Train arrival included: Tour operators are liable for delayed trains
What happens if you book a train journey as part of a package holiday and the train is so late that you miss your flight? An Austrian court had to deal with exactly this question because the tour operator fobbed them off and felt that it was not responsible. A couple wanted to go on their honeymoon and booked a package holiday to Hanoi. For the journey from Mühlviertel to Vienna-Schwechat Airport, they booked special ÖBB tickets through the tour operator, which are only available through the tour operator. A specific time window is specified in which the trains can be used on the route in question. The couple got on the train, but they did not arrive on time. According to the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labor, there was initially a longer stop in Amstetten. Then the connection ended unexpectedly at Vienna Central Station and not at Vienna-Schwechat Airport as originally planned. The two took a taxi in the capital, but the check-in counters at the airport were already closed. In contrast to individual travellers, who can only take out private travel insurance for such unforeseeable events, package travellers are covered. The tour operator must provide appropriate replacements and is liable for the proper fulfilment of the contract, i.e. carrying out the booked trip. But the tour operator saw this completely differently, as he tried to fob the couple off and took the view that the trip had started at Vienna Airport and not in the Mühlviertel. They did not want to accept liability for the ÖBB delay. They retained 85 percent of the trip price as cancellation costs.
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