Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

GERMANY | ERNST FÜHRICH 827 package travel law according to the new bill. Contrariwise, day–trips, worth more than € 500, are applicable, although it is doubtful whether such expensive day-trips actually occur in practice 15 . (3) Business package on general agreement . According to Art. 2 No. 1 c PTD, the Law does not apply to packages and linked travel arrangements purchased on the basis of a general agreement, for the arrangement of business travel between a trader and another natural or legal person who is acting for the purposes to his trade. Conversely, this means that business travel without a general agreement is subject to the provisions of packages and linked travel arrangements. f ) Student school programs abroad In Germany, exchange school language programs for pupils and students in host families and schools were under the scope of package travel in the old law, and this will also be the case under the new travel law, which is possible according to Recital 21 of the Directive. These programs with guest school and host families are a special formof the package travel, having been proved, by German case law, for many years 16 . g) No analogy for single travel services (1) Former Law . Since 1977, the German Supreme Court also applies the package travel law to the rental of holiday homes, as a single service offered and contracted by an organiser 17 . This has led to countless disputes in lower courts and the Supreme Court. The practice of German tour organisers and their insolvency protection recognized this jurisprudence reluctantly. (2) New law . The German legislature has decided against the implementation of this case law in the new package travel law 18 . So an analogous application to the single travel service regulations by the judiciary is no longer possible due to lack of an unjustified regulatory gap 19 . 15 Führich/Staudinger § 5 Rn 47; Führich, NJW 2017, 2945, 2946. 16 Führich, Reiserecht, 7 th Ed. 2015, § 17 Rn. 1. 17 BGH of 17.1.1985, VII ZR 163/84, NJW 1985, 906; BGH of 9.7.1992, VII ZR 7/92, NJW 1992, 3158; BGH of 29.6.1995, X ZR 201/94, NJW 1995, 2629; BGH of 23.10.2012, X ZR 157/11, RRa 2013, 70; BGH of 28.5.2013, X ZR 88/12, RRa 2013, 222; BGH of 20.5.2014, X ZR 134/13, NJW 2014, 2955. 18 BT-Drs. 18/10822, 66. 19 Führich, NJW 2017, 2945, 2945; Führich/Staudinger, Reiserecht, § 28; MK/Tonner, BGB, § 651a Rn 31; Tonner, MDR 2018, 305, 307.