Rising fuel price: hefty surcharge expected for holiday package bookings

Passengers who booked a holiday package deal via a tour operator may face a hefty fuel surcharge. Many tour operators charge a variable price for package holidays, which can rise or fall depending on the fuel price, additional taxes, transport costs or exchange rates. Due to the current tensions after the aggression of Russia on Ukraine, tour operators see a spike in fuel price. 

Passengers who booked a package deal (hotel and flight) with Belgian tour operator TUI will receive an invoice a few months after their booking.

“Energy prices have risen immensely, the same goes for kerosene,” explains TUI spokesman Piet Demeyere to VRTNWS.

For this Summer, passengers who booked a holiday in Spain will see an additionally cost of €70 per person (pp). A trip to Greece will have an extra cost of €90 pp.

The further you travel, the more you have to pay: a package holiday to the Caribbean results in a fuel surcharge of more than €300 pp.

Travel group Corendon confirmed to VRTNWS that it has no plans to add a fuel surcharge while competitor Sunweb said that their package holidays have a fixed price and that an extra surcharge is never charged after booking.

Passengers who only booked a flight will not see a surcharge as they immediately pay the full amount and thus conclude the contract says Demeyere.

If the surcharge is more than 8% of the total price, customers can cancel free of charge. TUI Group offers the “Fuel Protection Program” so customers can freeze their package holiday deal.

TUI customers can also opt for an exchange guarantee: “customers who find it difficult to afford the trip due to the fuel surcharge, are given the one-time opportunity to book another trip that better suits their options in terms of price,” Demeyere added.

TUI will also look for a solution for customers who do not have an exchange guarantee if the fuel surcharge turns out to be too high.