To say we wont get our money back for holiday?

[NillyFrickers]

We booked a package holiday with teletext at the beginning of January for May. Even though the airline we're flying with hasnt cancelled the flight yet, we know it wont be going ahead. We're ok with that of course but I've heard alot of people saying they're struggling to get their money back and that they had to chase it up with the individual companies themselves.

DM actually booked the holiday with teletext as she believed they were a good company from past experience.
We have our last payment due on the 12th April which we were planning to pay otherwise we know we wouldnt be entitled to anything if we didnt when the flights were cancelled.

Has anyone got any useful info? I have insurance with my bank but my DM is very annoying when it comes to insurance and often leaves it until the day before departure. She did get insurance this time but not until everything started to kick off with the virus and her insurance company has basically said shes not covered.

I have read some bad reviews about teletext online just now regarding cancelled holidays etc.
What are the chances of gettin our money back? How does it work if I had insurance and she didnt? Also I see teletext are atol and tta protect but jot abta so what does that mean? Everyone talks about abta so this worries me that they dont have it.

My DM is stressing me out now and I was already stressed to begin with. So if anyone could shed a bit of light on what happens with stuff like this as I'm not usually a package holiday person so dont know how it works.

Once the airline cancels the flight you will be eligible for a full refund. They may try and get you to take vouchers- you don't have to and can insist on cash. If you cancel yourselves you may not get anything back. So sit it out- airlines are currently cancelling the 1st/2nd week in May.

Money Saving Expert is a good forum for advice.

Yep pay the remaining balance and just wait.

I'm in the same position for start of July with my balance due this week.

I am planning on the full refund and will refuse vouchers.

I was in same situation, paid £1400 deposit, had stopped the balance coming out of bank 4 days ago.
yesterday Barclays did a charge back (debit card) and i got the whole deposit back. Took 4 hours.

@Bonniegirl435 had you only paid the deposit and that was the final payment due to come out? Is it a credit card you have?

My mum paid with debit card (I was just transferring my half to her on the payment dates) we paid deposit in January, then a payment in February and March.
I was under the impression that if we cancelled then we would lose the deposit, I didnt know you could go through your bank?

@Escapeistheonlyoption I had a look on money saving expert and I saw something that said that the government were thinking about agreeing with the travel companies offering vouchers instead. But it didnt have alot of info as of yet. I'm just worried that they will allow this and then we are only offered a voucher and then the company goes bust? I dont know how likely that is but nothing surprises me nowadays.

To be fair, my travel agent (I book with the same guy every single time, he's amazing) asked me if I want vouchers instead of the cash and I happily said yes. They need as much support as possible and we're definitely traveling with them in the future.

You can do a charge back via the debit card

Martin Lewis will give you the link

My flights were cancelled as Flybe went bust paid via debit card and they are processing the repayment

Ask the ask for charge back - it’s a failure to fulfil the service

@readingismycardio I said i would be happy with vouchers as we do still want to go on holiday especially to this hotel. I even said if they offered some sort of deal where they would hold our deposit but refend the rest until all of this is over and then we would choose a new date when things we more clear. I'm just worried that if we took the voucher for the amount of the holiday and the company will goes bust, we will lose all that money?

@GreenTulips that's great, I never knew you could do this sort of thing with a debit card. I'll look into it if teletext arent willing to help (from some reviews I've read this has happened but hoping it's just because of uncertainty)

@NillyFrickers i haven't lived in the UK for a long time so I don't have any info on this company i'm afraid..... ours is the biggest in the country, so I can't say I'm worried.

@readingismycardio that's ok thank you, teletext has been going for as long as I can remember, and my DM has always booked holidays with them and never had a problem.
I suppose we'll just have to wait and see

@NillyFrickers best of luck, OP! Hopefully we'll go back to the days where we could travel and didn't appreciate it

Definitely refuse vouchers, as it may be a looong time before holiday flights abroad become a normal thing again

Countries won't want to import millions of potential infectors again until the danger is completely over
Maybe after everyone has a certificate of either vaccination or immunity after an antibody test
So 1-2 years ?

Also, flights - and especially cruises ! - may become much more expensive,
probably higher flight tax to help pay for taxpayer support to airlines
plus mandatoriy insurance for all eventualities and much higher premiums

You will need to be patient for credit card chargeback. You need a response from the firm refusing a refund. Only then can the credit card step in. But you have 500+ days to do that. I was told this yesterday by mine. Am sitting right although my flights this Saturday with BA remain uncancelled to a destination in lockdown! So annoying.

