With the January blues behind us, many people are looking to book a holiday as something to look forward to! Package holidays are popular with every type of holidaymaker as they range from beach holidays to ski breaks, yoga retreats to city breaks, and everything in between. Their 'fuss-free' appeal also means that you can tailor your trip to include travel, activities or all-inclusive food and drink so that there is less to arrange when you are away.

What is a package Holiday? 

Simply put, a package holiday is where more than one part of your holiday is booked through the same website or travel agent, such as booking flights and a hotel in the same transaction. Helpfully, most qualifying holidays are clearly advertised as package holidays or as 'all inclusive'. It can also cover holidays where one part of the holiday was bought, such as flights, but within 24 hours of booking the holidaymaker was encouraged to purchase, and completed booking another part, such as the hotel.

What are the benefits of package holidays?

The 'all-in-one' concept, combined with the easy booking process often makes the process stress free, helps save time and often means that the time spent planning a trip away is minimal. However, they can also offer other benefits which are not included in 'DIY' holidays, such as being protected by the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018.

The Regulations aim to protect package-holiday makers by requiring travel providers to be honest when advertising their holidays, as well as stipulating that the provider has a legal duty of care to ensure the safety of their holidaymakers.

What to do when things go wrong?

In the unfortunate event, something does go wrong on your package holiday, and someone is injured or falls ill, we recommend reporting it to the travel provider as soon as possible of the issue as they may be able to provide help and get you medical attention if this is required. If the issue is not resolved, we may be able to help you bring a claim against the travel provider for falling below their duty of care to you. This claim can include compensation for:

• Any personal injury which occurred abroad whilst on the holiday
• Loss of value and enjoyment of the holiday
• Reasonable out-of-pocket expenses

We hope you have a brilliant time on your holidays, however, if you need advice for an accident abroad, contact us at 0345 872 6666 or fill in our online enquiry form and we'll get back to you.

This blog was co-authored by Megan Pennington and Joanne Brine.