Partially cancelled trip to Philipines and Australia Travel Company pushing to Insurance

oldgrey19

My Son booked a two part trip:

24th February 2020 – 6th March 2020 Philippines Island Hop (Partner: Wanderlands)

9th March – 13th April 2020 Australia East Coast Experience (Partner: Ultimate Travel)

In addition, Flights were arranged by Real Flights with the carrier being Etihad. (These are in the process of getting refunded for the unused leg of the trip

The first part of the trip went entirely as planned and promised, the cancellations without refund occurred on the Australia leg of the trip. I reference the document ‘Trip Itinerary’ as supplied by Real Gap Experience, noting the lack of detail, which was specifically asked for in my mail to them dated 17th June 2020

When did the trip deviate from the paid for itinerary?

On 23rd March 2020 whilst at Rainbow Beach He was verbally informed by the guides at Ultimate Travel that due Australian government banning all non-essential domestic travel all onward excursions and accommodation were cancelled forthwith and we were to be taken back to Brisbane where accommodation would be provided for a further three days. At this stage the status of the return flights was unknown. Referring to the document entitled Detailed Itinerary it can clearly be seen that:

Number of Itinerary trips and excursions cancelled: 20

Number of days accommodation booked but not provided: 17

Number of days with travel not provided: 21

Return to Brisbane and Cessation of support from Tour Company

The tour returned to Brisbane on 24th March at which time he was  provided with accommodation, until the morning of Friday 27th March.

whilst there , he received confirmation that my flight was cancelled, with no recommencement date but that he would be able to get a refund for the unused element of the flights booking.

More concerning was the information that he would not receive any refund on the cancelled element of the trip, and that tour support would cease on Friday 27th March.

Brisbane - Home

At this stage he was in Australia without support from the tour operator, with no accommodation and no flights booked. He got together with the other members of the trip to secure an Airbnb for two weeks see attachment:  Confirmation of own accommodation with Airbnb and was in constant correspondence with my parents with regards to travel options, which were both rare and costly. Eventually my Father was able to book a flight with Qatar airways at a cost of £765.

 

Current Situation

1)     Holiday curtailed without getting what I paid for (Due to cancellation by In Country partner: Root cause compliance with Australian government guidelines)

2)     Holiday Company  offering re-booking, at a later date, for the remainder of the trip. This is, of course, entirely impractical. As part of a 49 day trip in a Country halfway around the World, he saved for years to go and is attending University in September.

3)     Have incurred expense to book own accommodation

4)     Have occurred expense to book a single flight home, at the last minute when flights were at a premium

5) Insurance Company have said that he cannot claim the unused elements of the trip because he has been offered them if he returns.

He feels stuck between two companies, we plan to go back to the travel company a third time and involve ABTA but I would like to know what his rights are?

sheramber

I am rather confused.
 you say your son booked a trip
He was verbally informed
we were taken
he was provided with accommodation
he received confirmation that my flight was cancelled
he was in constant correspondence with my parents
my father

[Deleted User]

Agree with previous, very hard to follow.  Maybe if you can break it down a bit?   Basically your son should be reimbursed by airlines for any flights cancelled.   If he booked the whole thing as a package then he should be entitled to a refund of it all from them - the bits he didn't get I mean?   Doesn't look the case though.   He will need to look at the individual aspects of it and work out what insurance he took out and what it covers for each issue.     

oldgrey19

Apologies, it was a C&P synopsis that I did for him because he was trying to send off correspondence on an I-phone.
In summary 49 day trip, booked with Real Gap experience.
With 24 days to go the group(he was travelling with) were told that the tour was being stopped and they were being returned to Brisbane, where they were provided accommodation for a further three days before being told that was it they were on their own.
 The group were also told would not get a refund for the remainder of the trip, only the option to 'return and complete the remainder at a later date. If they wanted a refund they should go to the insurance company to claim. He his being refunded for the cancelled flights. He and others in the group bandied together to get a nice large house in Brisbane to social distance and eventually I was able to book him a flight home.

My son sent a claim to his insurer as advised by the travel firm but was told as he had been offered a credit note he could not claim on his insurance (which is strange because people on the same trip, with the same insurer had their claims satisfied, I can only assume they didn't send the full information.

So my question: Is a credit note for a return for the remainder of the trip the most that the travel firm is obliged to offer as it is not desirable and practical for my son to do this.

sheramber

 https://www.realgap.co.uk/terms-and-conditions

EVENTS BEYOND OUR CONTROL

1. Force Majeure. If we have to cancel or make major changes to your programme because of events beyond our control we will not be liable to refund your monies or pay you compensation. We will do our best to offer you an alternative trip but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do this. These events can include, but are not limited to: war, the threat of war, civil strife, pandemic, terrorist activities or the threat of terrorist activities, acts of governments or local authorities, strikes, industrial disputes, demonstrations, natural disasters, unnatural disasters such as explosions, or any similar event which is outside our control or the control of our suppliers.

oldgrey19

So it's as I feared then.
1) Travel company sticking with Terms and Conditions and offering a recommencement of the remainder of the tour at a later date. (Which my son cannot accept as that would involve booking flights and he is just about to go to Uni for three years)

2) Because the Travel Company have offered a recommencement the Travel insurance company underwriters state that he cannot claim, depite this being an impractical solution
Is it worth us taking this forward do you think? It cost me £750 to fly him home, but because his original cancelled flights were returns he will get a fraction back and his two weeks accommodation was £240 and there is a £200 excess so he'll get £40 back

Seems a poor return for a 19 year old who did everything right.

sheramber

 As Real Gap Experience are not member of ABTA I don't think they will help.
WHICH? have information about package holidays 
https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/package-travel-regulations

oldgrey19

sheramber said:

 As Real Gap Experience are not member of ABTA I don't think they will help.
WHICH? have information about package holidays 
https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/package-travel-regulations

Interestingly enough the travel agent have not offered a refund as per their Terms and Conditions but neither have they offered specifics on a rebooking or credit note so 'my son' is in the process of writing to them to seek absolute clarification on what "We will do our best to offer you an alternative trip but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do this."  means in this case.
If they confirm they cannot offer this then the Underwriters statement: 
"Please be advised that as per the underwriter's advice, we are unable to consider any costs for accommodation / flights / excursions where a voucher, credit or option to rebook has been offered and can be used at a later date."   Becomes a moot point and all we need is the value of the cancelled accommodation, excursions and travel from the travel agent.
Thank you for providing clarity of thought on this.