Starting August 11, 2026, travel agencies affected by the Iran conflict can offer vouchers instead of immediate cash refunds for canceled trips, entirely subject to the traveler’s voluntary consent. <\/p>\n
A canceled trip will not always mean an immediate cash refund. Starting August 11, 2026, travel agencies will gain the ability to offer clients a voucher for a future trip, but the traveler will solely decide whether to accept this solution. The new regulations apply only in exceptional situations specified in the act.<\/p>\n
Travel agencies will be able to propose a voucher instead of a refund for a canceled tour, but only after meeting statutory conditions and exclusively with the traveler’s consent. The regulatory change is linked to the outbreak of the armed conflict in Iran, which disrupted travel operations in Middle Eastern countries.<\/p>\n
The amendment to the act on tourist packages and linked travel arrangements adds new regulations governing procedures in the event of a trip cancellation due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances. The new solution may only be applied when the minister competent for tourism issues a special announcement provided for in the regulations. Only then can the tour operator offer the traveler a voucher for a future tour if the trip does not take place due to extraordinary circumstances occurring in Poland or at the destination.<\/p>\n
Acceptance of the voucher will be entirely voluntary. Only after the traveler expresses consent can the organizer apply this solution. If the client accepts the voucher, the previously submitted declaration of withdrawal or termination of the contract shall become ineffective. This means the paid amount will be retained in the form of a voucher that the traveler can use to purchase another tour.<\/p>\n
According to the act, the voucher will be valid for one year from the day the traveler agrees to accept it. However, the regulations provide for the possibility of extending this period for another year. This will not happen automatically\u2014it will require the consent of both parties to the contract, namely the tour operator and the traveler.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the legislator stipulated that the value of the voucher cannot be lower than the amount paid by the client for the canceled tour.<\/p>\n
If the voucher is not used within the statutory period\u2014one year or two years if the parties agree on an extension\u2014the tour operator must refund the entire paid amount to the traveler. The refund should take place within 14 days from the expiry of the voucher’s validity period.<\/p>\n
Using the voucher will require modifying the previously concluded contract for participation in a tourist event. The parties will have to agree on new travel conditions, including the date, destination, and other elements required by the act. The regulations also assume that the funds paid by the traveler will remain covered by the tour operator’s financial security in force on the date of concluding the original contract.<\/p>\n
The act was published in the Journal of Laws on July 27, 2026, and will enter into force on August 11, 2026, following a 14-day vacatio legis.<\/p>\n
The new solutions will not apply to all canceled trips. The possibility of offering a voucher will appear only in situations specified in the act, after the issuance of an appropriate announcement by the minister competent for tourism, and exclusively when the traveler agrees to this solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Starting August 11, 2026, travel agencies affected by the Iran conflict can offer vouchers instead of immediate cash refunds for canceled trips, entirely subject to the traveler’s voluntary consent. New Rules for Canceled Tours A canceled trip will not always mean an immediate cash refund. Starting August 11, 2026, travel agencies will gain the ability […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16979\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}