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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year 05:42 - Mar 23 with 5081 viewstextbackup

i'm sure many of us already have these booked, paid for, in the process of paying for..... what are you currently doing about yours?

We have 2 more payments left on our holiday to Gran Canaria - late July. Personally I don't see it going ahead, so i'm thinking cancel the DD and swallow the two payments already made.
wife says to carry on the booking as Tui might offer to move it for another date etc, we do have yearly travel insurance, but I can see them having a get out in there somewhere.

in the grand scheme of things its really very low on the list of things to worry about I know, but just wondering what other TWTDers were in the same boat as I

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 17:38 - Mar 23 with 1764 viewsC_HealyIsAPleasure

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 10:45 - Mar 23 by C_HealyIsAPleasure

Depends on the insurer and cover purchased, however it shouldn’t be relevant as insurance will only kick in if costs are covered by the tour operator or credit card and you should be sorted by the former in this case. It certainly won’t cover you if you stop the payments
[Post edited 23 Mar 2020 10:46]


Just to warn further to advice given in this thread, but it sounds as if package regulations are going to be suspended in lieu of the amounts the travel industry is going to have to refund consumers

It sounds like refunds will still be due from providers where cancelling the trip however there may not be a requirement to refund immediately. Texters and Paul_Knows worth keeping an eye on - from the sounds of it I think you’ll still have no choice but to pay in order to get a refund further down the line but unfortunately it might not be quite as straightforward as was previously the case

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 00:07 - Mar 24 with 1730 viewstextbackup

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 17:38 - Mar 23 by C_HealyIsAPleasure

Just to warn further to advice given in this thread, but it sounds as if package regulations are going to be suspended in lieu of the amounts the travel industry is going to have to refund consumers

It sounds like refunds will still be due from providers where cancelling the trip however there may not be a requirement to refund immediately. Texters and Paul_Knows worth keeping an eye on - from the sounds of it I think you’ll still have no choice but to pay in order to get a refund further down the line but unfortunately it might not be quite as straightforward as was previously the case


yeah no worries mate. fully appreciate its a difficult situation for the travel industry, so wont be putting pressure on them.
that's why I was considering the stop paying now and take the hit.
but we shall see

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 13:21 - Apr 9 with 1620 viewsC_HealyIsAPleasure

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 17:38 - Mar 23 by C_HealyIsAPleasure

Just to warn further to advice given in this thread, but it sounds as if package regulations are going to be suspended in lieu of the amounts the travel industry is going to have to refund consumers

It sounds like refunds will still be due from providers where cancelling the trip however there may not be a requirement to refund immediately. Texters and Paul_Knows worth keeping an eye on - from the sounds of it I think you’ll still have no choice but to pay in order to get a refund further down the line but unfortunately it might not be quite as straightforward as was previously the case


For Texters and Paul_Knows, Which? has today reported that several major providers including TUI have been refusing to issue refunds and instead requiring customer to either rebook or accept a credit note of the time being

This is in breach of the Package Travel Regulations however these are currently being reviewed with a possibility of allowing providers to issue credit notes rather than refund as providers simply can’t afford to refund everyone and will go bust if so

That does make your situation more tricky, however as I see it:
- stop paying and you WILL lose all money paid
- continue paying and you will be able to rebook or potentially get a refund if the trip is cancelled, but you’ll almost certainly have to wait for the latter and may have a fight on your hands

I think if I was in your shoes I’d still pay and deal with the refund conversation when it comes to it (and probably would be looking to rebook anyway), but it depends how much risk you’re willing to take or whether you’d rather just laugh off what you’ve paid. Difficult one unfortunately!

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 13:37 - Apr 9 with 1593 viewsbefxblue

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 13:21 - Apr 9 by C_HealyIsAPleasure

For Texters and Paul_Knows, Which? has today reported that several major providers including TUI have been refusing to issue refunds and instead requiring customer to either rebook or accept a credit note of the time being

This is in breach of the Package Travel Regulations however these are currently being reviewed with a possibility of allowing providers to issue credit notes rather than refund as providers simply can’t afford to refund everyone and will go bust if so

That does make your situation more tricky, however as I see it:
- stop paying and you WILL lose all money paid
- continue paying and you will be able to rebook or potentially get a refund if the trip is cancelled, but you’ll almost certainly have to wait for the latter and may have a fight on your hands

I think if I was in your shoes I’d still pay and deal with the refund conversation when it comes to it (and probably would be looking to rebook anyway), but it depends how much risk you’re willing to take or whether you’d rather just laugh off what you’ve paid. Difficult one unfortunately!


