Many people are probably not aware of this, but package tours that have already been booked can sometimes become more expensive later on. The lawyer Hans-Josef Vogel from Düsseldorf points this out. However, such a price adjustment was subsequently capped at eight percent.
This means that if the organizer wants to increase the prices by more than eight percent, the customer can pay the additional costs, but does not have to. And there are also guidelines for a unilateral adjustment by the organizer of up to eight percent of the price, explains the lawyer.
Check the fine print of your package tour
Event organizers are only allowed to increase prices if they have expressly reserved the right to do so in advance. Appropriate formulations can be found in the terms and conditions (GTC). If you want to be sure whether the organizer is allowed to raise the prices, you can’t avoid reading the small print of your booking.
In most cases, however, such clauses are absent. Because: These must then also include the fact that prices can also fall vice versa. For example, if exchange rates have changed between the conclusion of the contract and the start of the trip and the tour operator incurs fewer costs. According to a spokeswoman for the German Travel Association, most providers therefore refrain from using such clauses. In view of the complex calculation, the bureaucratic effort is not worth it.
Price increase only up to a maximum of 20 days before cancellation
If such a clause is part of your travel booking, the tour operator must notify you of the price increase in writing no later than 20 days before the start of the trip. Karolina Wojtal from the European Consumer Center therefore advises customers to keep a close eye on this period. If the increase in the travel price by up to eight percent comes less than 20 days before the departure date, holidaymakers do not have to accept the surcharge. They can then refuse the payment with reference to the legal situation, they explain consumer centers.
If your travel booking contains a clause for subsequent price changes and the tour operator notifies you of the additional costs in good time and within the permitted eight percent range, you have two options:
- You can either request an equivalent replacement trip at the previous price within a period set by the organizer or
- cancel the booked holiday free of charge.
Anyone who ignores the letter as a holidaymaker, however, tacitly accepts the price increase – and has to pay the additional costs.