Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

ARTICLE 3 | VINCENZO FRANCESCHELLI AND CARLOS TORRES 117 There is no differentiation of the legal regime for the offline or online purchase of package tours, stating that the “same principles should apply irrespective of whether the booking is made through a high street trader or online.” (recital 8, in fine ). The definition of package comes from paragraph 2 of Article 3, requiring the combination of at least two different types of travel services for the same trip or holiday, in accordance with various possibilities listed in the relevant points and subpoints. Given the considerable extent of the new concept of package, it becomes necessary to establish its boundaries, to draw an imaginary line around the situations it encompasses, to figure out the time frame – until when – legally eligible travel services can be combined, as stipulated in Article 3(1), and, if the choice can only be made by the operator or by the client himself, who can combine them. Let us then look at the various points and subpoints of Article 3/2, which show the different possibilities in which the concept of package travel unfolds. In Article 3/2)/(a), travel services are combined, that is, brought together or aggregated by a single operator, and cover an extended time frame, ranging from before the elaboration (pre-elaboration) of the services offered to the public through a brochure until signing (conclusion) a single contract covering all services 8 . This excludes those that take place between the signing (i.e. conclusion) of the contract and the moment of departure, being a considerable evolution of the discipline from 1990 to 2015. The restrictive letter of the 1990 Law requires the ‘pre- -arranged combination’ of travel services, i.e. that the combination of services takes place before being offered to the public. This restrictive text would subsequently be extended, more specifically in 2002, by an extensive interpretation of the Court of Justice of the European Union, in a famous case involving a consumer and a Portuguese travel agency. § The Club-Tour case Several cases were examined by the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding the Directive of 1990, however the Club Tour case was the only one mentioned by the European legislator, stating that “it should make no difference whether travel services are combined before any contact with the traveller or at the request of or in accordance with the selection made by the traveller.” 9 . That is, the 8 Pre-arranged packages (recital 9). 9 Recital 8.