Package travel

Holiday plans are often connected with using tourism and travel services. For making a choice some help are provided by consultants of travel agencies and different websites. Here we give you some advice, what is important to observe in booking your package holiday or making contracts for travel and accommodation with Estonian companies. 

Before you make a choice: 

•  It is worth considering whether you want to plan your holidays all by yourself or by the help of a travel agency. At first get familiar with offers of different travel agencies, compare their terms and conditions, also make some cost considerations.
• In order to get acquainted with the countries you plan to visit, use some pamphlets and internet sites now available. Clear up the most interesting sights and travel routes of these countries.

Pay attention to conceptions
(contained in the Estonian Tourism Act)

• 'Package' means the pre-arranged combination of not fewer than two of the following travel services when offered at an inclusive price and when the service covers a period of more than 24 hours:
  
  1. passenger service;
  2. accommodation service,
  3. other tourism services not ancillary to passenger service or accommodation service and accounting for a significant proportion of the complete package e.g. car hire, guided tours, theatre tickets etc.
  
  'Package' also means a combination of travel services, when the service covers a period of less than 24 hours, but includes accommodation service.
  
• 'Registration' is needed for tour operators and travel agencies as a proof of the legal right for operating, prescribed by the Register of Economic Activities Act in Estonia. You can find the information about existing registration for the certain travel agency by the web-page http://mtr.mkm.ee/ Before ordering the packet travel you can check up the existence of the determined security-money for every registered travel agency at the indicated web-page. 
  
•  'Security' is needed, if the travel agency is unable to perform the obligations arising from a packet contract. The size of security payment is calculated for every registered travel agency depending on the total annual sales of packages and the area of activity of the agency. The existence of the security-money guarantees, in the case of the insolvency of a travel agency, the existence of financial resources for:
  - return of the travelers to the place of departure;
  - accommodation services provided to the traveler during the return to the place of departure;
  - return of the price of the package to the consumer upon cancellation of the package or payment of compensation for a part of the package which is cancelled.

After you have made your choice:

• turn to the office of the travel agency. Every travel agency must be able to give you exhaustive information about offered packet-travels in written form. Some people like to use telephone for making travel agreements, but it is sometimes too uncertain way, when you want to prove later some terms of the agreement. Also, by phone you cannot receive the complete information about booked travel services; 
•  keep a copy of your booking (as also the paying documents for proof that payment was made). When booking your package holiday by internet, it is always worth either printing out your own copy of the actual booking form that you completed or saving a version on your computer. The terms and conditions which the company should make available on its website are important parts of the contract that you are making with the company. Please do read them and it can be worth keeping a copy of the version of the terms and conditions at the date that you made the booking, as website details can change quickly;
• ask about the terms and conditions of the contract, especially time limits for cancellation of the planned packet-travel and possibilities to get your money back. Also, present to the travel agency all your special requests;
• make inquiries about the necessity of visas and the existence of other special requirements. Find out, will the travel agency take care of the visas, or must you do it by yourself. In case of traveling free of visa, still some countries have placed special requirements for tourists about showing up their money reserves at a border and giving information about their accommodation plans;
• take notices about the offers of travel insurance providers. Usually the travel insurance is not included to the package. Although the law covers you in most situations, there are a number of areas where travel insurance will provide greater protection. Traveling by your own car, don´t forget to take the international traffic insurance (green card);
• before the departure check up the validity of your passport and all other documents. There are special requirements about taking with you the children of under age. For the child traveling without parents having his own passport is demanded. In case of traveling together with his parents, for the child up to 7 years of age is enough his name written in the parent´s passport. In case of 7-15 years of age, there must be also child´s photo in his parent´s passport. Starting from 16 years of age for everybody the existence of passport is obligatory.
  

When you have decided for a 'Package holiday'

After paying for package travel, consumer is entitled to get complete information about this package in written form. In accordance with the §7 of the Tourism Act, the description of a package and other terms and conditions of a contract communicated to the consumer shall comply with the requirements provided by the Estonian Law of Obligations Act. Prescribed by the law, the description of a package shall set out the following information concerning each package:

- the destination and the itinerary;
- the price of the package and the manner of and terms of payment;
- the means, characteristics and categories of transport used;
- the type of accommodation, its location, category or degree of comfort and its main features, and its approval and tourist classification under the rules of the host country concerned;
- the meal plan,
- the passport, visa and insurance requirements and health formalities applicable to the traveler;
- the right of the tour operator to withdraw from the travel contract if the number of travelers is smaller than that prescribed by the operator (provided that the tour operator has reserved this right).

The tour operator shall issue travel confirmation to the traveler immediately after entry into the contract. In this confirmation the name and address of the tour operator must be disclosed, also the dates on which the package will begin and end, and the visits, trips and other services included in the price of the package.

In the travel contract the tour operator may reserve the possibility that the price of the package may increase. Prescribed by the Law of Obligations Act §871, the traveler must be informed of the increase in the price of the package at least 21 days before the start of the journey. The tour operator may only increase the price of the package if:

1) the contract expressly provides for the possibility of the price being increased and states the procedure for calculation of the new price, and
2) the need to increase the price of the package has arisen due to changes in the costs of transport, including the cost of fuel, or landing taxes, embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports, charges related to services or the exchange rates applied to the particular package.