How to cancel a tour abroad and return your money?

Have you had force majeure because of which you had to cancel pre-paid trip to the host country for the long-awaited recreation? This article, written from personal experience, is intended for those who are faced with this for the first time and do not want to lose extra money when canceling the tour. Especially she will be relevant at this time due to the mass cancellation tours to Turkey and Egypt, due to which travel agencies have difficulty Want to return your money! Refer to specific articles from laws, I will not try to explain in general terms, but more comprehensive information you can get, directly, from a lawyer.

Tour operator and travel agency – this is not the same thing!

For a start, let’s see what makes a tour operator different from travel agencies:

• A tour operator is a company that forms a tourist product (booked flights and hotel, arranges transfers, provides Russian guides, etc.), and then sells it.
• A travel agency is a regular intermediary store to which the tour operator provides their tours to increase their sales, for who first takes a certain commission.

In fact, travel agencies work simultaneously with several tour operators. So, if you entered into an agreement with a travel agency, It is necessary to write an application for cancellation of the refund tour. him (for example, “Travel shop”), and not to the tour operator (eg “Coral Travel”). Further in the text we will use term – travel agency.

Brief history of my experience

I decided to somehow get a tour to Thailand (as is correct, TaIland or TaIland?) on New Year’s Eve and at the travel agency LLC “Terra Europe ”booked his tour operator Coral Travel. But for 2 of the week, I realized that I could not rest in Pattaya and wrote a statement on the cancellation of the tour with the return of money. Since I was up to this point not legally prepared, the travel agency accepted the application not according to the rules of the current legislation, because of this, after the annulment of the voucher left without money (at first they threatened me that the money would not be returned because of the New Year season, then agreed to a 10% penalty with month of waiting for a return).

I had to visit a couple of law firms specializing on consumer protection laws and fundamentals tourist activities in which I am clearly instructed in the sequence of correct actions after cancellation of the refund tour, which I will describe below.

Fortunately, the case did not come to court, since the “filled to the top” legal information, I went to swear with the managers travel agencies that realized that they could not deceive me and returned 90%, paid by me, money within 7 days after writing application for cancellation of the tour!

Attention! If you live in St. Petersburg, bypass by law firm n1company.ru, in which lawyers go to customers by the ears. Enrolled means free consultation, in which, first, they promised me that I could sue 2-3 times more money after canceling a voucher account non-pecuniary damage in my case is not. Secondly, a lawyer He suggested that I draw up a contract for drawing up a claim and a claim in court for 18 000 p. and invest the minimum amount of 500 p., which I I can easily pick it up if I cancel it because The consultation was free. However, as a result, upon termination of this retained amount, guess for what? For a free consultation!

General information about the cancellation of the tour with a refund

Book a tour and then cancel it at any time. moment and for any reason, even if you just messed up leave the homeland, but the best option would be if you provide some help which will be indicated good reason for canceling your vouchers money, for example, a court decision to ban travel abroad when loan debt.

But this certificate does not mean that the travel agency will gladly return to you money, she will in any case want to give you fines for cancellation of the tour and excess interest for the penalty. Remember any penalties for cancellation of the tourist package, although they are spelled out in the contract are illegal (travel agencies often draw up contracts with violation of current legislation). You must return money with real costs, no matter how much days you filed an application, the exception may be less than of the week.

If you are alarmed by a small amount of return or even you retained 100% of the money, feel free to file a lawsuit against travel agency, which, in 90% of cases, you win for sure. In this case she will be obliged to collect and present documents confirming their actual booking costs for the tourist product. Good luck in returning almost all the money, also, you can smile, if you take out travel insurance.

For those who do not trust travel agencies and, accordingly, do not want use their services, can plan their travel independently. If you fly to the Land of Smiles, To start you need to book a flight both sides and the hotel, and only then do issue of visas Thailand.

Insurance against travel abroad – what is it?

When making a contract with a travel agency, it is desirable to issue travel insurance. In this case, the chance to return your money in case of cancellation of the tour increases several times (almost 100%), even when canceled the day before departure. However, this insurance is not spreads out because of just a thoughtful rest, it will work only if a valid reason is presented impossibility of departure. It may be like a sudden debt in tax, because of which you can not cross the border (more than 10 thousand rubles), and a serious disease.

In any case, before signing the insurance contract against not leave, read it carefully, suddenly it says that she distributed only in case of a revolution in the country of rest So same insurance payment after cancellation of the tourist products you may not get if you are injured in intoxicated state. There are many nuances that are in this I can’t describe the article, let’s take a better look at how to properly apply for termination of the contract from scratch.

How to cancel the tour and return the money

Remember the sequence of recommended actions when cancel tour abroad, which will begin with visits to a lawyer and end up with a possible lawsuit in court.

