In the future, vacationers should only be asked to pay when they start their journey - and not pay the travel expenses in advance as usual. The consumer protection ministers of the federal states are to discuss this at their next meeting following a proposal by the Saarland ministerial director Reinhold Jost (SPD).

Especially in times of Corona, this is essential for consumers. "100 percent prepayment is not possible," said Jost of the German Press Agency in Saarbrücken. He advocates a significant reduction in upfront payments - and an automatic refund if the trip does not take place. Josts reported that he was able to quickly win the first followers with his proposal zeit.de.

“The best thing would be: The money will be debited exactly at the moment when I start my trip,” said the head of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv), Klaus Müller. That is also the case in other areas of the economy: "When I buy a new television, I only pay when I get it." To do this, a system change - from prepayment to payment at check-in - is necessary, continued Müller. According to a Swiss university, the changeover is “easy to implement”, since consumers would only have to expect moderate price increases.

The automated reimbursement of down payments could come faster, said Jost. "Due to digitization, this shouldn't be a technical challenge." In 2018, the Federal Council had already spoken out in favor of the establishment of “automated reimbursement procedures”. However, nothing has been implemented by the federal government. Therefore, Jost will also bring up this topic at the consumer protection ministers' conference in early May.