TUI changed Santa excursion in our Lapland itinerary to a different day

nikkilou

We go to Lapland (Levi) with TUI in 4 weeks on a 4-night package holiday.  Part of that package is an excursion to see Santa.  I have just had an e-mail showing a different itinerary and the day of the Santa trip has changed.  Unfortunately, it has changed to the day the original itinerary showed as a FREE DAY and I have now booked 800 Euro worth of private excursions that I can't change.

The TUI brochure shows the itinerary for a 4-night trip as:

Day one - Arrive / free afternoon
Day two - Taster sessions and time with Santa
Day three - free day
Day four - free morning / Gala dinner in the evening
Day five - depart

This same itinerary was confirmed in our booking e-mail.  The email stated 'Itineraries are subject to minor changes. Your final itinerary will be available on the TUI Lapland app two days before you travel'.

I accept that final timings may change, or even may not be confirmed until just before the date (due to weather etc) but a change to a completely different day, with 4 weeks notice (so clearly not weather related) is not a MINOR change when your holiday is only 4-nights.

I cannot find anyone in TUI to talk to about this.  The package holiday team says they can't see any details about the Santa trip and the Excursions team say as it's part of a package holiday they can't see anything about it.  At this stage, I just want to know if the e-mail I just received is even correct - there's no reference to an itinerary change, so there is a possibility it's just a typo.  As I'm now going to have to miss the TUI Santa excursion, I don't want to go ahead and book a 600 Euro Santa visit privately if the e-mail was just wrong.

I  am wondering what are my chances of claiming any compensation around this?  I either have to book a separate Santa trip, or cancel my other excursions.  Either way I will be losing money.  I guess the point is whether a change of day to an excursion is considered MINOR.  I would suggest if it was due to unforeseen circumstances, such as weather, then fine.  But four weeks out, this is about TUIs organisation, and a Trip Advisor search shows this has happened more than once before.

eskbanker

The Package Travel Regulations grant travellers the right to price adjustment or to cancel with a refund (but not compensation) for significant (non-minor) changes if "the organiser is constrained by circumstances beyond the control of the organiser to alter significantly any of the main characteristics of the travel services specified in paragraphs 1 to 10 of Schedule 1", which comprise:

1.  The main characteristics of the travel services specified in paragraphs 2 to 10.

2.  The travel destination, the itinerary and periods of stay, with dates and, where accommodation is included, the number of nights included.

3.  The means, characteristics and categories of transport, the points, dates and time of departure and return, the duration and places of intermediate stops and transport connections.

4.  Where the exact time of departure and return is not yet determined, the organiser and, where applicable, the retailer, must inform the traveller of the approximate time of departure and return.

5.  The location, main features and, where applicable, tourist category of the accommodation under the rules of the country of destination.

6.  The meals which are included in the package.

7.  The visits, excursions or other services included in the total price agreed for the package.

8.  Where it is not apparent from the context, whether any of the travel services are to be provided to the traveller as part of a group and, if so, where possible, the approximate size of the group.

9.  Where the traveller’s benefit from other tourist services depends on effective oral communication, the language in which those services are to be carried out.

10.  Whether the trip or holiday is generally suitable for persons with reduced mobility and, upon the traveller’s request, the precise information on the suitability of the trip or holiday taking into account the traveller’s needs.

so I think you'd probably be struggling to make a case that changing the date of an excursion by 24 hours constitutes a significant change by that definition, and even if you could, that wouldn't actually give you any right to compensation as such.

Worth checking the terms of the booking though, and perhaps also those of your travel insurance policy....

nikkilou

Thanks - good to see 'excursions or other services included in the total price agreed for the package' is covered, but you're right that the deal breaker is whether it is considered 'significant'. A 24 hour change within a 4 day package feels significant - but I doubt it's considered significant by Tui when talking about compensation! 

eskbanker

nikkilou said:

Thanks - good to see 'excursions or other services included in the total price agreed for the package' is covered, but you're right that the deal breaker is whether it is considered 'significant'. A 24 hour change within a 4 day package feels significant - but I doubt it's considered significant by Tui when talking about compensation! 

Personally I think that removing the excursion from the package would be considered a significant change, but doubt that rescheduling it to another day would be.

However, as above, Tui won't be 'talking about compensation' anyway - even if it could be established that the change was significant, your entitlement would be to a price adjustment to reflect the reduced financial value of the package (which would be zero in terms of their obligations, defined as "Where the changes to the package travel contract [...] result in a package of lower quality or cost, the traveller is entitled to an appropriate price reduction") or the right to cancel for a refund.

nikkilou

@eskbanker I suspect you are correct.  But I will try - I certainly don't expect them to 'compensate' me for the cost of my other excursions I would have to cancel to make the Santa trip, but I saw on Trip Advisor when the same thing happened to someone else, Tui offered her to cancel the holiday, or accept £60.  

TELLIT01

Will the organisers of the excursions be able to change their day?

nikkilou

@TELLIT01 yeah tried that first as I thought that’d be the easiest option. Unfortunately all the other dates we are there are booked up. That’s why we booked early rather than wait until we got there because all the good excursions sell out ages in advance.