October 2026