Tour operator will not offer a refund.

Julieb393

Can anyone help with this?.... My family and I were due to travel to Northern Cyprus yesterday, we have been following the FCO constantly and on 12th March it stated that "The administration in the north of Cyprus has introduced a temporary ban on British nationals entering the north of Cyprus from 12 March". I contacted my tour operator, Cyprus Paradise as soon as I could on Friday morning to see what was happening.  They confirmed that we could not travel to the North and advised that we could amend our holiday to another date or look for an alternative, which is the option I chose.  They did not ring me back so later that I contacted them to be told that the situation had changed and now we would have to self isolate on arrival into Larnaca and that there was no alternative accommodation, therefore we could not travel.  Yesterday, our day of travel, I again contacted them to enquire about our refund, I asked if we should still go to the airport and was told "NOT" to go as we would be turned away and that they would contact me about our refund.  Still no response all day so again I rang them to be told that I needed to request a "cancellation invoice" as we had not travelled so we could claim on our travel insurance, they said they were not liable as the FCO hadn't said we couldn't go, that we had made the choice not to travel?  Also, their t's&c's stated this, as we could not travel to the north and they had no accommodation for us elsewhere, where would we go to self isolate? I'm not sure if our travel insurance would pay out as the FCO hasn't stopped travel and the Easyjet flight still went even though they refunded their customers who had holidays booked as did Jet2 and Tui. 

Caz3121

have you spoken to your travel insurance?
main MSE article https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/02/coronavirus-travel-help-and-your-rights/

TELLIT01

It's an interesting one as Northern Cyprus isn't recognised by the UK, or most other governments.  Therefore it seems unlikely that the FCO would issue advice not to travel there.  Without that advice I suspect that tour operator is within their legal rights not to offer a refund.

nikioo

We are in a similar situation we were due to travel to Cuba on 29th March -12th April 2020. After the FCO advice not to travel worldwide our tour operator gave us 2 options - firstly to postpone our trip which we could not do and secondly to cancel.  I was asked to email our cancellation request to the customer services team so they could send me a final cancellation invoice to give to my insurer. When I rang the claim line I was told that because we had cancelled our holiday we were "disinclined to travel" and so would not be able to claim through our travel insurance. We were in fact very inclined to travel but had no option.  Our insurer Ageas nor tour operator Cuba Direct are pointing fingers at each other - the issue seems to be in the FCO wording of "advised against" but did not forbid and what is "essential" travel. Does anyone know the legal position on this one please?

misuel1955

I know I am not due to travel to New York until July but at the current moment in time the FCO are saying that the USA have imposed restrictions and that anyone travelling is advised to isolate for 14 days. I am only going for 7 days so if the current restrictions apply it would be a waste of time going if we are locked in our hotel.  I have a package booked through Ebookers (hotel, flight and transfers booked at the same time). I do not know if Ebookers will cancel the package as there are no answers on their web site nor do I know what their criteria is for cancelling a package. I am just really waiting to see. Trust Pilot reviews about Ebookers over the last few days are appalling. If they don't cancel and I have to travel would I be able to claim by money back from my credit card company under Section 75 as Ebookers have not fulfilled their obligation to provide a proper holiday

bradders1983

July is ages away, you are not priority and nobody knows what will be going on then. Worry about it nearer the time.

JasryaBrenel

We are in a similar position. Holiday to Dubai on 1st April.
After we were told all but essential travel was not allowed by the government, I emailed my travel agent and got back what looks like the same email - change date or cancel.  We decided to cancel and they offered me a small refund and told me to claim the rest of my travel insurer.
Strikes me that travel agents are tricking us into cancelling the holiday so they can avoid paying a full refund - very sneaky

nikioo

According to Which Legal "The FCO advice against all foreign travel means that airlines and travel agents are obliged to cancel flights and holidays, and issue refunds or allow you to rebook for a future date. However, many companies are backing out on this requirement and are only offering consumers credit vouchers or the chance to reschedule.  The law says you are entitled to a full refund.”