www.msn.com/en-gb/news/coronavirus/all-big-uk-airlines-and-travel-firms-denying-refunds-which-finds/ar-BB131auQ?ocid=msedgdhp
So it seems that pretty much every UK airline / travel company aren't doing refunds for cancelled holidays, much to the frustration of customers and against UK travel law. We've already had this with a company who we had a UK Easter break with (we were allowed to move our booking, but no refund available), and we also have flights booked for a holiday to Spain in the summer which it's looking increasingly likely we may not be able to go on, and the company concerned is only basically offering a credit note for the flights rather than refunds. Me and DH are both relatively lucky that we're both NHS staff so are both still working etc so not desperate for the money back, but I can appreciate it must be very upsetting if you are self-employed and have no income, or furloughed etc, and you can't get a refund worth hundreds or thousands of pounds for a holiday you can no longer take, and certainly can no longer afford. However even though we don't massively need the money back urgently, I am worried that we could lose our money if the firms we've booked with go bust, so if I'm honest would have also rather had a refund. But, I'm massively aware that if travel companies / airlines have to refund everyone who isn't able to take their holidays it'll probably cause the firms to go under and that'll cause mass job losses, and huge disruption to the travel industry for the long term. It doesn't feel like there's any easy answers here. Maybe the companies should offer a part refund / part credit note as a compromise? Or is there no reasonable compromise and holidaymakers should just take the potential hit to keep the industry going?