Description
Following a dialogue with the European Commission and the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) network of national consumer protection authorities, Expedia and Lastminute.com have committed to better inform consumers of their rights and to ensure that they receive a refund of their tickets within 14 days in the event of a flight cancellation by the airline.
Overview of commitments
As a result of the dialogue, Expedia and Lastminute.com signed the following commitments:
- In the event of flight cancellations, Expedia and Lastminute.com will transfer refunds from the airline to the consumer within 7 days from the day the online travel agency receives the refund from the airline, with a maximum refund of 14 days for consumers. They also stated that they have cleared any arrears in refunds.
- The contact details of online travel agencies, such as telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, will be provided within or through the support or 'contact us' sections of their websites, so that consumers can easily get in touch with them.
- Information on the specific benefits associated with the different service packages offered by online travel agencies will be made clearer for consumers.
- Consumers will be clearly informed about their legal rights under the regulation on air passenger rights to re-routing or reimbursement in cases where the airline cancels their flights. They will also be clearly informed if their flight has been cancelled.
- Consumers will be clearly informed of the consequences that specific services offered by airline intermediaries may have on the consumer's rights in the event of a flight being cancelled (e.g. if only one leg of a journey is cancelled, the second leg may still have to be paid for, if there is no interconnection between the flights making up the journey).
Lastminute.com has agreed to implement most of these commitments as of 1 July 2025, with full implementation by 1 September 2025, while Expedia has stated that its practices are in line with the above commitments.
This dialogue, led by the Swedish Consumer Agency, sought to encourage online travel agencies to voluntarily adopt practices that improve consumer protection and awareness of their rights, as well as the platform's compliance with EU legislation. This builds on the 2023 coordinated action led by the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network, which obtained the same commitments from Edreams ODIGEO, Etraveli Group and Kiwi.com, bringing the total to five major online travel agencies adhering to the same commitments.
The European Consumer Network will monitor whether Expedia and Lastminute.com have implemented the commitments correctly within the agreed deadline. The network will also continue to monitor the implementation of the commitments by Edreams ODIGEO, Etraveli Group and Kiwi.com. The network will also continue to promote these commitments to other online travel agencies.
Lastminute.com was previously the subject of a national enforcement action by the Swedish Consumer Agency, during which it accepted the commitments for the Swedish market. By signing the commitments with the CPC Network, Lastminute.com has now stated that it will comply with these commitments throughout the European Economic Area. Expedia has voluntarily entered into the commitments outside of any enforcement action at national or EU level.
Under EU passenger rights, airlines that cancel a flight are obliged to refund tickets within 7 days of the date the passenger opted out. However, airline tickets can also be purchased through an intermediary (an 'online travel agency'). The 2023 commitments signed by Expedia and Lastminute.com provide clarity in these cases: consumers will receive a refund within a maximum of 14 days. This step also helps to create a fair and level playing field in the travel industry.
In November 2023, the Commission proposed new rules regarding the enforcement of passenger rights in the Union and passenger rights in the context of multi-modal travel. The proposed rules provide for the same deadline for reimbursement through intermediaries of cancelled flight costs (maximum 14 days). These proposals, as well as the 2013 proposal on air passenger rights, are currently being negotiated by the co-legislators.
The CPC Network is a network of authorities responsible for the enforcement of EU consumer protection laws. To tackle cross-border breaches of consumer law, these national authorities, assisted by the European Commission, coordinate their investigation and enforcement actions. The specific cooperation and coordination mechanism under which the network operates is governed by the Regulation on consumer protection cooperation.
Source: European Commission
Image owner: ECC-NET ITALIA