Return travel impossible: Who pays for package holiday accommodation?

When unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances prevent the agreed return transport under a package travel contract, § 11 Abs. 7 of the Austrian Package Travel Act (PRG) generally obliges the organiser to cover necessary accommodation for up to three nights. The organiser must consider exceptions for particularly vulnerable travellers and applicable passenger rights before refusing further nights. For a stranded group, this assessment can determine substantial aggregate costs.

The agreed package travel contract must include return transport. An organiser does not automatically incur this obligation when a hotel is booked separately and a return flight is purchased independently. Under § 2 Abs. 12 PRG, the circumstances must lie beyond the control of the party relying on them, and their consequences must have remained unavoidable even if all reasonable measures had been taken. An airspace closure can therefore warrant assessment. Simply describing an event as force majeure is insufficient; one must consider its cause, the affected connection, and available return alternatives together.

§ 11 Abs. 7 PRG covers necessary accommodation, in an equivalent category where possible, yet it provides neither an unrestricted luxury stay nor a fixed cash allowance per night. The assessment concerns the overnight stays required, the available accommodation, and its suitability for the people affected. This particular statutory cost obligation is subject to a maximum of three nights, with exceptions applying. That limit does not justify a blanket assertion that every obligation of the organiser ends after the third night, and return transport and assistance still require separate assessment.

Under § 11 Abs. 8 PRG, the cost limitation does not apply to persons with reduced mobility as defined in Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006 and their companions, pregnant women, unaccompanied minors, and individuals requiring specific medical assistance. This protection requires the organiser to have received notice of their particular needs at least 48 hours before the package began. Verify the content, recipient, and receipt of that notification. Information first supplied during the disruption does not by itself satisfy this advance-notification condition. Assess other claims and any remaining assistance requirements separately.

Under § 11 Abs. 7 PRG, any longer accommodation periods provided by EU passenger rights for the means of transport concerned apply. The organiser may not limit its cost obligation by invoking extraordinary circumstances where the relevant carrier cannot rely on them under EU law. In C-12/11, McDonagh, decided on 31 January 2013, the Court of Justice confirmed that extraordinary circumstances do not remove the duty of care under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 following flight cancellation. No general time or financial cap exists while passengers necessarily await rerouting. Reimbursable expenses must still be necessary, appropriate and reasonable. Check whether those air passenger rules cover the particular route before applying their consequences to the organiser.

Promptly notify the organiser that return transport has failed and accommodation is needed, and request a specific solution. Record your attempts to make contact, the rooms offered, and the next available return connection. If you arrange a replacement yourself, you must also consider reimbursement under § 11 Abs. 4 PRG. Normally, you must first grant the organiser, who is obliged to remedy the problem, a reasonable deadline. You do not need to set a deadline if the organiser refuses to remedy the problem or if immediate action is necessary. Keep evidence of the urgency as well. An invoice alone establishes neither the necessity nor the justification for booking immediately.

For several travellers, link each overnight stay to a person, a period, and an invoice. Organisers should separately assess the basic statutory rule, any particular needs notified in time, and transport-related exceptions. Include accommodation already supplied or paid for, but do not reimburse the same expense twice. Distinguish accommodation costs from damages. § 12 Abs. 3 PRG can exclude damages where unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances are established, yet this does not remove the specific obligation under § 11 Abs. 7 PRG. Enforcing or defending substantial claims requires a joint legal assessment of the travel contract, the cause of disruption, notifications, and documented costs.

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