BookYogaRetreats Bankruptcy: What to Do About Your Booking Now

You booked a retreat through BookYogaRetreats, the deposit left your account weeks ago, and now you're reading that the company behind the site has gone bankrupt. That's frustrating, and it's unsettling, because right now nobody can tell you for sure what happens to your money. There's still a fair amount you can do yourself, though, and some of it is on a clock. Here's where your money most likely is, and the routes you have for getting it back.

Last updated: October 13, 2026. We'll update this article as soon as there's news from the proceedings.

The five steps at a glance:

1. Check your statement and save your records: Who did you pay, the platform or the retreat host directly? Save copies of your booking confirmation and emails to your own device now.
2. Email your host: Is your retreat still going ahead, and what do they need from you?
3. Contact your card issuer or PayPal: if your money went to the platform. Some of these routes have time limits.
4. File a claim: free of charge, with the bankruptcy trustee in the Netherlands.
5. Don't pay anyone a fee who promises to recover your money for you.

What happened

BookYogaRetreats belongs to Tripaneer B.V., a company based in Amsterdam. According to its investor Prime Ventures, Tripaneer runs nine theme websites, including BookYogaRetreats, BookSurfCamps and BookAllSafaris. In late September a Dutch court first granted the company a provisional suspension of payments; on September 30, 2026 that turned into a bankruptcy. The case sits with the District Court of Amsterdam (Rechtbank Amsterdam), case number F.13/26/306.

Since then, the company has been run by a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee, called a curator in the Netherlands (V.G.M. Leferink). A creditors' meeting on December 9, 2026 had been scheduled under the original suspension of payments; whether it still takes place now that the case has become a bankruptcy is unclear. You'll find the case details on ClaimsAgent, the portal the trustee uses for claims, and the trustee's reports will appear in the official Dutch Central Insolvency Register. Anything new shows up there first.

Are you a retreat host who sold through BookYogaRetreats? Then our guide for retreat hosts is the one for you.

Where your money is now

The most important question first, because every next step depends on it: who received your money? The retreat itself is run by an independent host, a yoga center, a teacher, a guesthouse. The platform only sold the booking. Depending on who you paid, your situation looks very different. Pull up your bank statement, your credit card statement or your PayPal activity and check who's listed as the recipient.

If it says Tripaneer or BookYogaRetreats, that money is with the bankrupt company. Based on what's known so far, that makes it part of the bankruptcy estate, the pool of assets the trustee eventually shares out among all creditors. While the proceedings run, the company generally can't pass it on to your host or simply refund it to you. You don't know whether your host got their share before the bankruptcy, which is exactly why you should ask them (next section).

If you paid the host directly, say a balance by bank transfer, that money isn't affected by the bankruptcy. It's with the people who are actually running your retreat.

If you hold platform credit or a gift card, for example from an earlier cancellation, that's now a claim against the bankrupt company. You can't redeem it anywhere else. Include it in your claim (see below), but don't count on it.

It helps to make a short list now: date, amount, payment method and recipient for every payment connected to your booking. Save copies of your booking confirmation, invoices and emails to your own device as well. Nobody knows whether your BookYogaRetreats account will stay accessible, and you'll need these records for every route below.

Is your retreat still happening?

Quite possibly. Your host isn't bankrupt, only the platform you booked through. Many hosts want to keep their guests and are looking for a solution right now. You'll usually find their contact details in your booking confirmation or on the host's own website. Keep your message short and friendly; they're in the same situation as you, just from the other side.

A template you can copy and adapt:

Hi [name],

I booked your [retreat name] retreat for [dates] through BookYogaRetreats (booking number [number]) and paid a deposit of [amount] to [recipient on my statement]. I've read that the company behind the platform has gone bankrupt, so I wanted to check with you directly:

1. Is the retreat still going ahead as planned?
2. Did my deposit reach you?
3. What do I still need to pay, and to whom?

A short written reply would really help me know where I stand. I'd love to come if it works out.

Best, [name]

The written reply matters. It's your evidence if you later talk to your bank or file a claim.

Pay again? Only with written confirmation

If your host never received the deposit, they'll probably ask you to pay it to them directly. That can be the fastest way to your retreat. Only do it once they've confirmed in writing that your booking stands and how much you owe in total. After that, you can try to recover the original deposit through your card issuer or PayPal (next section). Be upfront that you've paid twice and why. Whether your card issuer or PayPal refunds you if the retreat does go ahead is their call, case by case.

