Stop the travel tailspin

OUR mailbag is overflowing with emails from bitterly disappointed holidaymakers whose travel plans are now in ruins.

Many had spent thousands of pounds on once-in-a-lifetime trips to celebrate weddings, milestone birthdays and anniversaries.

Now, as well as missing out on those holidays with loved ones, they are finding it near impossible to get their money back.

As the Mail reported yesterday, travel firms are pleading with ministers to relax rules on refunds over fears many will go bust if they have to shell out so much cash. If they get the go-ahead, customers will have to rebook or face a fourmonth wait for a refund.

With no definite end to the lockdown in sight, let alone global travel restrictions, it is entirely understandable that many people won’t want to book another holiday they might have to cancel.

Many due to go away are also older or have underlying medical conditions. They rightly want to prioritise their health and put any worry about whether they will be well enough to travel later in the year to the back of their minds.

On top of this, a number of people are now facing job losses and a drop in income, so would rather have the money back in their bank accounts to pay essential bills.

And who knows what will happen over the next month, let alone four? Customers should remember that, if airlines or travel companies go bust, those people who accepted vouchers or credit notes could end up with nothing — unless the industry introduces a scheme to ensure they are honoured. As for the travel firms, they cannot rely on already struggling households to bail them out.

That said, it also doesn’t make sense to force firms to pay huge sums in refunds if it means their almost certain failure. Ministers must find a compromise.

In the meantime, holidaymakers must be as practical and patient as possible. Don’t waste energy chasing down every last penny.

If you have had to pay extra for lounge access at the airport or to reserve a seat on your new flight, just let it go this time.

If you can rebook now, you could be helping a firm stay in business.

And I would say to the travel firms, if you want customers to rebook, you must play fair.

Don’t try to squeeze more cash out of people by hiking prices or charging astronomical rebooking fees. Be reasonable and you might have a customer for life when the dust settles.

Banking buffers

Bravo to those banks who have responded to our call for action so swiftly and introduced help for borrowers with overdrafts.

The most generous lenders are removing overdraft fees entirely, giving struggling customers real breathing space.

But it is vital you do not borrow more than you absolutely need, as you will have to pay interest on this debt in the future.

The smaller interest-free buffers will go some way towards helping customers, but will be of little comfort for those already in their overdraft and likely to go deeper into it in the coming months.

We hope banks will continue to review their charges and seek to do even more to help.

It is hard to see how NatWest, for example, can justify continuing to charge 19.89 pc interest when the cost of borrowing is at an all-time low of 0.1 pc.

It is also disappointing that some of the new mobile banks have been slow to offer their customers any help.

Rainy day cash

Finally, as Tony Hazell reports on pages 34 and 39, many of us will have seen a drop in our outgoings over the past couple of weeks.

My bank statement is positively boring, only utility bills, the odd supermarket shop and a couple of Amazon Prime films (I spent my Saturday evening watching the 1995 action movie Outbreak and the 2011 thriller Contagion).

So if you do have some spare cash and haven’t yet built up a rainy day fund for emergencies (such as the one we are currently facing), please do so now. It has never been more vital to have some cash reserves.