Dubai with Emirates Holidays Late June 26

markd3019

Looking for advice and wondering if anyone else is in the same boat.

I booked a package holiday with Emirates Holidays back in February — flights with Emirates and 4 nights in Dubai, late June.

The balance was due early April. With the FCDO advising against travel and no end date in sight, I called Emirates Holidays on prior to the balance due date and asked if we could either get a refund or at least defer the balance until closer to the departure date when things might be clearer. Both refused.

My options were: (a) pay the full balance and hope for a refund later if the advice stays in place, (b) cancel and lose the deposit, or (c) transfer to another holiday later in the year. None of these were acceptable — we weren't willing to hand over another £x,xxx for a holiday they couldn't guarantee.

I didn't pay the balance. Emirates automatically cancelled the booking and kept the entire deposit. Refund: £0.00.

I've now written to them twice, citing the Package Travel Regulations 2018 (Regulation 12(7)) and their own T&Cs — their Clause 7 specifically allows cancellation without charge for unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, and their Clause 9 says FCDO advice may constitute such circumstances. They've responded twice, both times just restating their standard booking terms and ignoring the legal arguments completely.

What's really frustrating is:

- Their own colleague told me on the phone that if the FCDO advice stayed in place closer to departure, I'd get a full refund. But they wanted me to pay £x,xxx first and take all the risk.

- They're offering enhanced flexibility for departures up to 31 May — so they acknowledge the disruption — but won't extend it to cover my xx June departure.

- BA has cancelled all Dubai flights and isn't resuming until 1 July.

- loveholidays has stopped selling Dubai holidays through June entirely and is automatically refunding customers.

- ABTA's own guidance says members should offer full refunds when FCDO advice is against travel.

- There's a County Court precedent (Braithwaite v loveholidays) where a judge ruled FCDO advice alone is sufficient for a full refund under the PTRs.

I've contacted Citizens Advice, I've registered a dispute with ABTA today, preparing a chargeback through my bank, and I've submitted the story to the MSE news team.

Has anyone else had this experience with Emirates Holidays? And has anyone successfully got a refund out of them in similar circumstances? Would love to hear how others are handling this.

Thanks in advance.

eskbanker

If the FCDO advice remained the same in late June then you would have had the option to cancel for a refund (as you were correctly told), but two months ahead is way too early to have that right - note that the court case you refer to (which doesn't actually set legal precedent as such) related to termination two days before travel.

markd3019

Thanks for the reply. You make a fair point on the Braithwaite case not setting binding precedent. I agree it's persuasive rather than definitive, and yes it involved a cancellation 2 days before travel.

But I think the key issue in my case is different, and it's this: I didn't cancel.

I completely agree that two months out, the right thing to do is wait and see. That's exactly what I tried to do. I asked Emirates Holidays to defer the balance payment until closer to the departure date so we could see how the FCDO position developed. They refused. They insisted on full payment of £x,xxx on xx April for a holiday departing xx June, while the FCDO was actively advising against travel. When I didn't pay, they cancelled the booking and kept my deposit.

So I wasn't trying to exercise a right to cancel two months early. I was trying to do exactly what the sensible advice is i.e wait. Emirates wouldn't let me. They forced the cancellation and are now relying on it to forfeit the deposit.

The question isn't really about timing of a cancellation right. It's about whether it's reasonable for a tour operator to demand £x,xxx for a holiday they can't guarantee, refuse to defer that payment, cancel when it isn't paid, and then keep the deposit — all while the government is saying don't travel. I'd argue that's not reasonable under the PTRs or under their own T&Cs.

And for what it's worth, ABTA's own published guidance says members should offer full refunds when FCDO advice is against travel, and the CMA has specifically declined to impose a hard timing rule on when consumers should act, saying "it is not helpful to put a date on it when things are in such flux."

eskbanker

But I think the key issue in my case is different, and it's this: I didn't cancel

You may not have explicitly issued a cancellation request as such, but failing to make a scheduled payment will presumably have the same effect under the Ts & Cs?

I completely agree that two months out, the right thing to do is wait and see. That's exactly what I tried to do.

That's not really what I was saying - you needed to continue to comply with your obligations under the contract. No harm in asking them to defer payments, but they were within their rights to refuse, and so you were making a choice between paying to retain the booking, or accepting loss of deposit.

unforeseen

Ts & Cs

If we do not receive any payment due in full and on time, we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled by you in which case the cancellation charges set out in clause 7 below will become payable.

So you did in effect cancel it

Annemos

My terms and conditions for a separate Company, say that if I do not pay the Final Balance, then the Company can deem that I have cancelled the holiday myself, and then I forfeit the deposit.

So I always was under the impression we have to pay the final balance and then wait to see if they eventually do cancel the Holiday themselves and then we can claim the refund.

I think to do it too early might count as disinclination to travel?

Westin

By not paying the balance by the due date you breached the booking terms and conditions. The booking was cancelled due to non-payment. Your actions meant you effectively cancelled the holiday with loss of deposit.

markd3019

Thanks all — I do appreciate the responses even where they're challenging as I will go to court if I have to and no doubt will face these counter arguments - I have a 100% record over against multiple organisations across different sectors in relation to consumer arguments and feel no less confident if this progresses as such.

I accept the point that not paying the balance has the same practical effect as cancelling under the T&Cs, and I understand the view that the safer route would have been to pay and wait. We did consider this tactical approach when assessing how to play this.

We knew the risk and the battle we might have by not paying the balance. However, by not paying the balance we have been able to book something more suitable and safe to celebrate her birthday. We would not have had the money to do this had we paid the balance.

However I would push back on the idea that the T&Cs are the end of the story. The Package Travel Regulations exist precisely because contract terms can't override statutory rights. Emirates' own Clause 7 allows cancellation without charge for unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances, and their Clause 9 acknowledges FCDO advice may constitute those circumstances. ABTA's own published guidance says members should offer full refunds when FCDO advice is against travel. And ABTA has explicitly warned its members that contract terms purporting to deny refunds in these circumstances may be void as unfair under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

The question I'd put to the forum is simply this: should consumers really be expected to hand over significant sums of money for a holiday the government says they shouldn't take and the operator cannot guarantee, just to preserve a right to a refund they're already legally entitled to? If that's the case then I'd suggest the Regulations aren't working.

Either way, I've registered with ABTA and we'll see how it plays out. Happy to update the thread as things progress. — might be useful for others in a similar position.

darkcloudi

Agree, with the others you chose not to pay remaining balance which ineffectively cancels your booking and loss of deposit.

Its a business, not something where you could just say can I pay later because I want to, fully understand the circumstances due to global events. But you did get the option to transfer to another holiday which you chose not to do.

You would have been better choosing to defer the holiday or just paid. If you had travel insurance that would have helped recover some costs near the time of departure (if Emirates holidays were funny about refund of full costs) but not in this circumstances where you chose to cancel (i.e. not pay).

markd3019

Thanks all for the input. I hear the points on the balance payment and I appreciate the different perspectives, even though I remain of the view that contract terms cannot override statutory provisions. I've been successful in court on several occasions on this exact principle. I'll update the thread once ABTA has reviewed the case, which might be useful for anyone else in a similar position, and again once I raise a MCOL.

eskbanker

Nobody is arguing that contract terms can override statutory provisions, but the point is that the statutory provisions don't offer the protection you believe you have, in that the right to terminate for unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances is clear, but just not this far in advance when those circumstances may not apply.