Customer Protection and financial travel guarantee

Special rules apply within the EU to organisers of package tours. “Package tours” are travel services that contain more than one service, such as transport and accommodation. BKWine’s wine tours are thus package tours.

BKWine AB is a Swedish company and according to Swedish laws and regulations, as well as EU regulations, organisers of package tours must have a travel guarantee (or travel guarantee deposit). This is essentially a bonded bank guarantee.

BKWine complies fully with the Travel Guarantees Act (1972:2004), the Packaged Tours Act of August 1, 2018 and corresponding EU regulations, so you can have total peace of mind when booking with us.

This is similar to (for example) current arrangements in UK with ABTOT (Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited) and ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents). In our case these requirements are overseen by the Swedish government agency Kammarkollegiet, in accordance with Swedish and EU regulations, rather than by a private entity.

As you can imagine, it is important that the travel organiser you choose follows these rules. The travel guarantee is in practice a guaranteed amount of money that can be used in the event of (for example) the tour operator filing for insolvency. This guarantee is of course an extra operating cost that affects all package holiday organisers but which gives the traveller added protection, and it is included in the price of our tours. (Do not confuse it with travel insurance. That is an entirely different thing.)

You can check if a (Swedish) tour operator has a travel guarantee by consulting the Kammarkollegiet site.

BKWine also follows the recommendations agreed by the Swedish Consumer Agency with the travel industry regarding travel terms and conditions. Our Travel Terms and Conditions  are based on these recommendations, with some modifications due to the specialist nature of our tours.

You can find full details about this in our Travel Terms and Conditions.

The Packaged Tours Act and the Travel Guarantee Act

The following text is based on the legal requirements for package tour operators:

According to the Packaged Tours Act of August 1, 2018, every tour operator who sells package tours must provide the following information to the traveller (the text is defined by the Swedish Consumer Protection Agency), for example via a link in the travel programme:

Central rights under Directive (EU) 2015/2302

• Travellers will receive all the essential information about the package tour before they enter the package tour agreement.
• There is always at least one company representative who is responsible for ensuring that all travel services included in the agreement are fulfilled correctly.
• The travellers will receive an emergency telephone number or information about a contact point where they can get in touch with the organiser or the travel agency.
• Travellers may transfer the packaged tour to another person, with reasonable notice and possibly at an additional cost.
• The package tour price may only be increased if special costs increase (for example, fuel prices), and if this is explicitly stated in the agreement, and in any event no later than 20 days before the start of the package holiday. If the price is raised by more than 8% of the price of the package trip, the traveller may terminate the agreement. If the organiser reserves the right to raise the price, the traveller is entitled to a price reduction if the relevant costs fall.
• Travellers can terminate the agreement without paying a cancellation fee and get a full refund of all payments if any of the essential parts of the package tour, other than the price, change significantly. If the company responsible for the package tour cancels the package tour before the start of the package tour, the passengers are entitled to a refund and compensation, if applicable.
• Travellers can, in exceptional circumstances, terminate the contract before the start of the package tour without paying a cancellation fee, for example in the case of serious security issues at the destination which would likely affect the package trip.
• In addition, travellers can cancel the agreement at any time prior to the start of the package tour for a reasonable and justified cancellation fee.
• If significant parts of the package tour cannot be provided under the agreement after the start of the package tour, appropriate alternative arrangements must be offered at no extra cost. Travellers may terminate the agreement without paying a cancellation fee if the services are not fulfilled in accordance with the agreement and this substantially affects the package tour’s performance and the organiser does not remedy the problem.
• Travellers are also entitled to a price reduction and / or compensation for damage if the travel services are not fulfilled or are inadequately fulfilled.
• The organiser must provide support if the traveller is in difficulty.
• If the organiser or, in some Member States, the reseller becomes insolvent, the payments will be refunded. If the organiser or, where applicable, the reseller becomes insolvent after the start of the package tour and if transport is included in the package tour, the travellers’ home transport is secured.
• BKWine AB has agreed consumer protection in the event of insolvency with Vector Nordic AB. Travellers may contact this unit or, if applicable, the competent authority Kammarkollegiet, Birger Jarlsgatan 16, 114 34 Stockholm, 08-700 08 00, registratur@kammarkollegiet.se if services are not provided as a result of BKWine’s insolvency.

Directive (EU) 2015/2302 in the form it has been implemented into national law.

You can find more information here at the Swedish Consumer Protection Agency.