UK261 £Your package holiday was cancelled, changed or delayed: who owes you what

Checked 20 Sep 2026·9 min read

1 organiser answers for your whole package, and 1 airline still answers separately for the flight: those two claims run side by side under UK261 articles 3(6) and 8(2), and this page keeps them apart. Below: who is liable, what happens when the organiser cancels or changes the trip, your own cancellation rights, the flight compensation on top, problems abroad, and what protects your money if the company fails.

#UK261 £Who is responsible when part of a package holiday goes wrong?

1 organiser is liable for your whole package, whoever actually provides each part: regulation 15(2) makes it “liable to the traveller for the performance of the travel services included in the package travel contract, irrespective of whether those services are to be performed by the organiser or by other travel service providers.”

Source: SI 2018/634 reg. 15(2) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22.

That single-liability rule is why you complain to your organiser rather than chasing the hotel or transfer company separately. It also sets up the split the rest of this page turns on: UK261 art. 3(6) says the Regulation “shall not affect the rights of passengers under” the Package Travel Regulations, and “shall not apply in cases where a package tour is cancelled for reasons other than cancellation of the flight.” A hotel problem is the organiser’s liability under the 2018 Regulations; a flight problem can trigger both regimes, covered further down.

Identify which part of your trip failed before deciding who to write to: the organiser answers for the package as a whole, the airline answers for the flight specifically, and writing to the wrong one first only delays your own claim.

#What if the organiser cancels, changes the trip or raises the price?

8% is the price-rise line: an increase above that share of the total price lets you cancel free with a full refund within 14 days. Any rise at all needs a contract term allowing it, a cause in fuel, third-party taxes or exchange rates, and notice at least 20 days before the package starts.

Source: SI 2018/634 regs. 10(2)-(4), 11(2)-(3), (5), (8), 13(2)-(3) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22.

Price increases apply only to fuel or power costs of carriage, third-party taxes and fees, or exchange rates, only if the contract says so, with a matching right to a price cut if those factors move the other way. Notice must include a justification and a calculation, on a durable medium, “at the latest 20 days before the start of the package.” Cross the 8% line, and the regulation 11 rights below apply as well.

Beyond price, the organiser may need to significantly alter a main characteristic of the package or fail to meet an agreed special requirement. Faced with either, or an over-8% rise, you choose: accept the change, or terminate without a fee. Terminate and take no substitute, and the organiser must refund everything “without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days after the contract is terminated.” The organiser may also cancel outright, for too few bookings (with notice no later than 20 days before a trip of more than six days, 7 days for two to six days, 48 hours for shorter ones) or for unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, again with a full refund inside the same 14 days.

#Can you cancel a package holiday without a fee?

0 fee applies only where unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances at your destination or its immediate vicinity significantly affect the package or the carriage of passengers there. Otherwise, cancelling before the start of your trip is allowed at any time, but the organiser may charge “an appropriate and justifiable termination fee.”

Source: SI 2018/634 reg. 12 — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22.

Regulation 12 gives you the right to walk away from a package “at any time before the start of the package,” but ordinarily at a price the organiser must justify to you on request. That fee-based cancellation is your own decision, distinct from the organiser’s cancellation above.

The fee disappears only when unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances at the destination, or its immediate vicinity, significantly affect performance of the package or the carriage of passengers there. Then you get “a full refund of any payments made for the package,” but no further compensation. This test belongs to the Package Travel Regulations; it is not UK261’s “extraordinary circumstances” defence, and the two are separate tests in separate laws.

Check what is happening at the destination, and whether it stops passengers getting there, before you cancel: the regulation names those two effects, and a fee-free exit rests on one of them.

#Can you still claim UK261 compensation for the package flight?

Yes: £220, £350 or £520 by distance, paid by the operating airline, not the organiser, when the package flight arrives 3 hours or more late or is cancelled inside UK261’s notice windows, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances. UK261 art. 8(2) leaves the package refund itself to the organiser under the Package Travel Regulations.

Source: UK261 arts. 3(5)-(6), 8(2) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22; SI 2018/634 reg. 16(7)-(9) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22.

