PORTUGUESE LAW for REFUNDS between March 13 and September 30  (Published on April 17, 2020).

 

Four points that summarise the law:

 

The client will not lose the money/trip deposit, but will need to postpone the trip dates or wait until January 14 of 2022 to receive the deposit amount:

a)       Postpone the trip until 31 December of 2021 using the deposit/amount made already.

b)      If the amount is not used until December 31, the guest will receive the money form deposit back within 14 days.

c)       Option b) is granted by the travel and tourism guarantee fund, which means, even if the company disappears, this fund will always pay you the amount you have made before.

d)      The exception is for guests that become unemployed, in this case, the client can request reimbursement of the entire amount to be made within 14 days.

 

Law transcription:

- Diário da República Portuguesa, No. 80 1st Series Law - Decree no. 17/2020 Article 3.

 

(...)

Trips organized by travel and tourism agencies.

1 - trips organized by travel and tourism agencies, the date of which takes place between the period of March 13, 2020, to September 30, 2020, which are not made or which are canceled due to a fact attributable to the outbreak of the disease pandemic COVID-19.

Grant, exceptionally and temporarily, for the purposes of complying with the provisions of paragraphs 4 and 5 of article 25 and paragraph 4 of article 27 of Decree-Law No. 17/2018, of March 8 , the right for travelers to choose:

a) By issuing a voucher of equal value to the payment made by the traveler and valid until December 31, 2021;

or

b) Rescheduling the trip until December 31, 2021.

 

2 - The voucher referred to in paragraph a) of the previous number:

a) It is issued at the bearer's order and is transferable by mere transmission;

b) If used for the same trip, even on a different date, the insurance that was contracted at the time of purchase of the travel service is maintained.

c) If not used by December 31, 2021, the traveler is entitled to a refund to be made within 14 days.

 

3 - If the rescheduling provided for in paragraph b) of paragraph 1 is not made until December 31, 2021, the traveler is entitled to a refund, to be made within 14 days.

 

4 - In the case of travel by finalists or similar, provided for in article 11 of Decree-Law no. 10 -A / 2020, of 13 March, in its current wording, travelers can choose any of the modalities provided for in paragraph 1 of this article, applying the regime provided for in the previous numbers to these.

 

5 - The non-compliance attributable to the travel and tourism agencies of the provisions of the previous numbers allow travelers to activate the travel and tourism guarantee fund, under the terms provided for in Decree-Law No. 17/2018, of 8 March.

 

6 - Until September 30, 2020, travelers who are unemployed can request reimbursement of the entire amount spent, to be made within 14 days.