I'm in a similar situation, balance to pay on top of a sizable deposit already paid.

I will pay the balance off, and argue later, but feel that any money to be paid to settle holidays up from now should be in a government regulated holding account or scheme, so the cash cant just disappear into the holiday company until they can better explain how they will honour refunds or rebookings.
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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 13:43 - Apr 9 with 1582 viewsPinewoodblue

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 13:37 - Apr 9 by befxblue

I'm in a similar situation, balance to pay on top of a sizable deposit already paid.

I will pay the balance off, and argue later, but feel that any money to be paid to settle holidays up from now should be in a government regulated holding account or scheme, so the cash cant just disappear into the holiday company until they can better explain how they will honour refunds or rebookings.


Have three weekend breaks that have been cancelled. Money is being held in a holding account against further bookings. They will however add £100 spending money on future breaks once booked.

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 13:47 - Apr 9 with 1577 viewsNewcyBlue

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 13:43 - Apr 9 by Pinewoodblue

Have three weekend breaks that have been cancelled. Money is being held in a holding account against further bookings. They will however add £100 spending money on future breaks once booked.


That’s probably the only way these cruise ship companies aren’t going to go under.

Unfortunately it will come back to bite at some point.

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 14:14 - Apr 9 with 1560 viewsKieran_Knows

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 13:21 - Apr 9 by C_HealyIsAPleasure

For Texters and Paul_Knows, Which? has today reported that several major providers including TUI have been refusing to issue refunds and instead requiring customer to either rebook or accept a credit note of the time being

This is in breach of the Package Travel Regulations however these are currently being reviewed with a possibility of allowing providers to issue credit notes rather than refund as providers simply can’t afford to refund everyone and will go bust if so

That does make your situation more tricky, however as I see it:
- stop paying and you WILL lose all money paid
- continue paying and you will be able to rebook or potentially get a refund if the trip is cancelled, but you’ll almost certainly have to wait for the latter and may have a fight on your hands

I think if I was in your shoes I’d still pay and deal with the refund conversation when it comes to it (and probably would be looking to rebook anyway), but it depends how much risk you’re willing to take or whether you’d rather just laugh off what you’ve paid. Difficult one unfortunately!


Cheers for all this C_Healy, wish we could get a notification when your name is mentioned. Me and the missus had decided we would lose the deposit we put down, but as I understand it, I received an email from EasyJet saying they would pay me that back as well given the circumstances. I could well have read that completely wrong, but will try dig it out and post on here.

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 15:29 - Apr 9 with 1543 viewsSwansea_Blue

Lol. As if I'm that organised. We normally book about 2 weeks before going!

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 15:37 - Apr 9 with 1539 viewsRadlett_blue

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 13:21 - Apr 9 by C_HealyIsAPleasure

For Texters and Paul_Knows, Which? has today reported that several major providers including TUI have been refusing to issue refunds and instead requiring customer to either rebook or accept a credit note of the time being

This is in breach of the Package Travel Regulations however these are currently being reviewed with a possibility of allowing providers to issue credit notes rather than refund as providers simply can’t afford to refund everyone and will go bust if so

That does make your situation more tricky, however as I see it:
- stop paying and you WILL lose all money paid
- continue paying and you will be able to rebook or potentially get a refund if the trip is cancelled, but you’ll almost certainly have to wait for the latter and may have a fight on your hands

I think if I was in your shoes I’d still pay and deal with the refund conversation when it comes to it (and probably would be looking to rebook anyway), but it depends how much risk you’re willing to take or whether you’d rather just laugh off what you’ve paid. Difficult one unfortunately!


Not easy, is it? Keep paying & potentially lose more money if your operator goes bust.
Accept a credit note, which may be worthless if the issuer goes bust.
I bet most travel insurance companies are finding clauses or conditions that mean that they don't go bust.
I would try to extract any cash that you can, but I've found airlines & other companies better at promising to pay out money than actually paying it. BA have given a refund for 2 flights due later this month, which they cancelled, but it took a major amount of effort.
The real problem is that if the entire travel industry is forced to shut down for a few more moths, most of the airlines, cruise companies, travel agents etc will all go bust themselves & they aren't exactly a priority for government subsidies.