Lawyer’s visit

Before writing a travel cancellation application vouchers returning money if you are not legally savvy, I recommend to sign up for free legal advice. AT In this case, you will already know what to expect and demand from travel agencies. A lawyer will give you advice specifically on your situation. However, he may ask in advance to draw up a contract for the provision of legal services and prepay. To issue or not – the case Yours, but I do not advise to hurry, for a start (if time does not press) need to try to figure it out.

Filling out an application for cancellation of the tour

Once you have visited a lawyer, you can go to a travel agency and start filling out the application for cancellation and refund. AT content indicate the reason for the refusal of the tourist product, if you have it respectful, it is advisable to attach some help Application must be written in two copies, in which the manager must stamp, date and signature of acceptance on consideration. One statement remains with you, another in the tour company.

It is possible that the manager will begin to assure you that application for cancellation of the tour in two copies not no acceptance marks are written (this was the case in my case) and does not want to take it, feel free to insist on your own! And if you have nothing came out, the statement (along with the claim) can be sent to legal address of the travel agency (must be specified in the contract) with an inventory attachments on form 107 and return receipt. After you will receive a notification, count down 10 days from the date indicated on a piece of paper. In the application, please send a response to the return address or office travel agency.

After receiving a response from a travel company about cancellation of a tour abroad, we decide what to do next. If a:

• The answer is positive and you are satisfied with the amount of the return, waiting for your money about the same time.
• the answer is no, you are not satisfied with the refund amount or you wait for money more than 10 days after a positive decision, proceed to the drafting of the claim.

Drawing up a claim for cancellation of a tour abroad

In general, the pre-trial claim to the travel agency for cancellation tour and refund is recommended to make even before writing a statement and handing it to the manager with it (or not later than 20 days). So you will have more chances to return money without litigation. For those interested in the question “How write a claim to the travel agency? ”, I will say that, unlike the lawsuit in court, there is nothing complicated about it, so you can write it yourself, as I did (download a sample of my refund claim can be on the link).

Pre-trial claim for cancellation of the tourism product A refund is also made in two copies, in which A mark of acceptance is placed. In the content Claims must be indicated:

1. Contact details are yours and travel agencies.
2. A detailed description of the situation for which you refused trips.
3. Links to certain articles from the law on protection of rights consumers and tourism activities that you opinion she violates.
4. Requests for a refund in the required amount, reimbursement moral harm and legal advice.
5. Warning that you may request from a travel agency penalty equal to 3% for each day of the total price of the tour from the date applying for a refund. If not specified in the contract interest for a penalty, it is calculated at the key rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (for the total amount and term of retention of funds).

After filing a pre-trial claim to cancel the tour with a return We are waiting for money no more than 10 days of response from the travel agency. Claim does not give such money back guarantees as a lawsuit in court, however, if you Lucky with a positive response, my congratulations, otherwise case will have to write a lawsuit in court.

Drawing up a lawsuit against a travel agency

Sue travel agency after cancellation tourist voucher border is somewhat more complicated, since the judicial system requires that this is legally correct, therefore, it is better to order this service from lawyers, still this money you will return. A lawsuit to the court must be written in 3 copies: you, the respondent and the judge, and if there are third parties at the trial, then they also by copy. You can defend your rights in court, like:

• with a lawyer – in this case, in addition to the claim to the court to spend money on his services and, believe me, judicial matters are better solved with him;
• without a lawyer – in this case, you will have to prepare thoroughly: first of all you just need to go for a consultation with a lawyer, study the articles you need in court, and prepare morally and be ready for pressure from the defense the defendant.

If the amount of damage is less than 50 thousand rubles, the case considers justice of the peace, if more – district. Download sample of the claim to the court can be on the link.

Compensation for moral damage and legal services

Any compensation from the defendant, including for non-pecuniary damage and on legal services will depend on the decision of the judge. If you sued the travel agency for a refund simply because changed your mind to go, you can not really count on moral damage. If you receive 5,000 rubles of compensation, this is already good, but can not get anything.

Another thing, if you wrote a statement and a claim for cancellation tour, for example, due to illness or tax arrears, and travel agency refused to refund you on time. And they, in turn, were are needed for urgent treatment or repayment of debt in set time then you can safely claim to be moral harm due to your experiences in the amount of at least 30% of cost of the tourist product.

As for compensation for the services of a lawyer, if the judge considers, that the cost of legal services was adequate, then you will be covered 100% of the cost, if not (for example, you spent on claims, claim and defense in court more than 100 thousand rubles), you can rely only on a certain percentage of compensation.

In addition to compensation for non-pecuniary damage and legal services, you shall have the right to demand compensation from the travel agency for a penalty of 3% for every day of the total cost of the voucher from the date of writing the application to cancel the tour with a refund. In this case, the amount may accumulate equal to the original cost of the permit.

To summarize, it is safe to say that after of the case won in court, in the best case, you will return almost full tour price. Good luck in the difficult struggle to defend their right and, preferably, in the pretrial order! Remember, first, before signing the contract, carefully review its content, secondly, travel agencies better spoil the relationship with the tourist than with airline or hotel.