Two major online travel firms have agreed to a European Union consumer rights framework that means customers should receive better information and be refunded within 14 days of flights being cancelled.
Expedia and Lastminute.com signed up to the series of commitments following a dialogue with the European Commission and the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC) – a group of national consumer authorities. Led by led by the Swedish Consumer Agency, the talks encouraged online travel agencies to voluntarily adopt practices that enhance consumer’s protection and knowledge of their rights, as well as business compliance with EU legislation.
The move comes as online travel agencies battle a growing trend for consumers to cut out intermediaries and make their own direct bookings, reducing middleman fees and, some argue, ensuring the money spent goes directly into local economies in an act of responsible tourism. Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, called it “a positive step for consumers, who will benefit from faster and more predictable reimbursements, even before the new rules are formally adopted by the co-legislators.”
The two travel booking platforms join three other online travel agencies (Edreams ODIGEO, Etraveli Group, and Kiwi.com) who committed back in 2023 to the same best practices, which include:
- passing on airline refunds relating to cancelled flights to the consumer within seven days of receipt, resulting in a maximum delay of 14 days before affected passengers get their money back;
- a confirmation that the platforms have dealt with reimbursement backlogs;
- providing their contact details, such as telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, to customers on or via the “support” or “contact us” sections of their websites – so that consumers can easily get in touch with them;
- ensuring information on the specific benefits linked to different service packages is made clearer to consumers;
- giving consumers clear information about cancellations and about their statutory rights relating to rerouting and reimbursement under Air Passenger Rights Regulation;
- making sure consumers know about the consequences of specific services offered by airline intermediaries (e.g. when only one leg of a trip is cancelled, the second leg may still have to be paid where there is no interlink between the flights involved).
As they do already with Edreams ODIGEO, Etraveli Group, and Kiwi.com, the network of European consumer protection authorities will monitor Lastminute and Expedia to ensure compliance going forward.
Commenting on the agreement, Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said: “Flight cancellations can be extremely disruptive to travellers. It is simply a question of basic fairness for passengers to be refunded without delay.”
Similarly, Michael McGrath, Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, hailed the commitments and the timing as “good news” saying: “In the midst of the summer holiday season, Expedia and Lastminute.com are sending a clear signal that they take consumers’ rights seriously, particularly when consumers are affected by flight cancellations.”
However, while Expedia has declared its practices are already in line, Lastminute may not be fully compliant with the commitments until after the end of the holiday season, on 1 September 2025.
