On Thursday 31 July, the European Commission announced that two new online travel agencies - Expedia and Lastminute.com - committed not to exceed a period of 14 days for reimbursing air tickets in the event of flight cancellation by the airline.
This decision follows a dialogue with the CPC network and the Commission, initiated by the Swedish consumer protection network. The two companies have also undertaken to provide their customers with the airlines’ contact details more clearly, and to transmit theirs automatically when a booking is made.
This announcement builds on a coordinated action carried out in 2023 by the CPC network, which obtained the same commitments from Edreams ODIGEO, the Etraveli group and Kiwi.com. This brings to five the number of major online travel agencies that have declared their adherence to these commitments.
Under European law, airlines are obliged to make a refund for a cancelled flight within seven days.
In the case of purchases made through an intermediary - often a travel agency - this period is often extended, but may not exceed two weeks in the case of the agencies concerned by this commitment. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)