Lapland Santa Claus Trips

ConfuZee

Hi there, 
I am hoping that someone can advise me on where to go with this.... Lapland booked in Feb 20 for Dec 20.
Booked with Santa Claus Trips (Stewart Travel), Tour Operator Transun.
By the time the final balance was due to be paid (28th Aug) Finland still had 14 days quarantine in place and infection rates in UK were on the increase.
Transun terms and conditions are that they don't move trips to another year and as far as they are concerned the trip will go ahead in December, therefore final balance payment required.
My issue was Finland / Lapland is a once in a lifetime experience, not just a beach holiday, to just wing it and hope for the best.
I questioned what changes will be made to the itinerary due to the new restrictions and the answers were contradictory... `the trip is going ahead as planned... it's too early to tell what changes will be made'
I am inclined to think that they have acted out of code, how can they expect payment for a 3 day trip to a destination that at that time had 14 days isolation upon arrival, plus changes to the itinerary could not / would not be disclosed.
I asked whether Santa Claus Trips (Stewart Travel) would have anything in place to honour part of (if not all of) the deposit we were about to loose...again the answer was no. 
I would've been happy with a voucher to redeem against the next booking deposit. 
But sadly I felt forced to cancel with a full deposit loss. 
I have since emailed to Stewart Travel...and they maintain the trips are going ahead?? Am I missing something?... 
Any help appreciated, thank you. 

mattyprice4004

If it’s going ahead, you’re not missing anything - you’ll either have to suck it up and cancel or keep going forward with your fingers crossed. 

Things are changing daily, it’s too early to know what the restrictions will be this time next week let alone in December. 

Personally I’d still plan on going and deal with it nearer the time, but then I’d be keen for any break from this even if the itinerary had changed a little  

CKhalvashi

There is no travel advisory in place for Finland at the moment, however there is little chance that you'll be allowed entry.
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/finland

BA do most of these charters, and I'd expect them to cancel, although maybe not a few weeks before and this is complicated further in the fact that it's not strictly a BA flight (they're simply providing capacity to another company, in effect renting the plane to the travel agency).

Under my understanding of the Package Travel Regulations, it is considered your responsibility to ensure you are eligible to enter the country.

You may need to wait until about 28 days before the trip for any cancellation to be confirmed, as this is when both my travel insurance and a company insurance policy that covers the current situation kicks in, however in this case, it could be a risky move.

That said, if you have specific tickets for an event that is closed, this may be classed as a 'significant change' and you will have a full right to a refund. It's likely the same with a change of accommodation etc.

MSE is advising not to cancel yourself at the current time, and I have to echo this advice.

bagand96

Unfortunately it was customer cancellation, and therefore it will be treated under those T&Cs, which will be a loss of deposit.

Matty is correct, travel restrictions are constantly changing, and just because Finland has restrictions in August, it doesn't mean it will still have them in December.  That doesn't give you right to cancel and get your deposit back unfortunately.  It's no different to those people who had balances to pay in April/May for summer holidays in July/Aug/Sept.  Advice back then was no different, if you cancel it's a loss of deposit, if you pay the balance and the holiday later can't go ahead then you will be entitled to a full refund.

ToxicWomble

I want to know how Santa is going to get around the 14 day quarantine issue especially visiting multiple countries in one night 🤔

sheramber

He is being considered a key worker. 

Thrugelmir

In August not sure how anybody could have answered your questions. Simply too far away. 

The trips won't be cancelled until they have to be. 

epm-84

In the FCDO advice:
The Finnish Government has announced that it will move to a new testing based model on 23 November. The new model will see health safety measures replacing internal border controls, we will supply more information on the new model in due course.

So it might be the Finnish government want to find a way of ensuring Christmas Lapland trips can go ahead.  It must generate a lot of revenue for the local economy.

There may be something in the T&Cs that allows them to change the itinerary due to circumstances out of their control.

epm-84

ToxicWomble said:

I want to know how Santa is going to get around the 14 day quarantine issue especially visiting multiple countries in one night 🤔

He'll find a way of making his way from New Zealand to Asia to Africa to Europe without any problems, then he'll have to be careful which order he does European countries in.  However, as the US is 5-8 hours behind the British Isles and they do not allow anyone in who has visited Europe in the last 14 days, he won't be delivering to Americans this year.

ConfuZee

Thank you all for the replies, to be honest... I kind of knew that would be the answer. 
It just seems a bit unfair and morally wrong from a customers point of view. 
But I know this pandemic has hit hard for many people and businesses, just got to take the loss. 
Thank you 

ConfuZee

mattyprice4004 said:

If it’s going ahead, you’re not missing anything - you’ll either have to suck it up and cancel or keep going forward with your fingers crossed. 

Things are changing daily, it’s too early to know what the restrictions will be this time next week let alone in December. 

Personally I’d still plan on going and deal with it nearer the time, but then I’d be keen for any break from this even if the itinerary had changed a little  

Yeah, I totally understand that... That was my point to them, when they said the trip would go ahead as normal ...
Even going to Asda for a loaf of bread is not 'normal' these days so I know full well the trip will not go ahead as normal. 
It wouldn't be a nice break or a trip of a lifetime going to Lapland during a pandemic... I expect it will be chaos!! 
Just like everything else at the minute...