What To Do About Holidays Already Booked?
20th April 2020
The Transport Secretary has said today that he won't be booking a summer holiday anytime soon. What does this mean for your summer holiday?
When asked about future travel on Radio 4's Today programme, Grant Shapps said; "I won't be booking a summer holiday at this point, let's put it that way." If you've got a summer holiday booked or are thinking of booking one, what does this mean for your holiday and what should you do? Emma Coulthurst, travel commentator from online travel price comparison site, TravelSupermarket, provides the following advice:-
Whatever you do, don’t cancel. if you have a holiday booked for this summer, if you proactively cancel it, you will lose all of your money. Cancelling it yourself means that you have shown a "disinclination to travel" which invalidates your travel insurance.
Try not to panic and sit tight. There is no knowing yet when restrictions will be lifted. Airlines and travel companies are facing an unprecedented situation and are dealing with flights and holidays on a rolling basis. I appreciate it is really unsettling not knowing if your package holiday is going ahead or not but your package holiday provider or travel agent should be in touch with you two to three weeks before the holiday is due to go ahead and the airline at least a week before to confirm whether your flight is cancelled. Due to the sheer volume of travel arrangements which the industry is having to deal with at what is usually one of the busiest times of the year for UK outbound travel market, travel agents and tour operators are looking at people’s holidays on a rolling departure date basis. Clearly, with the UK "lock down" now confirmed for at least the next few weeks, the picture is clear for the next few weeks.
The only reason to proactively look to cancel your holiday at this point is if you need to for medical reasons but speak to your travel insurer first. Clearly, if you are one of the 1.5 or so million people who have been told to shield at home for 12 weeks and you have a holiday booked during that time, contact your holiday provider and your travel insurer to discuss rebooking or getting a refund due to not being able to travel due to medical reasons.
If your holiday has not been cancelled at this point, should you pay your balance if it is due? Since you don’t know at this point if the holiday is going ahead If you want to retain your consumer rights, you need to pay the balance. This is to ensure that you are protected under the ATOL scheme and the Package Travel Regulations. If, your holiday is then cancelled, you will have full rights. However, if you have decided that you definitely don’t want to travel, you could speak to your holiday provider and explain this and forgo further payments but be aware that you will lose your deposit if you do this.
If it is confirmed to you that your holiday or flight is cancelled, don’t instantly think a refund is your best option (unless you are absolutely sure) and consider rebooking. If your holiday company contacts you to let you know that your package holiday isn’t going ahead (due to the FCO advice against non-essential travel indefinitely" and/or because the country which you’re travelling to still has its borders closed to visitors), speak to your holiday company about any incentives which they are offering for rebooking. Jet2 Holidays, for example, is offering £100 off if you amend your booking to a new holiday departing before 31 March 2021 or £60 off if you amend your booking to a new holiday departing after 1 April 2021.. See whether you can book a holiday which you’d like at a price which you’re happy with for a different time when you may want to travel. Be safe in the knowledge that if the rebooked package holiday can’t go ahead, you are still fully protected under ATOL’s financial protection scheme if anything happens to the company which you booked your holiday with and also under the Package Travel Regulations 2018 which entitles you to a full refund if the holiday is cancelled. If you have a DIY holiday (i.e. you have booked a flight and accommodation separately rather than as a package), see what rebooking options the airline is offering; easyJet, for example is offering you the opportunity to rebook on to any flight on any route and any date without paying a single penny extra. When it comes to your accommodation, see if you can get an incentive to rebook.
When the time comes and my holiday is cancelled, I’m confused about who to speak to. Who is ultimately responsible for my package holiday? Check your ATOL certificate. The easiest way to understand who you should be claiming from is by checking the Atol certificate. Travel agents sell holiday and tour operators provide holidays and the ATOL is with the tour operator, which provides the holiday. You need to make sure you are claiming from the company which is listed on the Atol as protecting the holiday’. Many of the larger holiday companies act as a travel agent (and tour operator (they actually provide the holiday). But some travel agents only sell packages put together by other tour operators - and in this instance it is the tour operator that you need to approach for a refund. That isn’t to say that the travel agent can’t help you and liaise with the tour operator on your behalf. But it is ultimately the responsibility of the holiday provider to exercise your consumer rights.
