How many of you have had holidays cancelled?

Minimoon I feel your pain! We too had planned a 4 day trip to New York Sept 16th then cruising New England with Princess Sky. Just like you I now do not wish to travel for all the obvious reasons and hope to get the cruise transferred to 2021/22. Not hopeful though! Congrats on your forthcoming special birthdays!

We are booked for a TA cruise in October. We have no idea whether or not it will be cancelled. I think we will have to pay the balance which is due in June and just hope for a refund if it is cancelled. I wonder if by October cruises will be sailing again.

There was a discussion Victoria Derbyshire this morning about this, and many people have been offered credit vouchers etc. However, you don’t have to accept credit - you are legally entitled to,a complete refund. Good luck.

we had our holiday cancelled by our travel company but offered a complete refund, re book now for next year or re book by the end of this year. We re booked for next year and was also given a generous discount to be taken off the total cost of the holiday.

We should be in northern Italy now, celebrating my 70th birthday with my daughter and her family who live there. Booked with Ryanair who at first told us we could have a refund, but yesterday we had a voucher instead. We are going to fight it as we want the money back, and then rebook when we know it’s safe to do so. We are waiting to see whether our holiday to Cornwall in June will happen or not, but we suspect not.

They are legally bound to give you a refund. It is no use accepting vouchers, as the travel firm could go bust and you have lost all that money.

We have flights booked to Canada on 30th September. I don’t know what to think, will it be safe to travel then? Will it be safe to tour the area we are supposed to be visiting? My gut feeling is no, but I suppose we’ll have to wait and see. We haven’t booked any hotels yet, so at least that’s not a problem. The flights are with BA, maybe we can change them for next year.

We have been told by Virgin Atlantic that our flights to and from Washington have been cancelled, no surprise there. They directed us to their website, which gives information about rebooking and vouchers but no mention of a refund but I’ve asked for one anyway as I believe we are legally entitled.
We are also booked on a river cruise in the autumn with Viking. We have only paid the deposit and have to pay the balance by July. They are being very generous with rebooking terms but again no mention of a refund. We will have to decide between losing our deposit or risking paying the full amount and claiming a refund if the cruise is cancelled or rebooking, but what happens if the company goes bankrupt? 1st world problems like this however are nothing in comparison to those who have lost loved ones.

I am also awaiting a refund but have at least got it in writing that they will refund the money.

If I definitely thought we could go abroad for holidays next year and the travel company would not become bankrupt, I might have agreed to transfer the booking until 2021.

I am not confident that holidays abroad will be permitted next year - holidays are different from business trips or trips to see relatives. I do honestly wonder about the future of package holidays.

We were planning a big trip for later this year, just couldn't decide where to go. For once I'm glad that we always take so long to make our minds up where to go. We also had a family stay booked over Easter which we've managed to reschedule for the same time next year.

I posted on the Richard Branson thread previously about our attempt to obtain a refund on flights to California on May 6th and return flights on May 17th. Despite receiving a message from somebody on GN taking me to task for complaining about the prospect of not getting a refund and calling our much awaited holiday to Palm Springs, the first for four years due to ill health, a ‘stupid holiday’ when there are far more important things going on in the world, I will repeat the information we have.

1) Virgin Atlantic will refund if the cancellation is due to Corona Virus, they will also re-book flights with no Penalty but you have to pay any difference in the cost of the flights. There is a timescale for rebooking flights but this seems to be being extended as time goes on.

2) After applying for a refund it takes 30 days for V A to confirm the cancellation. After the confirmation of cancellation it can take up to 60 days for the refund to be processed. This was as of yesterday but I don’t know what will happen if Richard Branson does put V A into administration as he has suggested he will do if no government bailout is forthcoming.

However, this morning there was a useful feature on BBC Breakfast about holiday cancellations. Legislation states that refunds for holidays should be within 14 days and refunds for flights within 7 days. ‘Which’ are concerned about the number of companies who are refusing refunds and only offering vouchers, taking too long to process refunds or just ignoring contact made. They also said that if you have paid a deposit for a holiday and the balance is due if you don’t pay the balance you will forfeit your deposit; if you pay the balance you should get the full amount back if the holiday is cancelled at a later date but depending on who you have booked with this may take a long time and you may have to apply to ATOL. Some tour operators are offering an incentive if you re-book at a later date, 20% of the cost of the holiday you have booked was mentioned, I think this was from TUI.

