Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

Critical Issues in German Travel Law after the Implementation of the Package Travel Directive Ernst Führich 1 I. Implementation of the Package Travel Directive in Germany; 1. Litigation; 2. Scope; A) Legal nature; B) Package travel contract; C) Travel service provider; D) Travel agent or retailer; E) Exceptions of the scope; F) Student school programs abroad; G) No analogy for single travel services; II. Summary of the New Travel Law; 1. Package travel contract; 2. Online booking process; 3. Pre-contractual information; 4. Alteration of the price; 5. Withdrawal; 6. Lack of conformity; 7. Determination; 8. Limit compensation; 9. Assistance; 10. Insolvency protection; 11. Information by retailer; 12. Linked travel arrangements; 13. Booking errors; 14. Imperative nature; III. Five critical issues of the new Reiserecht: 1. Trader or organiser; A) Objective criteria of booking; B) Separate bills; 2. Linked online booking processes; 3. “Gewillkürte Pauschalreise”; A) Confusion in tourism industry; B) Full harmonisation of the Directive; 4. “Mehrwertpaket” as “other tourist service”; 5. Insolvency of Thomas Cook; A) Collapse of a giant; B) Insolvency protection in the Directive; C) Limit of € 110 million; IV. COVID-19 Pandemic; 1. The No. 1 Topic in Germany: Termination of travel contract before the start of the package; 2. Theses of Prof. Führich on free termination; 3. Vouchers as an alternative to reimbursement. I. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE IN GERMANY 1. Litigation Germany, as Member State of the European Union, has reformed the chapter “Reisevertrag” in §§ 651a et seqq. BGB (Buergerliches Gesetzbuch), to implement the Directive 2015/2303/EU on PackageTravel and LinkedTravel Arrangements 1 University of Kempten.