I’ve been sent a credit note by my holiday company. Do I have to accept it? You don’t have to accept a credit note. I would encourage you to rebook if you can especially you are offered a price which you are happy with. But if you don’t want to or can’t rebook, my advice would be to stand firm and politely decline any offers of a credit note at this point and request the refund which is your right for a cancelled holiday under the Package Holiday Regulations. The Regulations state that you should be refunded within 14 days of the cancelled holiday. The credit note, which some companies are suggesting to holidaymakers, is like an IOU. It is a way for companies to say that the current unprecedented situation means that they are unable to provide a refund at the moment but will do so by a certain specified date. ABTA, a key UK trade body for the industry, has been lobbying the UK Government for a temporary change in the regulations to allow credit notes to be issued instead. However, to date, the UK Government hasn’t come out and confirmed any temporary change to the law. ABTA says that the credit note is financially protected but this is their word and it hasn’t as yet been confirmed by Government. Some and only some companies are believed to be refusing refunds. If this is the case and you can prove it, if you paid by credit card, speak to your card company about a section 75 (if your booking was £100+) or chargeback request (if less than £100 or if you paid by debit card. It is the companies which act with compassion and talk you through your options and explain the situation but don’t refuse your right to refund, which you are more likely to rebook with in future.
If it is causing you worry that your holiday company isn’t currently refunding your holiday which has already been cancelled, clearly it is really difficult if you need the money. But, be assured that your money is protected under ATOL and the PTRs.
What about accepting a voucher? Personally, I would look to rebook if you would still like to go away. Or, if you definitely can’t rebook for whatever reason including financial difficulties which you now face, I wouldn’t choose the voucher route. I’m not suggesting that any company will go into administration. But, if they do, a voucher is likely to be worthless and you could lose any money which you’ve paid.
What about my UK holiday? If you take foreign and/or UK holidays during the year, an annual policy which covers both domestic and foreign trips is always your best bet and there is no time like now to realise the need for this policy to be in place when you book. When an FCO travel ban is in place, this is when your travel insurance will kick in. However, if you didn’t think to have travel insurance for a UK trip, you need to speak to your accommodation provider. Each will have its own terms and conditions. The majority of hotels and private cottage rental businesses have updated their terms to offer a change of date or credit note instead of a refund so you will be able to rebook for another time. If you’re lucky, you may even get a refund. Currently, Air B n B is offering a full refund for any foreign or UK booking which you have up to the end of May 2020. See what your accommodation provider will offer.
What about booking any future holidays? Clearly, there is no knowing at this point when overseas holidays will be up and running again. It depends on a changing of the FCO advice, when they say it is safe for holidaymakers to travel again around and from the UK as well as the reopening of borders for the country which you want to visit. At the moment, countries such as Turkey and Greece are saying that they hope they will be able to see travellers back by July. But we really don’t know at this time. Countries will want to ensure that they can keep us and their citizens safe before they make any changes to travel arrangements What we do know though is that, when travel opportunities do return, there will be a desire to get out the house and companies such as easyJet are already talking about social distancing measures which they will put in place on their planes to keep people safe.
In terms of search patterns, we’re seeing interest via TravelSupermarket in booking holidays especially in October and November to mid- and long-haul sun destinations. Antalya, Turkey is the most popular current location to search for a package holiday to during these two months. The Canaries, Orlando, Las Vegas, New York, Jamaica and Dubai are also proving to be popular searches. As is Majorca, Crete, the Costa Brava, Orlando and Turkey for next Easter/April and May 2021. Clearly, there is a desire to book something to look forward to for when things have changed.
My advice for any future bookings is to book a package holiday to ensure you have that ATOL and also Package Travel Regs protection. A package holiday under Atol is a flight + something else e.g. accommodation bought as part of one transaction with the same company. If you want to go DIY and book a flight, you’ll be covered under European Air Passenger Rights 261 if the flight wasn’t to go ahead for any reason and the Government has previously said that this will apply even after we leave the EU. For accommodation, opt for free cancellation, if you can so you can cancel nearer the time and not lose any money. Either way, pay on a credit card to ensure, if anything was to happen to the company, you can claim back under the Consumer Credit Act Section 75 if the booking is more than £100 or the chargeback scheme if less than £100. Alternatively, be reassured that even though you won’t be able to claim on your travel insurance due to coronavirus on any future holidays because coronavirus is now a known event, the accommodation provider is likely to issue you a credit note or to allow you to rebook for other dates or they may even give you a refund.