Two regimes run side by side, but not over the same money. The package refund, 14 days, comes from the organiser under the Package Travel Regulations, because art. 8(2) withholds the art. 8(1)(a) reimbursement where the PTR already gives it. The art. 7 fixed sum, for arriving three hours or more late or for a cancellation notified less than two weeks out unless the airline offered re-routing inside the permitted window, is a separate claim against the operating airline. See flight delay compensation for the amounts and thresholds, and cancelled flight refund and voucher rules for the cancellation side. If the package flight was operated by TUI Airways or Jet2, that carrier’s page covers its claim route.

The regulation guards against being paid twice: reg. 16(9) requires the organiser to “deduct” any UK261 or convention amount from its own compensation or price reduction, “to avoid overcompensation.” Proven extraordinary circumstances remove the airline’s art. 7 fixed sum, but not the organiser’s own PTR refund duty; see extraordinary circumstances for what counts.

Claim the flight compensation from the airline and the package refund from the organiser in two separate letters, and tell the organiser what the airline has paid so the deduction is made on the right figure.

#What must the organiser do when the trip goes wrong abroad?

3 nights per traveller is the cap on accommodation the organiser must pay if you are stranded abroad by unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances. That cap does not apply to reduced-mobility passengers, pregnant women, unaccompanied minors or anyone needing specific medical help, if the organiser was told at least 48 hours before the start.

Source: SI 2018/634 reg. 15(4), (8), (13)-(16), 16(2)-(4) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22.

A lack of conformity must be remedied unless that is impossible or disproportionately costly, and suitable alternatives offered “at no extra cost” if a significant part of the package cannot be provided. Where carriage is included, repatriation follows “without undue delay and at no extra cost.” You are entitled to a price reduction for any period of non-conformity, and to compensation for damage, unless the organiser proves your own fault, an unforeseeable third party, or unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances.

The 3-night cap applies only when return is prevented by those same circumstances, gives way where passenger-rights legislation sets a different period, and cannot be relied on if the transport provider itself could not rely on them. If you use a wheelchair or have another accessibility need, see special assistance flight rights for the duties that run alongside this cap.

Notify the organiser in writing of any accessibility, pregnancy or medical need at least 48 hours before your trip starts if you want the 3-night cap lifted, and keep a copy of that notification for your own records.

#What protects your money if the holiday company fails?

12 months from the ATOL holder’s failure is the deadline to submit a claim. An ATOL Certificate, issued the moment you make any payment, even a deposit, is your proof the trip is protected; a UK organiser must otherwise provide insolvency security under the 2018 Regulations themselves.

Source: CAA, What does ATOL protection mean — atol.org, checked 2026-09-20; SI 2012/1017 regs. 17-18 and SI 2018/634 reg. 19(1), (3), (6)(b) — legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22.

Regulation 19 requires a UK-established organiser to provide security covering, on insolvency, refunds for any travel service not performed and, where carriage is included, repatriation and any accommodation needed first, with repatriation security “free of charge.” Where the package instead requires an ATOL, or is covered by the organiser’s ATOL arrangements, that protection runs through ATOL instead, which the CAA describes as “financial protection when you book a package trip that includes a flight.” A flight bought on its own, with a valid e-ticket in exchange for payment, is not ATOL-protected, the CAA says; what happens when an airline goes bust covers that case.

An ATOL Certificate must be supplied “immediately” once you make a first payment, in part or in full: at the point of payment if you are present, or immediately by electronic means if not. It tells you what is protected, who is covered, and who is providing the protection; the unique reference number is what you quote if you ever need to claim. ATOL covers a business failure only, never a delay, a cancellation or a substandard holiday; for card routes, see section 75 and chargeback.

Check for your ATOL Certificate the moment you pay a deposit, and file any claim within 12 months of the failure.

General information, not legal advice. For your specific case: the organiser, Citizens Advice, or a solicitor.

#Sources

• Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/634) - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22.
• Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as it forms part of UK law, arts. 3, 8 - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22.
• Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/1017), regs. 17-18 - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-22.
• CAA, ATOL Certificate (consumer page) - caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-22.
• CAA, What does ATOL protection mean - atol.org, checked 2026-09-20.

#FAQ