When can I cancel under Package Travel Regulations (2018) and claim penalty free refund.

Butts

sheramber said:

If the contract is frustrated then it will be cancelled by the operator anyway.

Probably don't expect a quick refund.

Good luck with finding another holiday  with all the further restrictions being brought in abroad , as well as at home.

Unless you booked with BA.

If you are going to book an alternative I would go right to the wire before committing to anything - ie a few days before for the reasons highlighted above.

bagand96

Someone's given the BA fan club new Duracells for crimbo!

Butts

bagand96 said:

Someone's given the BA fan club new Duracells for crimbo!

Just got back from my latest outing to Turkey on Sunday. Unfortunately my bag has only just joined me due to luggage chaos at Heathrow on Sunday

The Test before return has put me off for a little bit - prospect of 10 Days in Istanbul a bit to "Midnight Express" for me !!

PS Honoured to be the subject of your 5,000th Post

lulu999

I'm not too worried about speed of refund, just confirmation that I would be refunded is all I need.

I'll hold back for the moment before pulling the trigger.

Lots of good advice, thanks.

CKhalvashi

lulu999 said:

onashoestring said:

Have you paid in full ? 

You may be entitled to cancel but that doesn’t mean you are entitled to a refund. That would depend on the T&Cs of the package you have booked.
If you haven’t paid in full and you cancel because you are “disinclined to travel”  you may still owe the tour operator the balance - again this would depends on the T&Cs of the contract you agreed.

Under PTR (2018) I would be entitled to cancel for a full refund.

T&Cs cannot overwrite statute.

It's not "disinclined to travel", the contract is currently frustrated by the French entry requirements.

My question was at what point could I cancel.

You can cancel any time you like, however won't be entitled to a refund at this time. I'd argue that you won't know whether you're going until around 48 hours before unless contractually there are timescales, as at the 48 hour mark there will be little doubt as to France's entry requirements. I entered France last Thursday with the current rules coming into effect on Saturday (although I'd have been eligible to enter France anyway on the basis of what I was doing there, which defnintely wasn't having a holiday,, but the point is to emphasise that this is around 48 hours).

You are, therefore, at this time disinclined to travel.

lulu999 said:

Further searching revealed a statemant by the Competiton & Markets Authority in a Statement on coronavirus, consumer contracts, cancellation and refunds (Aug 2020)

In it they say...

"Where lockdown laws make it reasonably likely that the contract will not be able to be performed at the time agreed, it is likely that the contract will be ’frustrated’ under the law at the point this becomes clear. As a result the contract will come to an end and consumers should be entitled to receive a refund."

My personal view at the moment is, it is 'reasonably likely', the French entry rules will still be there mid-January.

My whole reason for pushing for this now is to enable me to try and book something in another country. The longer it is left, the fewer the choices.

Then why have the CMA refused to test this waste of bandwidth in court?

The courts have ruled in the last few weeks that booking in the middle of a pandemic when borders have closed already cannot possibly leave this route open to you as you would reasonably have known a border closure may happen. This route has therefore not been reasonably open to any bookings made after 10 March 2020 or any bookings made before with amendments made after this.

Although not binding on a court, this argument will likely be raised.

Don't do anything yet as you'll be bound by the cancellation rights in your contract, always wait for the tour operator to cancel first and if you still can't go due to reasonable entry requirements (I would consider going as far as being vaccinated in the current climate to be reasonable for example) then you will be able to enforce your rights later on.

mjm3346

lulu999 said:

I currently have a ski package holiday booked for mid January to France.

Under the PTR (2018), the traveller can cancel in the event of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occuring at the place or destination and which significantly affect the carriage of passenegers to that destination. The traveller may terminate the package travel contract before the start of the package without paying any termination fee.

Could I cancel now? If not at what point could I cancel?

There is the possibility that the French rules could change before the start of the package but I don't want to wait until the last moment just in case they may change the rules to allow travel.

Unless the original booking was a long while ago a Covid issue is hardly extraordinary circumstances

CKhalvashi

mjm3346 said:

lulu999 said:

I currently have a ski package holiday booked for mid January to France.

Under the PTR (2018), the traveller can cancel in the event of unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances occuring at the place or destination and which significantly affect the carriage of passenegers to that destination. The traveller may terminate the package travel contract before the start of the package without paying any termination fee.

Could I cancel now? If not at what point could I cancel?

There is the possibility that the French rules could change before the start of the package but I don't want to wait until the last moment just in case they may change the rules to allow travel.

Unless the original booking was a long while ago a Covid issue is hardly extraordinary circumstances

The ongoing situation likely will be in law, however that does not mean every route is available or rights are affected.

A border closure would fit the legal definition.