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 15:47 - Apr 9 with 1534 viewsLeBlue

We've had a bit of a nightmare with our holiday. In the scheme of everything else that is going on, its nothing rally but thought I'd share.

We were supposed to be going to Turkey on Tuesday this week.

Holiday was booked through Love Holidays, as a package tour operator. Flights were booked by them, on our behalf with EasyJet.

Initially, Love Holidays kept us well informed, asking us not to contact them until 7 days before departure as they were prioritising customers in departure date order. All this seemed fair.

However, this request then changed to 48 hours before departure, which I again complied with.

By this time, they had taken down the ability to phone them or email them, could only 'live chat'. Waited online for hours before I finally got to 'text chat' to an agent.

They flat refused to give me a refund, despite me pointing out politely it was my statutory right. they seemed to be hiding behind ABTA 'advice', that they could only offer a credit note. I tried to pursue my right to a refund but they flatly refused. My only option was to rebook or get the credit voucher. When I received the voucher, it was only for £1,100 (the full cost of the holiday was about £2,500. I was told the remainder was the EasyJet flight costs and I would have to contact them to arrange a refund. This was despite them being the tour operator.

So, again a long and arduous process with EasyJet.

EasyJet have now confirmed that they have refunded the cash value of my flights to Love Holidays!! Love Holidays should then refund me that cash amount but I'm not confident.

So, in summary, there's £1,400 of my cash floating around somewhere between EasyJet and Love Holidays and I have a poxy credit note for the remaining £1,100.

Out of interest, I enquired what the same holiday would be for the same time next year - it's over 50% higher than what I paid this year! So, the voucher has a reduced real value.

I have no intention of using the voucher, apparently if is not used by 31 July, I will then get a cash refund for it, but given that they keep changing the rules, I'd be surprised.

Devon for the LeBlue family next Easter, that's for sure.

As I say, there are people fighting for their lives so I shouldn't really grumble. In the grand scheme of things, it's minor, but nonetheless shocking customer service.
[Post edited 9 Apr 2020 16:02]
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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 15:54 - Apr 9 with 1521 viewsC_HealyIsAPleasure

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 14:14 - Apr 9 by Kieran_Knows

Cheers for all this C_Healy, wish we could get a notification when your name is mentioned. Me and the missus had decided we would lose the deposit we put down, but as I understand it, I received an email from EasyJet saying they would pay me that back as well given the circumstances. I could well have read that completely wrong, but will try dig it out and post on here.


That’s a result if so - surprising as there isn’t actually an obligation to do so but very good news that they have!

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 16:00 - Apr 9 with 1511 viewsC_HealyIsAPleasure

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 13:37 - Apr 9 by befxblue

I'm in a similar situation, balance to pay on top of a sizable deposit already paid.

I will pay the balance off, and argue later, but feel that any money to be paid to settle holidays up from now should be in a government regulated holding account or scheme, so the cash cant just disappear into the holiday company until they can better explain how they will honour refunds or rebookings.


Tend to agree, but I think the problem is they need they that cashflow coming in to survive as they will still have to be paying their suppliers until the holiday is actually cancelled

Obviously rubbish for the customer though

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 16:02 - Apr 9 with 1507 viewsC_HealyIsAPleasure

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 15:37 - Apr 9 by Radlett_blue

Not easy, is it? Keep paying & potentially lose more money if your operator goes bust.
Accept a credit note, which may be worthless if the issuer goes bust.
I bet most travel insurance companies are finding clauses or conditions that mean that they don't go bust.
I would try to extract any cash that you can, but I've found airlines & other companies better at promising to pay out money than actually paying it. BA have given a refund for 2 flights due later this month, which they cancelled, but it took a major amount of effort.
The real problem is that if the entire travel industry is forced to shut down for a few more moths, most of the airlines, cruise companies, travel agents etc will all go bust themselves & they aren't exactly a priority for government subsidies.


Actually if it’s ATOL protected the company going bust isn’t an issue as the ATOL scheme will cover it. The issue is actually with providers that are still trading refusing or being unable to follow the regulations and refund within 14 days - and travel insurance isn’t applicable there as it’s the holiday provider that is responsible for refunding it

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 16:21 - Apr 9 with 1488 viewsWeWereZombies

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 15:29 - Apr 9 by Swansea_Blue

Lol. As if I'm that organised. We normally book about 2 weeks before going!


