Holidaymakers refused of cash refunds by travel firms

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Cash refunds for hundreds of holidaymakers have been cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis. According to the Foreign Office (FCO) travel abroad until 16 April has been warned and anyone with a package holiday will be entitled to a full cash refund under the Package Travel Regulations.

An alternative departure or a credit note can be offered by the travel firm however, it will be the customer’s choice if they ask for their money back and must be provided within two weeks.

Many firms-large and small-seems to be failing to provide a full picture of options in the unprecedented travel crisis.

A request for refund after the trip was cancelled for a holidaymaker booked with Virgin Holidays for departure on April 2.

He was told that he should you just wish for the holiday to be cancelled and they can do this for and send a cancellation notification and he would need to seek the cost of the holiday back through their travel insurance company.

Such a claim would be immediately rejected by any travel insurer as it is the tour operator’s responsibility to provide a refund.

Mr Berry was informed that they were  following the advice from the FCO along with all other travel providers as they can appreciate all of their suppliers have also required payment.

But  this interaction went against Virgin Holidays’ policy.

A spokesperson for the travel company mentioned that Virgin Holidays acknowledges that all customers are entitled to a refund and their teams can help with this.

They were updating the information on website to make sure this is incredibly clear, and will also ensure that the  customer teams are also advised and fully trained on the changing policies.

Other operators are continuing to insist that they need not issue refunds while ABTA, travel association needs support from the travelling public. ABTA said that if possible, postpone your holiday or travel arrangements, don’t cancel – this will mean you have a holiday to look forward to in the future, and it will help your travel provider maintain its cash flow through the short-term challenges.

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