§ 18. Transferring the package holiday (pakkereise) to someone else
Machine-translated from Norwegian. The Norwegian text is the one that applies. Read the original in Norwegian.Norsk English العربية Polski Українська
In brief
- You can let a person who meets the conditions of the contract take over the trip, if you give reasonable notice on a durable medium (varig medium).
- Notice given no later than seven days before departure is always considered reasonable.
- Both of you are liable for the remaining balance (restbeløp) and the costs of the transfer (overdragelse), and the costs cannot exceed the organiser's (arrangør) actual expenses.
The text of the law (unofficial translation)
§ 18. Transfer of the package holiday contract (pakkereiseavtale)
What does this mean?
This section gives the traveller the right to let someone else take over the trip. The new person must meet all the conditions set by the contract. The traveller must give the organiser reasonable notice on a durable medium, for example email. Notice no later than seven days before departure is always considered reasonable. Shorter notice may therefore also be acceptable, but then it must be assessed in the specific case whether it was reasonable.
Both parties to the transfer are responsible. Both the person who transfers and the person who takes over are liable for any remaining balance and for additional charges and fees arising from the transfer. The organiser must inform the person transferring about the costs and document them. The costs cannot be unreasonable, and they cannot be higher than what the organiser has actually spent on the transfer.
This section is in the chapter on changes to the contract before the trip begins. Here it is the traveller who changes the contract, by putting someone else in their place. The organiser's own changes are regulated in § 19 on price changes and § 20 on other changes to the terms. The organiser cannot change the terms unilaterally, except for the price under § 19 and certain insignificant changes for which the contract expressly makes a reservation (forbehold).
Other sections also refer to this one. Both § 11, on information in the contract, and § 40, on the effect of breaching certain duties, refer to this section.
Example: The traveller cannot travel and wants to let another person take over. That person meets the conditions of the contract, and the organiser is notified on a durable medium no later than seven days before departure. The notice is then in time. The organiser informs about the costs and documents them, and both the traveller and the new person are liable for them and for any remaining balance.