Collective Commentary about the New Package Travel Directive

828 COLLECTIVE COMMENTARY ABOUT THE NEW PACKAGE TRAVEL DIRECTIVE II. SUMMARY OF THE NEW TRAVEL LAW 1. Package travel contract At the start of the section, the central “travel contract” is renamed, following the Directive, as “package travel contract” and newly defined (§§ 651a, b BGB). 2. Online booking process Concerning linked online booking processes, a new rule on the concept of a travel package was added. Linked online booking processes, the so-called “click- -through bookings”, are bookings travellers make subsequently on linked webpages (§ 651c BGB). 3. Pre-contractual information The pre-contractual information duties have been extended. In particular, the travel organiser will have to inform the traveller, with a standardised form, about his or her rights, awarded by the Directive (§ 651d BGB and Art. 250 §§ 1 – 10). 4. Alteration of the price The rules concerning price increases and other changes to the contract terms are revised, according to the Directive. It is clarified that standard terms and conditions can also make reservations regarding changes to the contract. In particular, the general rules of standard terms and conditions are no longer applicable due to the full harmonisation, through the Directive. In case of a contractual reservation of a price increase, the traveller is automatically entitled to a price reduction, in case the relevant circumstances changed in his favour. However, the traveller will only have the right to withdraw from the contract if the price increases to more than 8% of the travel price, as opposed to the 5% in the former law (§§ 651f, g BGB). 5. Withdrawal § 651h BGB contains provisions to withdraw before the start of the package. The regulation is similar to the former § 651i BGB, the right of cancellation against a standard termination fee, but also the termination of the contract by the organiser. 6. Lack of conformity The §§ 651i through 651p BGB contain the revised rights of travellers, by “lack