If you later get money back from your bank or PayPal, keep a note. Anything already refunded doesn't go into your claim a second time.

If a larger amount makes you unsure whether to pay at all, get advice first, for example from a consumer advice service (see below).

How to get your deposit back

There are several routes, and they don't exclude each other. Which one fits depends on how you paid. For all of them: the sooner you act, the better.

Credit card: dispute the charge (chargeback)

If you paid by credit card, you can ask your card issuer to reverse the charge, known as a chargeback. A merchant going out of business can be a reason for one. Your point of contact is the bank that issued your card, not Visa or Mastercard directly. Chargeback time limits are set by the card networks and applied by your bank, so call this week rather than next month and ask what applies to you. Have your card statement, booking confirmation and emails ready.

In the US, there's also a formal billing dispute. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, you protect your rights by sending a written billing error notice to your card company within 60 days after the charge appeared on your statement. This route is meant for charges where you didn't get what you paid for. Depending on when you paid, that window may already be tight, so call your card company now and follow up in writing.

Some banks also want to see that you first tried to sort it out in writing, in a bankruptcy that means with the trustee. A short email with a clear deadline is enough; keep a copy.

UK credit cards: Section 75

If you're in the UK and paid by credit card, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act can make your card provider jointly liable for the purchase. It applies to items priced over £100 and up to £30,000. Because you paid an intermediary rather than the retreat host, your card provider may argue about whether it applies, so ask them directly and mention that you booked through a platform.

PayPal Purchase Protection

If you paid through PayPal, you can open a dispute. Under PayPal's Purchase Protection terms, a dispute for an item not received has to be opened within 180 days of the payment (these are the US terms; check the version for your country). If you and the seller can't agree, you have to escalate it to a claim within 20 days of opening the dispute, or PayPal closes it automatically. Whether a deposit for a retreat that hasn't happened yet qualifies is something PayPal decides case by case. It's worth trying anyway.

Two details from the same terms: payments equivalent to cash, including gift cards and prepaid cards, are excluded, so a platform gift card you bought is unlikely to be covered. And if you paid through PayPal using a credit card, PayPal itself says your card chargeback rights may be broader. In that case, calling your card issuer as well makes sense.

Debit card, bank transfer or buy now, pay later

Paid another way? The rules are less uniform here, so treat these as questions to ask rather than promises.

• Debit card: Ask your bank whether you can dispute the payment. Many debit cards run on the same card networks as credit cards, but the rules and protections aren't the same, so ask what applies to your card specifically.
• Bank transfer: A transfer generally can't be reversed the way a card payment can. For money you sent by transfer, filing a claim with the trustee (see below) is usually your main route.
• Buy now, pay later: Contact the provider straight away, ideally before your next installment is due. These services usually have their own process for disputed purchases.

Travel insurance

If you have travel insurance, read the policy wording: some policies cover the insolvency of a travel company. Whether yours does is only in your policy, so ask your insurer directly if in doubt.

A package travel insolvency guarantee is a different matter. Where it exists, it protects you if the organizer of a package trip, meaning your retreat host, goes bust, not the platform you booked through. If your retreat was sold as a package, who legally received your money can still matter. That's a question for a consumer advice service, not for a rule of thumb.

File a claim with the trustee

Anything you don't get back through the other routes, you can file as a claim in the bankruptcy. That's done through the ClaimsAgent portal, and according to ClaimsAgent it's free. Look up the case Tripaneer B.V., case number F.13/26/306, enter the amount you're owed and submit your evidence with it: booking confirmation, proof of payment, emails. Keep copies of everything.

No firm filing deadline has been published so far. File as soon as you reasonably can anyway.

And an honest reality check: Dutch bankruptcy law sets a fixed order of creditors. The costs of the proceedings come first, including the trustee's fees, then preferential creditors such as the tax authority. Private customers usually count as ordinary creditors, who only get paid after that. The Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK) writes its page on customers going bankrupt for businesses, but its conclusion applies to every unsecured creditor: there's a high chance you'll get nothing, or only part of what you're owed. Filing still costs you nothing but a bit of time, and a claim that isn't filed is guaranteed to get nothing.

Help from a consumer protection agency

Because the company is based in the Netherlands, cross-border consumer help can be useful. If you live in the EU, Iceland or Norway, the European Consumer Centre in your own country can explain your rights and help with disputes involving a company in another EU country. In the UK, the ECC network works with the International Consumer Centre. Elsewhere, your national consumer protection agency is the place to start.

