Now advising to cancel holidays indefinitely

[NemophilistRebel]

News today is now saying that travel abroad for holidays should be cancelled indefinitely

This is going to be a massive hit on the industry and people in general

Especially those hoping for September or October half term breaks.

Shenz21, that would be OK as long as there are flights going there. Emirates is a robust airline compared to many others but of course we can’t be certain 100% about anything right now. But it might be worth asking them if you could have some sort of flexible ticket, even if you pay a bit more now, at least you get the security that you can get there at the earliest opportunity.
I always took travelling to see my family for granted, always. It is so easy to just book a ticket.

@Hippywannabe I can tell you it’s true for the customers in my SD’s branch as she had spent 2 wks before closure doing it. I am in childcare and 2 parents of children I look after work at another branch and they also did the same. Perhaps it’s different from area or branch but I can only say what I know

I have a trip booked for June . Cost about 6k plus 2k spending money.
I have only paid £150 balance which is due in May
I’ve cancelled the credit card - reported it stolen so that the previous one can’t be used . My insurance policy won’t pay out for FCO closure

There is absolutely no way I’m paying out money on the chance I might get a refund or credit note.
I am keeping the money that I have saved to live off for the next few months.

I have in the past had to do similar with a holiday and apart from 1 shitty letter nothing happened

I think we will look at specific country restrictions. Reduction in travel has to be in exit strategy. Look at China - returning expats bought cases up.

Worries about holidays are least of concerns. Anyone working in non public sector is going to feel this. Bottom is falling out of economy. Furloughing is just a delay. Not sure how organisations plan to take back furloughed staff with no resilient economy. Need it over asap.

Personally I have lung disease not sure will get insured.

Thanks Bernards - our deposit was a fair chunk of the total holiday cost... I'd rather not forfeit it and would prefer to just get it back. I am assuming the holiday won't happen, as I expect most countries won't be letting people in, so I don't think we should pay the remainder. I'll email our travel agent and see what they suggest.

@Seventyone72seventy3

Yes of course we will have to adjust and say goodbye to £10 flights. Just wanted to make the poster aware that planes don't just carry holidaymakers.

Somewhat ironically, my daughter lives very close to an airport and is on the top floor (last time I went I could see her and my grandson walking back from nursery from the plane window!) They are loving the peace and quiet and the kids no longer wake at 0630 when the first flight takes off.

I will say it again indefinite doesnt mean forever here it just means unspecified because no one knows exactly what the exit strategies will be for any country at all. So for now that doesn’t mean that they won’t try and get some places up and running late summer/early autumn neither does it mean they will

It means no one knows

Does anybody know what will happen if I just don’t make any further payments? Obviously I’ll be in breach of my contract with Tui but will they actually take me to court or will they just cancel the holiday (which is what I want)?

I paid the low deposit (£200) on a debit card. If I don’t cancel or pay it, which I’m not actually able to at the moment as the “Manage my bookings” page is down, will they just take the amounts automatically? Would I need to cancel the card to ensure the amounts aren’t taken?

I have had a few emails with my holiday company about this (not Tui). I said I would not pay the final balance until early June and they said something about please do but they will not be rushing to chase people. Rollergirl, just don't make further payments. I cannot see any advantage in doing so in the current climate. I am pretty certain they will not take you to court and my just cancel the holiday.

I did see on this thread above someone cancelling their card. I would rather not do that but if the alternative is the holiday company could take my £10k holiday balance from my card it would be worth cancelling the card. I wonder if they are able to do that and if they save card details in our case?

I suppose if you cancel a card then the deposit could not be repaid to the same card which is how they always do repayments for money laundering reasons - fine if you are writing off £150, not fine if it is £2200 in my case.

