How to manage your holiday bookings affected by Covid-19

IN THE last week Resolver has had literally thousands of enquiries and questions about travel and holidays, so I thought I’d tackle the big ones. As with all things coronavirus-related, things are changing fast.

IF your flight is cancelled by the airline due to FCO advice, then the rules say you should get a refund within seven days. That’s for flights from the UK and EU (and other EEA countries) or the airline is based in these countries.

If you have a packaged holiday than again, you should get a refund within 14 days.

If you booked a non-packaged holiday then your rights depend on the T&C’S – but the Competitions and Markets Authority have said these should be clear and upfront.

BUT... If we all demand refunds, we might just shut down some – or even all – of the travel firms and airlines. If you can and are willing to move your holiday forward, you help the industry survive.

Check out off-peak times of the day too as prices go up at busy points like lunchtime or early evening.

THEN you’ve lost your cash – including vouchers and other forms of credit. However, there are usually warnings before a firm goes under.

Keep an eye on updates and if a firm looks like it is about to call in the receivers, contact your bank or card provider and ask them to ‘charge back’ your money. This is an industry scheme and it does have time limits but just get on the phone and ask. Failing that, if you paid on a credit card over £100 you may be able to make a ‘section 75’ claim under the Consumer Credit Act.

PUT yourself in the position of the business. You know if everyone demands refunds then you may go out of business.

Add to that frontline staff on low wages getting hours of abuse on the phone. Under these circumstances, it makes sense that firm would steer you to vouchers or rebooking. I’m not saying that leaving out refunds is right – it isn’t. But these are unprecedented times.