UK Air Passenger Duty kept on holiday cancellation

MSETT00sque

I was due to go on holiday with a firm called Distant Journeys but my wife injured herself so we had to cancel some weeks beforehand. I had to pay 100% of the cost of the holiday including the Air passenger Duty (APD) despite not flying. On claiming travel insurance, I could not claim the APD element and was told to contact Distant Journeys - who said they were keeping the APD. So Distant Journeys made a huge profit out of my families misfortune, keeping the APD. This was despite them, with the holiday cancelled, not having to pay staff who were due to look after us, internal travel costs and hotels etc. I accept that some costs will not be recoverable but this feels immoral, especially about the APD.

Reading their reviews, I see others complaining about this. Is it possible for MSE to see if they can convince the appropriate minister to change the law so that APD gets refunded, even after an admin charge?

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6665130/uk-air-passenger-duty-kept-on-holiday-cancellation

APD is not a large amount and often less than the admin charge that would be applied to refund so I don't see that the tour company have made a "huge profit" by keeping the APD.

What costs do you really think they have saved by you not travelling?

- not having to pay staff who were due to look after us - what staff will not now be required, i.e. would have been allocated to you and your wife only? Tour guide, cleaners, drivers, resort hosts, etc. will all be still employed and still paid whether there are two more or two fewer travellers on the itinerary.

- internal travel costs - would this have been dedicated taxi / limousine transfers or shuttle-bus transfers and such like? If the latter, the bus costs no less just because two passengers did not board.

- hotels - the tour company may have to pay for the hotel reservation regardless of whether the rooms are sold and occupied.

The tour company should make reasonable efforts to mitigate their losses, so attempt to resell the hotel rooms for example but, if your cancellation was later, there may have been limited opportunity to do so, even at a discount. Reselling the rooms also requires a cost to market. Location might have an impact on this if an alternative traveller requires visa, vaccination or flights that are not easy to obtain within short timeframe.

The tour company also loses opportunity for upsell by your absence - a vacant seat does not buy refreshments or an extra excursion etc. It is not uncommon for travel companies to operate on a business model that recovers costs for basic tickets and relies on the upsell to generate value.

eskbanker

APD is not a large amount and often less than the admin charge that would be applied to refund so I don't see that the tour company have made a "huge profit" by keeping the APD.

It can be a large amount, on long-haul itineraries offered by companies like this - £253pp if turning left on the plane!

The Ts & Cs are quite plain though:

Air Passenger Duty will always be non-refundable.

and as things stand I don't believe there's any legislation that mandates reimbursement, though many companies do.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6665130/uk-air-passenger-duty-kept-on-holiday-cancellation

So you think they fired the staff? Unless you were going to have a 1-2-1 butler or such then the reduction of one traveller is unlikely to change the number of staff required

Did they give you something in writing to confirm the APD isnt recoverable? Assuming they did then go back to your insurers and point out that in your case its not recoverable and for them to reconsider it

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81971854#Comment_81971854

£250 or so is still only a small amount as a proportion of the ticket cost.

I had always understood that APD was only paid by the airline if the passenger actually flew and that, as a tax, it was legally required to refund to the passenger (subject to an admin fee) if the passenger did not fly. (One assumes the admin fee would not be as high as £250 per passenger.) However, the following article suggests that is not the case, as you mentioned:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/missed-or-cancelled-a-flight-claim-air-passenger-duty-refund/

If the OP can obtain confirmation from the airline that the APD is not refundable then it is worth approach the travel insurer again. Assume that the policy does not contain a specific exclusion for APD, though it might.

la531983

Important Note: Certain arrangements may not be amended or transferred after they have been confirmed and any alteration could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements. Air Passenger Duty will always be non-refundable.

https://www.distantjourneys.co.uk/booking-conditions/

NoodleDoodleMan

APD is a government imposed tax which is remitted to HMRC.

Here is what MSE advises

"If you booked a flight from the UK but did not travel, you can claim a refund for Air Passenger Duty (APD), which

ranges from £7 to over £200 per person, depending on the destination and class. While airlines aren't legally forced to refund, most, such as

EasyJet

,

Ryanair

, and

British Airways

, offer this via their customer service or refund forms. Be aware that some airlines may deduct an administration fee from the refund"

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81973737#Comment_81973737

OP booked through an agent, whose terms specifically exclude reimbursing APD - even if OP went to the airline directly and was able to convince them to (a) accept contact and (b) refund APD, then it would simply be returned to the agent, who'd keep it…

NoodleDoodleMan

Thanks for clarification - I flagged purely it up for general information.

As you pointed out it can be a significant amount in some cases.

A nice little earner for the agent.

Presumably reputable airlines, where appropriate, will refund upon request, rather than be subject to negative publicity ?

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81974211#Comment_81974211

It looks like you may have copy/pasted your earlier wording from AI as the airline links go to various other sites - the actual MSE article (already linked upthread) summarises the individual airline policies.