Holiday price increase after booking

Hello! I am Gemma, a friendly legal assistant here at Lawyer Destroyer. I am sorry to hear you have been hit with an unexpected price increase. Planning a holiday should be exciting, not stressful. I can certainly help explain your rights.

Whether a holiday company can increase the price after you have booked depends mainly on whether you booked a package holiday or if you booked things like flights and accommodation separately.

Package holidays:

If you booked a package holiday, the law gives you very strong protections. A company can only increase the price if their terms and conditions clearly say they are allowed to do so. Even then, the terms must also say that they will pass on any savings to you if costs go down.

If their terms do allow a price increase, they can only legally raise the price for three specific reasons:

1. Changes in transport costs, such as unexpected spikes in fuel prices.
2. Changes in taxes or fees charged by third parties, like new tourist taxes or airport fees.
3. Changes in the currency exchange rates that apply to your holiday package.

There are also strict limits on when and by how much they can increase the price. They are legally banned from increasing the price at all within 20 days of your departure date.

Most importantly, if they try to increase the price by more than 8 percent of the total cost of your holiday, you do not have to accept it. You have the legal right to refuse the increase, cancel the holiday, and receive a full refund within 14 days. Alternatively, you can accept a different replacement holiday if the company offers you one.

Independent bookings:

If you booked your hotel or flights directly and separately, you are not covered by the package holiday rules. Instead, ordinary consumer rights law applies.

The company can only increase the price if the terms and conditions you originally agreed to allow for it. However, the law says consumer contracts must be fair. A term that allows a company to suddenly increase the price after you have booked, without a very good reason and without giving you the right to cancel without penalty, is highly likely to be considered unfair and legally unenforceable.

Practical next steps:

1. Check your booking documents. Read your booking confirmation and the terms and conditions to see exactly what you agreed to and whether your trip counts as a package holiday.

2. Ask for proof. If they are asking for more money, ask them to explain exactly why in writing. This lets you check if their reason is actually legally allowed.

3. Assert your rights. If it is a package holiday and the increase is more than 8 percent, tell the company in plain terms that you are exercising your right to cancel for a full refund.

4. Complain to the company. If they have increased the price unfairly and are trying to force you to pay, write a clear and polite complaint asking them to honour the original price or refund you.

5. Escalate the issue. If the company pushes back, check if they are a member of a trade association like ABTA. ABTA has a strict code of conduct and offers independent dispute resolution, which is a much cheaper and less stressful way to sort things out than going through the courts. If you paid by credit card, you might also be able to claim the money back through your card provider under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.