On the beach

dwalsh1984

I am set to depart in 6 days, I have been messaging On the beach for last 5 weeks as I was due to go to Spain but have asked for refund or rebooking due to FCO advice saying essential travel only and also with spike in cases I wouldn’t feel safe, plus this is a group
booking where majority of us can not afford to take 14 days quarantine when we return. What can I do?

bagand96

Who are the flights with? Are the flights still going?

Butts

Time for ABTA to intervene with a General Warning to On The Beach who don't seem to have kept up with their associations directives and recommendations.

mattyprice4004

If the flights and hotel are still open and running for you, you won't be entitled to a refund - ABTA suggest that travel agents should do this, but they are only advising members of this and not forcing them to comply.

At the end of the day the advisory against travel is just that; an advisory - so I'd check your insurance to see if you're covered as ultimately it's disinclination to travel if you choose not to go despite the flights going ahead and hotel being open. 

[Deleted User]

yes hopefully your insurance will cover you for Traveling against FCO advice   If not, it is very much between a rock and hard place.  If you cancel a holiday where flights going as scheduled and hotel open then cancelling will attract the penalties in the t’s and c’s of when you booked.  The 14 day quarantine when you return will not be their concern.  Harsh I know.  Just how it is. 

Butts

Tedber said:

yes hopefully your insurance will cover you for Traveling against FCO advice   If not, it is very much between a rock and hard place.  If you cancel a holiday where flights going as scheduled and hotel open then cancelling will attract the penalties in the t’s and c’s of when you booked.  The 14 day quarantine when you return will not be their concern.  Harsh I know.  Just how it is. 

That may be the case with OTB but not with all Agents.
British Airways Holidays have possibly the greatest degree of flexibility in regard to these circumstances at the moment.

Sooler

https://www.onthebeach.co.uk/faqs/coronavirus

Cancellation advice is given

Customers travelling to Spain (mainland) post 29th August:

This is a fast moving situation. It is entirely possible at the moment that your holiday can go ahead as planned. If you do wish to cancel, then usual cancellation charges would apply. We fully appreciate that many customers due to travel over the summer period want to speak to us urgently about their holidays. It is however essential that we deal with bookings in departure date order.

Rebooking advice is given

Can I change the dates on my booking?

In the current environment with workloads from flight cancellations and hotel closures, there is limited resource we could assign to quote requests to change dates. We do not set the prices for flights or hotels. These are set by the airlines and hoteliers respectively. Therefore any price increase to change dates is as result of the pricing policies of these suppliers and not On the Beach. Over the past few weeks and prior to the new advice about travel to Spain, we have quoted several thousand date change requests. Because summer 2021 is currently on limited release, these quotations were often double the price paid for the 2020 holiday and as a result well in excess of the cost to cancel the holiday. As a result of this only a very small proportion of the customers quoted proceeded with a change of dates. We regret that we are therefore unable to deal with date change requests at the current time.

The above advice also applies to requests to change destinations.

Be aware of current avice affected by FCO and if it were to remian unchanged post 29th

Customers travelling to Spain (mainland) up to and including 29th August:

In the majority of cases, flights are still operating to mainland Spain and we are able to provide the accommodation booked or a suitable alternative*, and therefore, unless we notify you otherwise, your package holiday will be able to proceed without any significant changes. Make sure you check your coverage with your travel insurers and ensure you have an EHIC card.

If you choose to cancel your holiday in these circumstances, we will refund the hotel and transfer monies and we will waive our administration fees for processing the cancellation. As stated above, most airlines are continuing to fly as planned and are advising customers to travel to the airport as planned so if the flight operates, the flight cost will be non-refundable. Our ability to refund the flight cost will be dependent on the airline(s) cancelling and refunding your flights.

If your flight is subsequently cancelled prior to departure, then the full flight monies (minus ATOL fee of £2.50 per person) will be refunded following receipt of the flight refund from your airline. We cannot guarantee how long this refund process will take as it varies by airline and may take several weeks or months.

*suitable alternative means alternative accommodation that is of the same or better standard, has the same main features, and is in the same location (i.e. it’s the same tourist destination) as your original accommodation.

...

Butts

Looks like they are ignoring ABTA's advice then, at least when it comes to refunding flights.
If they are the organiser and it is a Package Single Contract it should be all or nothing not just a Hotel refund.
Will be interesting to see ABTA's response.

bagand96

Butts said:

Looks like they are ignoring ABTA's advice then, at least when it comes to refunding flights.
If they are the organiser and it is a Package Single Contract it should be all or nothing not just a Hotel refund.
Will be interesting to see ABTA's response.

OnTheBeach sell Multi-Contract packages, as per their terms.  However that still makes them Package Organiser, and you still get the same rights under the Package Travel Regs.

Alan_Bowen

And ABTA says they should be refunding the £2. 50 ATOL fee as well! I can see the company resigning from ABTA fairly quickly!

Butts

Alan_Bowen said:

And ABTA says they should be refunding the £2. 50 ATOL fee as well! I can see the company resigning from ABTA fairly quickly!

With the way they've been carrying on excommunication should have already occurred along with LM.com.