Watch out for "recovery services"

Wherever a lot of people are waiting for their money, offers to recover it for an upfront fee pop up fast. Stay away from them. Filing a claim is free, and neither the trustee nor your bank will ask you for a payment upfront. Don't hand out card details by email or phone, and don't send a deposit to an account given to you by an unknown sender, even if they claim to be the platform or your host. When in doubt, check with your host using the contact details you already have.

This also applies to BookYogaTeacherTraining, BookSurfCamps and the other Tripaneer brands

The bankruptcy affects the company Tripaneer B.V., which runs several booking sites. If you booked your yoga teacher training through BookYogaTeacherTraining, your surf camp through BookSurfCamps, a riding holiday through BookHorseRidingHolidays or a safari through BookAllSafaris, check your booking confirmation and statement to see whether Tripaneer was your contracting party or the recipient of your payment. If so, the steps above apply to you just the same: check your statement, ask your host, contact your card issuer or PayPal, file a claim.

Yoga teacher trainings in particular often involve larger deposits and dates fixed long in advance, so ask your school early how things will proceed. If your dates fall through, you can compare yoga teacher trainings and surf trips on our site.

What we don't know yet

To be honest, a lot is still open:

• Whether the platform keeps running, gets sold or shuts down.
• How much creditors will get back in the end. That only becomes clear as the proceedings go on.
• When the trustee publishes a first report. As of today, none was visible in the public overviews of the case.
• Whether the December 9 creditors' meeting goes ahead, which was scheduled under the earlier suspension of payments.

Until that's clearer: don't pay a new deposit to BookYogaRetreats or any of the other Tripaneer sites. We'll update this article as soon as the first report comes out.

Finding a new retreat without your money sitting with a platform

If you're looking for a different retreat, ask one question every time you book: where does my money sit until the retreat happens?

At Retreat Vacation, no money passes through the platform. We put you in touch with the host, you make your agreement directly with them, and you pay them directly too. A deposit getting stuck in a platform's bankruptcy can't happen here, because it never touches our accounts. The flip side is just as true: your risk then rests with the individual host. For larger deposits, feel free to ask how they protect them and what happens if the retreat is canceled. A reputable host will be glad to tell you. If you want to keep looking right away, here are yoga retreats where you book directly with the host.

Frequently asked questions

Has BookYogaRetreats gone bankrupt?

Yes. Its operating company, Tripaneer B.V., was declared bankrupt on September 30, 2026; the case is with the District Court of Amsterdam under case number F.13/26/306. The company is now run by a bankruptcy trustee. Whether the platform keeps running or shuts down hasn't been decided yet.

Is BookYogaRetreats still operating?

The company is now run by a bankruptcy trustee, and whether the platform keeps running, is sold or shuts down hasn't been decided yet. Even if the website is still online, any new deposit paid there goes to the bankrupt company.

Can I still book through BookYogaRetreats?

We'd advise against it while the proceedings are running. A new deposit paid to the platform would end up with the bankrupt company. If a retreat catches your eye, ask the host directly whether you can book with them.

BookYogaRetreats reviews: was the platform legit?

For years, plenty of people found retreats through BookYogaRetreats, run by independent hosts. The bankruptcy doesn't change the quality of those retreats. What matters for your booking now is whether your host runs the retreat and where your deposit sits.

What happens to my gift card or platform credit?

Platform credit or a gift card is now a claim against the bankrupt company. You can include it in your claim with the trustee, but how much comes back is uncertain. If you bought the gift card with PayPal, Purchase Protection won't help much, because gift cards are excluded.

How long do I have to dispute a credit card payment?

It depends on where you live and on your card issuer. In the US, a written billing error notice has to go to your card company within 60 days after the charge appeared on your statement; card network chargeback windows are separate and vary. Call your issuer straight away and ask what applies to you.

Do I need my BookYogaRetreats account as proof?

Not necessarily. Your booking confirmation, invoices, emails and bank or card statement work as evidence. Save them offline now, since nobody knows whether your account on the platform will stay accessible.

Your retreat isn't happening?

If your dates can't be saved, your time off doesn't have to be canceled too. On retreat-vacation.com you'll find over 1,000 curated programs where you book and pay directly with the host: browse yoga retreats on retreat-vacation.com, sorted by country, region and dates.