Package Holiday Not as Described? Your Rights and How to Complain

If your package holiday does not match what you booked, the organiser may have to put things right. Depending on the problem, you could also claim a price reduction, necessary expenses or compensation.

Start by reporting the issue while you are away and giving the organiser an opportunity to resolve it. If your complaint remains unresolved, you may be able to escalate through ABTA, another dispute-resolution scheme or the courts.

Your legal rights do not depend on the company being an ABTA member. ABTA membership provides an additional complaints route.

Is Your Booking a Package Holiday?

A package generally combines at least two different types of travel service for the same trip, such as flights and accommodation, under qualifying booking arrangements.

It does not have to be a traditional ready-made holiday. A tailor-made booking can qualify, and separate contracts or payments do not automatically rule it out. A hotel booking on its own would not normally be a package.

Check your booking documents and the ABTA explanation of package holidays. The applicable rules depend on when and how you booked.

This article focuses on rights under the UK’s Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018.

Who Is Responsible When Something Goes Wrong?

The package organiser is responsible for the proper performance of the travel services included in your package, even where another business provides them.

For example, the organiser cannot simply dismiss a complaint about your included accommodation by saying it is the hotel’s responsibility.

Your booking confirmation should identify the organiser. If you booked through a travel agent, you can also report package problems through that retailer, which must forward relevant complaints without undue delay. An agent may separately be responsible for its own booking errors.

See Regulation 15 on responsibility for the package.

What Counts as a Holiday Not Being as Described?

The issue should concern something included or agreed in your booking, rather than simply a holiday not meeting your personal expectations.

Examples include:

Keep the description that applied when you booked. A special requirement accepted as part of the contract is different from a preference marked “subject to availability”.

Report the Problem While You Are Away

Tell the organiser or its representative without undue delay. Reporting an issue only to hotel reception may not be enough to give the organiser an opportunity to help.

Explain:

• What is wrong.
• How it differs from your booking.
• What you want done to resolve it.

Follow up calls or conversations in writing and keep any complaint reference. If there is a resort complaint form, request a copy.

Failing to report a problem promptly can affect your claim where the organiser could have prevented or reduced the resulting loss.

Give the Organiser a Chance to Put Things Right

Normally, give the organiser a reasonable deadline to resolve the issue. What is reasonable depends on the circumstances: a missing transfer needs a quicker response than a less urgent room problem.

If it fails to act within that deadline, you may be entitled to arrange a remedy yourself and recover the necessary expenses. You do not have to set a deadline if the organiser refuses to help or an immediate remedy is required.

Keep your arrangements proportionate. Booking a much more expensive replacement without justification could leave you paying the difference.

What Can You Claim?

The appropriate remedy depends on what went wrong and how it affected your holiday.

A Price Reduction

You may be entitled to an appropriate reduction for the period when the package did not meet the contract, unless the organiser proves the problem was attributable to you.

For example, losing access to an included facility for several days may justify a partial reduction. It does not automatically entitle you to a refund of the whole holiday.

Necessary Expenses

You may be able to recover necessary costs incurred when the organiser failed to provide a remedy, subject to the conditions above.

Keep itemised receipts and explain why each expense was needed.

Compensation

Compensation may be available for losses caused by the failure, including loss of enjoyment where holiday problems were sufficiently substantial.

However, compensation can be excluded where the organiser proves the failure was attributable to:

• You.
• An unconnected third party, where the failure was unforeseeable or unavoidable.
• Unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances.

These compensation exceptions do not automatically remove a separate entitlement to a price reduction.

There is no fixed compensation table equivalent to flight-delay payments. See Regulation 16 on price reductions and compensation.

What If the Replacement Is Worse?

If a significant proportion of the package cannot be provided, the organiser must offer suitable alternative arrangements, where possible of equivalent or higher quality, at no extra cost.

If the alternative is lower quality, an appropriate price reduction should be offered. You can reject proposed alternatives where they are not comparable with what you booked or the proposed reduction is inadequate.

