I’m going on a trip and I’m taking with me: hand luggage. But what is the maximum size of the suitcase? KLM says 55x35x25 cm, maximum 12 kg. EasyJet keeps it at 45x36x20 cm and 10 kg. Budget airline WizzAir: 40x30x20 cm, 10 kg.
Almost every airline uses this own dimensions. And this ambiguity must end, says European Commissioner Adina Valean (Transport).
The Romanian European Commissioner provided an explanation in Brussels on Wednesday new measures to strengthen the rights of European travelers. Not only for air passengers, but also for everyone who takes the train, bus or ferry.
Valean wants to encourage airlines to agree on standard sizes for hand luggage. “And if encouraging does not help, I want to force the companies to use more clear dimensions.”
The standard size of the rolling suitcase is a small, appealing element in the policy for more rights and better information provision for travelers. More important, however, are the Brussels proposals to protect the rights of people who have booked a trip through intermediaries, on the internet or with a physical intermediary. People who travel using different means of transport and travelers with disabilities should also be given more rights.
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Vouchers
During the corona crisis, passengers who had booked a flight through a ticket website had great difficulty getting a refund in the event of cancellation. In most cases, those who purchased a ticket directly from an airline received their purchase price immediately back. Travelers who had booked via a ticket site were often left empty-handed.
The Commission now wants to tackle this. The updated guideline for package trips states that a traveler is entitled to a refund within fourteen days: the intermediary must receive a refund within seven days from the carrier that cancels a trip and the intermediary also has seven days for a refund to the traveler.
Furthermore, a deposit for a trip may not exceed a quarter of the travel price, unless an organizer has to make a higher deposit to a carrier.
Travelers should also be told more clearly that they can refuse a voucher if their trip is cancelled. They are entitled to a refund at any time, the Commission said. Vouchers should be automatically refunded if not used before the end of an agreed term.
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If a travel agency or tour operator that issued vouchers goes bankrupt, travelers should also be protected. This is usually the case in the Netherlands, but it does not apply throughout Europe.
Flight missed due to train
Furthermore, the European Commission wants travelers who use different modes of transport to be better protected in the event of delay or cancellation. Anyone who misses a plane because the train to the airport was delayed often has to buy a new plane ticket themselves. If you book the train and plane with one provider in the future, you are entitled to protection, the Commission said.
European Commissioner Valean wants carriers – plane, train, bus and ferry – to share more travel data. Passengers will then be able to better choose how they would like to combine means of transport. They must receive faster and clearer answers to questions about cancellations and delays, but also to questions about whether bicycles are allowed on the train and whether assistance is available for people with disabilities.
However, an important element to improve travel in Europe is missing from the Commission’s plans. And that is a common booking system for plane, train and other transport. A combination trip with an international train and a connecting flight should be just as easy to book as a flight. But the proposal for these ‘multimedia digital mobility services’ (MDMS) is still a work in progress, Valean said.
Former European Commissioner Frans Timmermans worked on the MDMS plan for a long time before he left Brussels for The Hague. It is mainly the national rail companies that have difficulty sharing their data. The Dutch travel industry association ANVR believes that European Commissioner Valean should put much more effort into MDMS. ANVR director Frank Oostdam previously mentioned her attitude “crazy”.
Valean could not say on Wednesday when a new proposal for the pan-European booking system would be ready. The European Commission hopes that the first plans for better passenger protection will be included in national laws before the 2024 summer season.