What are the Package Travel Regulations?

The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 apply to holiday travel arrangements booked on or after 1 July 2018. Travel companies that are bound by the Package Travel Regulations are required to provide a full refund if trips are cancelled. 

A package holiday is defined as a service that combines at least two of the following different types of travel services: 

• transport (such as a flight, coach or train, but not transfers to and from an airport)
• accommodation (such as a hotel, villa or apartment)
• car rental 
• a tourist service (such as a tour guide or a trip to a historical attraction) where this is a significant part of the holiday, either because of its value or because it is an essential part of the trip.

For more detailed information about these regulations please visit this website.

Is GVI subject to the Package Travel Regulations?

The Package Travel Regulations do not apply where only a single travel service is provided.

This means that the Package Travel Regulations do not apply to the vast majority of the programs GVI provides, which, with some exceptions, provide accommodation only. 

What are your options when booking?

The vast majority of GVI’s programs are not bound by the Package Travel Regulations. GVI therefore gives Participants two options when they book. They can either pay an additional fee to opt into our “cancel anytime” policy, or choose the option to reschedule their booking if the program cannot go ahead. 

If a Participant chooses not to select one of these two flexible Cancellation terms, then the right course of action for each Participant is determined by the specific terms and conditions in place at the time of that Participant’s booking. 

How is GVI handling refunds during COVID-19?

Due to the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, GVI is offering all Participants unable to join their program in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID-19 the option to reschedule their booking, at no charge. 

Where the Package Travel Regulations do apply, GVI is making full refunds. 

Where Participants choose more flexible Cancellation terms, refunds are issued or programs are rescheduled. 

Where Participants can reschedule their program, they are given the option to rebook to travel in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Hundreds of participants have taken up this offer, and many Participants have rebooked and travelled already, taking advantage of the exemption for volunteering in the UK international travel restrictions. 

Where Participants do not choose more flexible Cancellation terms, and where programs are not bound by Package Travel Regulations, GVI refunds everything due as stated in the terms and conditions in place at the time of booking.