TUI are allowing you to change your June holiday over to next year with no admin fees that would mean your deposit would be transferred over

@Lala241280 my holiday is in August so as it stands it’s still going ahead and. The remainder of the deposit is due next week and the final balance mid May. I can’t do anything other than cancel and lose the deposit or pay the full amount for a holiday I probably won’t be going on. I don’t want to be stuck with a credit note for £7.5k so I’d rather just not pay anything further and Tui cancel the holiday.

Awh ok didn’t realise it was August
You will need to pay the rest of your deposit and the balance when due otherwise you are in breach of your contract
You could still change to next year but would be charged admin fees

Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to do that though. It seems crazy to me to pay anything further for a holiday I am almost positive I won’t be going on. As it stands I’ll only lose £200. Would Tui still take me to court if they end up cancelling the holiday anyway?

I wouldnt cancel unless the company does or you wont be able to claim for it

ive got a trip booked in november i wont do a thing until ba says its cancelled

I don’t have insurance (was waiting till I’d paid the next instalment to do so) so I can’t claim anyway.

I know a missed holiday isn't the most important thing going on at the moment by a long shot but I do understand why people are concerned. I've read today that ABTA want to give customers who have had their travel disturbed vouchers rather than a refund as refunding could collapse the industry. I've also read several accounts where people are trying to move their holiday to next year on similar dates and the price has gone up. It's catch 22 really isn't it. I know indefinitely doesn't mean forever but it also seems hard to see how things are going to get back to normal by July/ August when then the bulk of summer holidays are taken.

It seems a lot of insurance companies are suggesting not claiming through them and going back to the companies who people booked through.

Every side is trying to wangle out of it

www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/coronavirus-cancelled-holiday-refund-delay-industry-kane-pirie-a9452151.html

It seems a lot of insurance companies are suggesting not claiming through them and going back to the companies who people booked through.

The reality is that if the tour operator does not fullfill their contract then it's not actually an insured event. It's not a matter of the insurers trying to wangle out of it.

Fingers crossed insurers pay out to everyone who needs them to.

It would certainly make a mockery of the point in having travel insurance otherwise

From what I understand the insurance companies and the travel companies are butting heads because the Tcs are offering vouchers/ credit notes which people are refusing as they want cash. The Insurance company then tells the customer they have been offered a voucher so they can't claim off their insurance.

Certainly going to be an interesting few months.

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought most monies paid to travel companies were "bonded" under ATOL/ABTA regulations ... or in other words, ringfenced to allegedly keep them safe?

I realise it's never as simple as that, but if folk have been sold a con this might be as good a time as any to find out about it before they pay out any more full balances on the basis of weasel words

Can I also suggest that anyone with any doubts about insurance cover should contact them now. Most have "chat" facilities on their websites and the transcript can be printed afterwards

I did it myself yesterday, to make sure altering my flights to September would be deemed a change rather than a new booking and therefore still covered - and they were extremely helpful

I've got a trip booked with Jet2 for mid May and received this message from them today: I'm assuming from this that I will get a refund (or a rebook). Looks to me like everything up to 17 June is cancelled?

Important information about your holiday
In view of the ongoing uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, we have taken the decision to recommence our flights and holidays programme on June 17th. This means that your holiday will not be operating - please see the table at the bottom of this email for your affected bookings.

We will be contacting you to discuss your options, one of which is rebooking your holiday to a later date. We know what a well-deserved holiday means, and how much it gives everyone something to look forward to, particularly during difficult times such as these.

We are continuing to operate a fully staffed call centre. Despite this, the number of calls we are currently receiving is unprecedented and is more than we can handle.

Therefore, we are proactively contacting all affected customers in departure date order, which we believe is the fairest way. Please be patient with us as we do this, and please remember – we will contact you.

So that we can call our affected customers, we’ll be taking less incoming calls. Please note, this will mean longer than normal call wait times.

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in everyone having to deal with difficulties and restrictions, and our business and our colleagues face these too. We can absolutely assure you that our teams are doing their best to deliver on our promise of delivering Package Holidays You Can Trust.

Please do bear with us, and thank you in advance for your loyalty, understanding and patience.