Background

Wang signed a DIY tour to Maldives with the Zhenjiang Mingyang International Travel Agency on March 26, 2014 and made a down payment of 13,200 yuan. The agency later showed him online information about the tour including costs, itinerary, hotel, catering and transportation, stating clearly in the notice that Wang should pay any other costs once the room booking was confirmed, and that room costs would be nonrefundable. The notice also made it clear that if Wang failed to take the outward flight the return flight would be automatically canceled too, in accordance with international practice. Wang later wired another 13,200 yuan for his wife’s ticket into the travel agency’s account.

On the date of departure, Wang and his wife missed the flight and asked the travel agency to return their payment, but they did not reach an agreement.

The travel agency had spent 25,000 yuan commissioning a Harbin-based travel agency to carry out the contract, and the Harbin agency issued a related invoice to the Mingyang travel agency. Wang believed that the travel contract was invalid and appealed to the court to have Mingyang refund all payment.

Ruling

The Zhenjiang Runzhou district people’s court held that the Harbin travel agency was qualified for outbound tourism business. The contract between Wang and Mingyang allowed the agency to commission another qualified travel agency, which is a common practice in the tourism industry, so it dismissed Wang’s case.

The itinerary and various notices sent by Mingyang were contractually important. The Wangs missed the flight because of their own problems and therefore could not be reimbursed for the air ticket and hotel costs.

Wang appealed to a higher court, which upheld the original ruling.

Significance

It is very common now for travelers to sign an online tourism contract and many people prefer DIY travel featuring only air ticket and hotel bookings through a travel service provider. Travel agencies usually send the itinerary and matters needing attention through the Internet. Once a consumer agrees, the contract becomes valid. If tourists miss their flight so that the contract cannot be fulfilled, the air ticket and hotel costs will not be refunded.