Serious unresolved failures can also create rights to end the package without a termination fee and, where applicable, receive transport home. These rights have specific conditions, so seek advice before abandoning the holiday or making expensive replacement arrangements.

What If the Company Changes Your Holiday Before Departure?

A significant change to the package’s main characteristics, or an inability to meet an accepted special requirement, can give you the choice to accept the change or cancel without a termination fee.

Minor changes do not automatically create that right. Read the organiser’s notice, including its response deadline and any proposed replacement.

See Regulation 11 on changes before the package begins.

Keep Evidence of What Went Wrong

Save:

• Your booking confirmation and terms.
• The holiday description and accepted special requirements.
• Photographs or videos showing the problem.
• Messages, complaint forms and responses.
• Itemised receipts for additional expenses.
• A short timeline recording when you reported the issue and what happened next.

Evidence should show both the problem and its impact. For example, record how long a facility was unavailable rather than relying on a single photograph.

How to Complain After Returning Home

Write to the organiser through its official complaints process. Explain what was promised, what happened, when you reported it and why the response was inadequate.

Separate any requested price reduction, expenses and compensation, with supporting evidence.

You could write:

I am complaining about package booking [reference], departing on [date]. The booking included [agreed service], but [explain the problem]. I reported this to [person/company] on [date], and [explain the response]. I am requesting [amount and breakdown], supported by the attached evidence. Please investigate and provide a written response.

Complain promptly and check the booking terms for complaint procedures.

Can ABTA Help?

ABTA can help with eligible complaints against its current members. Check membership rather than assuming every package-holiday company belongs to ABTA.

Its guidance says to allow the company 28 days to respond. If you remain unhappy, reply explaining why and allow a further 28 days before escalating, following ABTA’s instructions.

ABTA’s initial complaints service is free and aims to help resolve the dispute. It does not guarantee compensation or automatically award the amount you request.

See ABTA’s complaint process and register a complaint with ABTA.

What About ABTA Arbitration?

If the complaint remains unresolved, eligible disputes may proceed to arbitration.

Under the published 2026 rules, the application fee is £150, with claim limits generally of £5,000 per person and £25,000 per booking. Applications normally need to be made within 18 months of the return date or intended return date. Additional restrictions apply, including to injury and sickness claims.

An arbitration award is legally binding. This differs from an informal complaint review: you cannot normally reject the award and start the same claim again in court simply because you disagree.

Read ABTA’s dispute-resolution guidance and the 2026 arbitration rules before applying.

What If the Company Is Not an ABTA Member?

You can still exercise your statutory rights against the organiser.

Ask whether it participates in another suitable dispute-resolution scheme. You can also contact Citizens Advice for guidance on your options.

ABTA membership affects access to its services, rather than whether the company must comply with package-travel law.

Can You Take the Holiday Company to Court?

If your complaint remains unresolved, you may be able to bring a court claim against the package organiser. Identify the correct company, make reasonable attempts to settle and check the applicable legal deadline.

For the general process, see GOV.UK’s guidance on making a court claim for money. My Taking an Airline to Small Claims Court: England Guide also explains the court stages, although package-holiday claims involve different legal rights.

Do not assume that complaints or dispute-resolution procedures pause a court deadline. If you have already used ABTA arbitration, check the binding effect of its award and the limited appeal rights before considering further proceedings.

Is ATOL Protection the Same Thing?

No. ATOL mainly protects qualifying bookings if the travel company stops trading. It is not the usual route for a complaint about hotel quality or missing facilities while the organiser remains in business.

See what ATOL protection covers.

What If the Problem Was Your Flight?

A flight included in a package can also attract separate airline obligations.

Read my guides to flight-delay compensation and care and cancelled-flight refunds, rerouting and expenses.

You cannot recover the same loss twice from the airline and package organiser.

Final Thoughts

Report problems promptly, give the organiser a reasonable opportunity to help and keep evidence of what was promised and what you received.

If the response is inadequate, request a clear remedy and use the appropriate complaints or court route within its deadlines.