Sorry, sitting tight

Take the refund as soon as it is offered, do not rebook anything at this point. The idea that holidays are going to simply resume in the next 12 months is a fairytale in my opinion. Even if infections start to ease off, the high transmissibility of this virus means global travel will be impacted until a vaccine is plausible.

Vouchers schmouchers, take the money and run, we have no idea when we will be able to fly again.

I know for sure we wont be travelling any time soon and that's why I would rather a refund. But I read in money saving expert that the government maybe be backing travel companies decisions to only give vouchers and so I'm worried I wont have an option. I have also seen a few people post on social media saying that certain travel companies have only offered vouchers and are not offering refunds. So would my bank or my insurance step in then?

This just reminds me of when my friend had purchased theatre tickets for his DP and his MIL, the play was cancelled just before it all proper kicked off and my subsequently lost his job at the same time and was grateful for the refund.
The theatre asked him if they could keep the money to protect them from closure, but as I always say - charity begins at home. You can't expect, the poor to bail out failing businesses.

Billy my understanding is that if they cancel but refuse you a refund, you can complain/take it higher/ask your insurer/ go to your credit card. Lots of.people will be on that position.. I'm prepared to be very patient and wait, and document my communications, and accept this could take months. Bitt it remains your legal right.

We spoke to our agent this morning for a holiday that was supposed to start tomorrow he said we could be waiting up to 4 months for a refund but are totally entitled to refuse the vouchers.

@Bloomburger i guess that's kind of good news. I am totally fine with having to wait for the money to be refunded as long as I'm sure I'll get it back. The money is going to be put into savings anyway.

@Doingtheboxerbeat my DM and her partner were supposed to be going down south for a concert. The concert was cancelled but the hotel would not issue a refund, as of yet anyway.

@NillyFrickers - amazing username - I get that businesses such as these will suffer greatly but my friend has rent and electricity bills to pay, and with no job, he has to prioritise his need over theirs.

Was just wondering about holiday refunds myself. We were lucky enough to do the Tots to Travel review for mumsnet (thanks again @JustineMumsnet for arranging), and rebooked for this year as it was great. Except that Tots to Travel are super evasive and are saying they can't refund us as they are only the travel agent. Refering us to their T&C's (non-existant), and saying we would have to get a refund from the hotel direct, and in line with the hotel T&C's. Never mind it is an "exclusive" Tots to Travel "resort" that you can't book directly with the hotel or through anyone else, that we have no contractual relationship with the hotel direct and that the Hotel has zero relevant T&C's online. Am really disappointed and surprised at how Tots to Travel have handled things, and really wish we had held off on making the final balance payment which we had to do in February. We do have travel insurance and paid by credit card, so we have options there hopefully, however, it is appealing how these travel companies are essentially shrugging their shoulders and walking away.

@Doingtheboxerbeat haha thank you.
Yes you're right, and given the current circumstances I would rather have that money to hand incase of emergencies!

@MuddlingThrough1724 this is similar to alot of people, I've seen people who have booked with "loveholidays" and "onthebeach" are being told that they they can have a voucher for the amount of the what the hotel and transfer cost, but then have to contact the airline to themselves about flight refunds.

My mum spoke with an agent from teletext today and they said that the money was being held by the hotel and the airline so we would have to contact them if the holiday isnt going ahead, but for now it's still going. Obviously it's not, and how am I supposed to get the money back from the hotel? It's in turkey, and I've spent alot of time in that country, especially now as the government arent helping their citizens financially, I dont see us gettin our money back from them? The hotel cost more than the flights. This was the first time we went all out on a decent hotel all inclusive, instead of a standard self catering.

Hello, I'm a travel agent and currently in the middle of all of this.

Yes the European Commission have amended the guidelines on refunds to save the travel industry. If the booking is ATOL protected, you will get the full value (sometimes more) as a Future Credit. ABTA have confirmed that the credit will be totally protected if the travel company was to go bust.

I can totally see it from a customers point of view. I have a holiday booked myself, the balance is almost due and I probably won't be travelling.

From the other side, it was totally necessary, otherwise there would be no travel agents, tour operators or airlines left to take anyone on holiday once this is all over. And I'm pretty sure everyone is going to want/need a holiday once we're through this.

We are getting abuse from customers who think it's us keeping their money. I can definitely confirm it's not your travel agent that has your money, the suppliers (hotel, cruise, airline etc) have the money. It may still worth asking for a refund as some suppliers are more flexible than others. We are refunding anything we can get back.

Please go easy on your travel agents guys. We're all working incredibly hard cancelling/amending 1000's of bookings. We're still repatriating customers overseas and dealing with all the Coronavirus concerns/queries.