Temporary board for Covid-19 travel disruption discussions

robatwork

Deleted User said:

Having investigated into the reasons for the delay to your flight, I can confirm that the circumstances surrounding the delay to your flight are classified as extraordinary circumstances under Regulation 261/2004 of the European Union.

This is an interesting technical legal issue, and much may come down to court precedent. I don't have the ability to search previous cases but if I were you I'd contact Simon Calder who is really the consumer's go to guy for travel issues and ask his opinion or if he'll take up your case.

LynneSmith

We are due to take a trip to China with Wendy Wu travel,  leaving 23rd May. Our balance is due on Monday 23rd March. Our concern is that the FCO may drop the travel restrictions to China by then, but China is still quarantining visitors from overseas. We can't get through to Wendy Wu on the phone and they haven't replied to 2 e-mails asking for information. Also, what if we can't get through to them to pay the balance in time so as not to fall foul of the booking T's & C's? Help! 

warricka

Tried to renew my annual travel insurance, to continue from 1 April as usual.  I  received assurances over the phone that I would be covered as it was an existing policy and restrictions on cover applied to new policies.  I paid the premium and received the renewal documents.  A few days later I received a phone message to say that there would be no cover for any claims relating to Covid-19.  I tried complaining, but no joy.  I don't have cover but have to pay the balance due on a holiday in France by 25 March.  I can't get clear advice on what to do.  I've already had a refund request refused for an April holiday cancelled by the travel company, so I am wary about paying another balance and my deposit is at risk.

WishYouWereHere

Hello,  would appreciate any advice....

I am one of the thousands of people who booked their holiday for Summer 2020 a year in advance. There must be many others in a similar position, and who are not sure what to do or what their financial rights are. We have not booked a traditional 'package' holiday (as we are utilising airmiles we have collected with Virgin Atlantic).

This is our scenario:
Jun 2019: Booked accommodation only with Virgin Holidays. Deposit paid £350

Jul 2019: Booked accommodation and theme park tickets with Disney Holidays UK. Deposit paid £100

Aug 2019: Booked outbound flight with Virgin Atlantic using my accumulated Virgin Atlantic Fly miles. Taxes paid £641 

Aug 2019: Added additional accommodation, car hire and theme park tickets to Virgin Holidays booking above.

Sep 2019: Booked inbound (return) flights with Virgin Atlantic utilising my husband's Virgin Atlantic Fly miles. Taxes paid $499

We have also paid for a non-refundable pre-flight hotel at Manchester airport through Expedia: Paid £126

An annual travel insurance policy was purchased in November 2019 (with disruption cover) so it is my understanding that this covers such as the coronavirus pandemic.

So far we have paid out in excess of £1700..

We are due to fly out on 4th July 2020 and return on 5th August 2020 (a celebratory long holiday to Florida!)

The outstanding balance for Virgin Hols is due on 19th April, (within the next month) and for Disney Holidays 31st May

In light of the ongoing situation regarding Covid-19 there is difficulty in knowing what to do in terms of paying the holiday balances, and how we stand legally. It seems highly unlikely that our holiday (and thousands of other people's) will go ahead, but of course, there is no way of knowing for sure.

If we pay the holiday balances to each travel company, I suspect they will be unlikely to refund the money, and will probably direct us to claiming on our Insurance. Although, the Insurance company are likely to question why we paid the balances in such uncertain times - and so I guess will be unlikely to refund our money.

The current travel ban is for 30 days, and so leaves people who are due to pay their holiday balance for a Summer break in a precarious situation.  I am also pretty sure this this means we cannot cancel and claim back monies paid so far (holiday deposits, flight taxes, pre-flight hotel bookings), which for us is over £1700 as detailed above (as the travel ban is short term). 

For those whose travel is within the 30 day travel ban, and who will have paid their balances prior to this outbreak becoming so serious, the situation is clear. But for others travelling later and with balances due, it is not.

A further complication is that we can only take our chosen holiday in July due to the length (we are educators so our holidays are dictated).

Does anyone know how we stand legally, and what are our obligations are? I am pretty sure that not paying the balances will mean that the money we have paid so far will be lost to the travel companies without a ban in place. But will the Insurance pay out such a large sum (around £10,000 in total) if travel cannot go ahead in July, knowing that we would have paid the balances at a time of complete uncertainty?
Please help!! Thanks.

familyaffair

Holiday extras refuse to refund airport lounge bookings. Flight was cancelled so didn't get to use the service we paid for. Insurance excess is more than lounge fee but feels wrong they can keep our cash

MountainJohn

Stranded in Thailand and travel insurance!
My daughter and her friend are due to fly back from Thailand on April 6th . Needless to say their flight is cancelled .The airline has said they can rebook flights - but there are no flights available. My daughter has an annual travel insurance with Columbus along with another policy with them specifically covering their diving trip. They have agreed to extend her cover(at a cost) for 31 days - I fear this may not be enough. Her friend has insurance through TFG and they have emailed her to say they will extend the policy until she gets home. 
Any advice for a worried Dad !  

ippon_john

Just got home after being "evacuated" by TUI from the Dominican Republic. The whole process was a disaster; the DR govt made a declaration that all airports were closed on Monday 16th March and all we got was a letter pushed under our door late in the evening to say that TUI had taken the decision to evacuate all holidaymakers. 
After several days of no information from the reps, despite daily visits to them, we were eventually told we had to leave on Thursday 19th and, after one false start and being returned to the hotel "for 24hrs" but were rounded up again 3hrs later, a 2hr delay at the local airport, being flown into Gatwick instead of Manchester via Barbados and then another 2hr delay at Gatwick because of poor organisation which eventually saw some coaches arrive before a 5hr coach drive, we finally got back to Manchester airport 36 hours later!
Apart from the meals on the plane we were provided with no refreshments and no information either regarding the virus, self-isolation or anything else.
Suspect the " extraordinary circumstances" clause will prevent us from claiming for a standard flight delay however I wonder about claiming on the grounds of the poor organisation from TUI and if there is any scope for claiming for curtailment of the holiday from our LV travel insurance ie we were only there 7 days out of 14 with most of these ruined as we had our bags packed and were ready to go  
Any help/advice gratefully accepted, many thanks in advance 

dilwyn555_2

EasyJet - cancels flight but refund?
Easyjet have cancelled me and my wifes flights on 5th April and back on the 12th and say either choose another flight (there aren't any) or go to our delays and cancellations page to obtain a refund. When I went there it reads to get a refund contact Customer Services (but no contact details). So I went to the companies home page and after quite a search got 0330 365 5000. Put on a hand picked grating music selection for 40 minutes, then gave up. Will they just send a refund to my payment card? If not, why not? Why do I have to call them? I cynically think its just to keep the money in their account for longer.....PROVE ME WRONG EasyJet!

Brianj

I had my Travel insurance with Staysure for a holiday to Japan on 30th March. My travel company cancelled the holiday and moved it to 8th April 2021. I rang Staysure and asked them to move the insurance to the new dates, but they said they could not do this as was it would be over 13 months after the policy was taken out. They said they could cancel the policy and offer me a refund. The refund they offered was a £32 credit note but the policy cost £162. I think that this is a very poor way to treat a customer especially in the current climate. All I wanted was to move the policy date. So much for companies not profiting from this crisis!!!

leonk

Muy wife and I (both in our 70s) due to go to Partis on April 22 on  Ertrostar train and hotel package obviously will not be able to travel. On Eurostar site only info is that if booking is for travel by April 7 then voucher alternative on offer. E-mailed them on March 15 . No reply and they state answer within 21 days which is leaving it late. Anybody know anything?