Two weeks seems excessively cautious to me, I normally book my flights a few days before I go and then arrange accommodation in the morning or on the day before I go to a new place.

But last month we wanted to go on a one off trip, ummed and arred, ended up paying three hundred quid each more because the cheap cabins had all gone. And then less than a week before departure the cruise was, understandably in the event, cancelled.

However, as we payed separately and each by credit card we are instigating chargebacks for the full amount, things are too uncertain to entertain the idea of a voucher for another cruise before the end of next year. Hopefully I will soon be in the same position as Pinewood and have a significant amount in the black on the credit card soon.

But the behaviour of most travel companies seems to be awful and in marked contrast to the music festival bookings (having worked for a venue I know that payments in advance are generally 'locked away' from the rest of the available cash - and having worked for a flight reseller I know that the travel industry lurches from one crisis to the next). I had an email from Peter Gabriel yesterday. OK, it was a mail out and didn't start 'How are you doing, old mucker', but the regret about cancelling this year's WOMAD and the no quibbles 'carry your ticket over to next year or ask for your money back right now' was such a refreshing change.

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 18:04 - Apr 9 with 1437 viewsPinewoodblue

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 13:47 - Apr 9 by NewcyBlue

That’s probably the only way these cruise ship companies aren’t going to go under.

Unfortunately it will come back to bite at some point.


Just heard from StarVista, was due to have gone on a music cruise end of last month. Had already paid deposit for next years cruise. They have transferred payment over to cover next year , will get onboard spend . They will also either refund next years deposit of $1,000 Or add it to onboard spend,enough to cover premium drinks package.

Made £60 profit when cruise company refunded payment made for this years drinks package as £ dived against $.

They have enhanced the line up, 99+% of passengers are from USA and many seem skittish about cruising before a covid-19 vaccine is available.

https://flowerpowercruise.com/

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 18:24 - Apr 9 with 1430 viewsjas0999

I have the final balance of our holiday to Majorca to Pay in May ... meant to be going in August.

Probably won’t go. Will lose deposit no doubt.
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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 20:26 - Apr 9 with 1397 viewsRadlett_blue

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 16:02 - Apr 9 by C_HealyIsAPleasure

Actually if it’s ATOL protected the company going bust isn’t an issue as the ATOL scheme will cover it. The issue is actually with providers that are still trading refusing or being unable to follow the regulations and refund within 14 days - and travel insurance isn’t applicable there as it’s the holiday provider that is responsible for refunding it


And how secure is the ATOL guarantee, if most of the leisure industry goes bust?

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 21:58 - Apr 9 with 1378 viewsElderGrizzly

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 20:26 - Apr 9 by Radlett_blue

And how secure is the ATOL guarantee, if most of the leisure industry goes bust?


Not very. Businesses are already asking to delay refunds.
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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 22:05 - Apr 9 with 1365 viewsC_HealyIsAPleasure

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 21:58 - Apr 9 by ElderGrizzly

Not very. Businesses are already asking to delay refunds.


The ATOL protection fund is separate from the providers themselves - it is the providers that are seeking to delay refunds to avoid going out of business, not ATOL

EDIT: the poster does ask a reasonable question though as I guess it is unknown how far the ATOL fund would stretch if the entire industry collapsed, but as it is essentially a government backed scheme I’d guess it will be sorted one way or another (probably with providers being propped up)
[Post edited 9 Apr 2020 22:15]

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Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 22:18 - Apr 9 with 1357 viewsElderGrizzly

Pre booked Holidays for later in the year on 22:05 - Apr 9 by C_HealyIsAPleasure

The ATOL protection fund is separate from the providers themselves - it is the providers that are seeking to delay refunds to avoid going out of business, not ATOL

EDIT: the poster does ask a reasonable question though as I guess it is unknown how far the ATOL fund would stretch if the entire industry collapsed, but as it is essentially a government backed scheme I’d guess it will be sorted one way or another (probably with providers being propped up)
[Post edited 9 Apr 2020 22:15]


Fair enough. The assumption, as referred to in your edit, is the scheme would be over burdened by mass collapses.

On the business side, we’ve even seen companies like BA try and release vouchers rather than refunds in a rather underhand way to keep money in the businesses
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