CONCEPT.

We understand that a combined trip is a travel offered or sold by a Travel Agency –organizer o retailer-, which total cost include at least two of the elements that follow: when the trip lasts more than 24 hours, or a night stay is included.

Elements that composed a combined trip:

• Transport
• Lodging
• Any other services not accessory to them

However the law say that separated invoicing of several elements doesn’t release from responsibility of he fulfillment of the included obligations, by the organizer or retailer.

Combined trips are usually organized by Tour Operators, and commercialized by Retailer travel agencies. Nowadays there is a large diversity of entities, that work with several transport and lodging agencies.

In the travel agencies sector we difference three types of companies: Tour operators, Retailers and Wholesale/Retailers.

Tour operators organize trips and sell them to Retailers travel agencies and then sell them to de users.

Retailers basically commercialize tourist services and trips organized by Tour operators. Also they can organize trips, but they must sell them directly to their customers. They can’t sell them to any other agency.

Wholesale/retailers include both features. They organize trips and sell them to the customers o to other agencies.

Travel agencies must have a license to carry out their activity and they are obliged to subscribe a civil liability insurance and to deposit tan amount of money as a guarantee.

Precontractual information and entering into a contract

1. Prior information in the combined trips

We have de right to have in writing and with time enough before the beginning of the trip, the following information:

• Schedule, stopover, links and transport means quality.

• Also we have to dispose of the personal details about organizer agency’s local agent in the country or the countries we’ll travel. In case there isn’t any agent in these countries, the agency must give us an emergency telephone number that makes possible for us to contact with the agency or retailer.

• Beside we must have the document where the contractual clauses of the combined trip are established.

Travel agencies can ask the 40% at the most of the travel’s total cost as a deposit –except in the case that the contractor conditions impose the prior payment to the travel agencies-, and they must give back a receipt or a justificative document where the received amounts and the concepts must be stated. When we pay the total price the advanced amount must be subtracted.

The written information given by the travel agency is binding and always must respond to a useful, accurate and truthful judgment. Untrue o misleading publicity mustn’t be included. For this reason the agency must dispose of informatives pamphlets or programmes with clear and accurate information about destinations, ways of transport, travel schedules, lodging, meals, administrative requirements (visa and health formalities) and the travel cost. This pamphlet not only must be asked, but must be held till the return.

Agencies must inform about the possibility to subscribe an insurance contract that cover the cost of a cancellation caused by the costumer or a contract of assistance that cover the cost of the repatriation in case of accident or illness.

2. The contract

When we engage a combined trip we have to formalize a contract in writing that must content at least the following datum:

• Date, time and place of departure.
• Ways of transport that we’ll travel, their features and quality.
• Destination or destinations of the trips and the dates.
• The situation of lodging, the quality and kinds of meals included, if we’ve contracted this services.
• Itinerary.
• The trip cost, schedule, and ways of payment.
• Every clause that we have contracted at the moment of our reservation.
• They must advise us about our duty of informing as soon as possible to the travel agency about any non-observance of the contract that we may see “in situ”.
• Every special request made by the costumer at the moment of the booking to the organizer o to the retailer and both have accepted.

If you have suffered this incidence, send us the following electronic formulary that we facilitate and we give you a personalized answer as soon as possible.

Don’t forget that the study of your case is free, and that if it’s viable, we’ll carry the process out with any charge (our fees will be a percentage amount from the compensation obtained, if you don’t get any money, we don’t either).