Tangerine I agree with you, I think holidays abroad will be disrupted far into the future and that is why we have applied for a refund rather than rebooking the flights.

I had a cruise in March to the Arctic cancelled ...have been promised a refund straight to my Bank but so far nothing. I have had three concerts cancelled (two in the UK, one in Maastricht) and am being asked for payment in full for an overland Russian holiday in July, I am not too happy to make the full payment as the Russian land borders are closed, and on enquiring at the Embassy I am informed it is unlikely they will be allowing tourists in 'for the coming future' I am told by the tour co that if I don't pay the balance I will be in breach of contract BUT my argument is it is not ME who will be in breach of contract, as THEY contracted with me to take me in payment of money ….and neither they nor I can force the Russians to open the border (not that I would want to try !) so I am holding out ...an in any case, it is impossible at the moment to travel in this country (I don't have a car any longer) to obtain the necessary Visa from the Russian embassy as travel is only 'for essential things' Being over 70 and threatened (I HOPE with fake news !) that over 70's will be asked to self isolate for another YEAR I couldn't go anyway ……..IF my annual insurance Policy (only been able to use it twice since I paid over £1,000 for it !) contains suitable wording without too many prohibitive clauses ……………..I am happy to lose my deposit as the Visa would have cost me over £100, plus train to the Embassy, taxis hotels …...I shall look at my options legally …………...I know its not their fault, but the company (LEGER TRAVEL) is not a huge Co and the fear of them going bust and having to claim my money back if I pay in full in not a happy one …..cannot afford to lose the amount of money it was going to cost …..at least and until I get my refund for the cancelled cruise earlier in the year ...luckily I live next to the beach, and also have a little holiday chalet to escape to if and when I am 'allowed'......dare not take the risk of booking anything else ….will wait and go last minute !! good luck everybody

They’ve offered me a refund on the outgoing flight but haven’t cancelled the return flight yet so won’t refund in full

That's crazy, if you don't use the outward portion of a return ticket, the return is usually cancelled. If you use the first leg and not the second they have been known to claim for the cost of a single fare, often much more than a return.

Aside from the ins and outs of who you should deal with tge has been a lot of info on the vouchers being offered bt Ryanair. The advice is not to accept them. They are not ATOL protected therefore if anything goes wrong there is no comeback for you. Insist on another flight booking or your money back. Good luck sorting out the minefield.

I have a holiday to Mykonos booked for middle of May. This was to attend the hen do for my future daughter in law. BA cancelled the outward flight 3 weeks ago but have not cancelled the return. I am waiting it out as I want a refund.
Also flights booked to Corfu in June for the wedding!! This has now been postponed until next year. Will have to wait for BA to cancel them. Unfortunately many guests have booked flights and hotels through BA and it’s impossible to actually talk to anyone. Hopefully they will allow guests to transfer bookings to 2021. The wedding is a year and a week later so hope that won’t be a problem.

Thank you Theoddbird but my query is still WHO is responsible for refunding my money when I paid for a package from the travel company and did not deal directly with the carrier separately.
Surely the Travel Agent who took my money in a lump sum should be responsible for refunding me the same lump sum - or am I supposed to contact the hotel and the transfer company individually myself?

We booked a mid week break direct with a guest house on the south coast for mid June. I paid £30 deposit in February. Checking my credit card account I noticed that the balance of £270 had been taken. Permission had not been requested. I called the guest house who explained that due to the current situation they had no money to pay their bills so had taken the balance from customers who had paid their deposit by card. They could not refund the money. Said we could go later in the year if the lock down meant they would still be closed in June. On contacting my credit card they explained that what they had done was not ethical but I had entered into a contract when I paid the deposit! Although I feel for their situation I do think I should have been informed. Just hoping they survive the lock down and we are able to go later in the year ?

I think that if the company is a member of atol or similar, a voucher is safe. Hoping so as we have accepted one from Riviera travel!!

It's our Golden Wedding Anniversary on Saturday, lunch for 70 cancelled, and we should be going on a cruise in a week's time. Filled in form to get a refund for the cruise but haven't heard a word since. Just a waiting game, I think.

We are booked to have a week in Jersey from the 6th of June flying from Norwich with Loganair. They have cancelled all flights until the end of May and the remainder of the cost is due at the end of this month or it will be assumed we’ve cancelled and lose our deposit. Of course we could pay the balance and then reclaim it but .....

Chances are Loganair will cancel all flights for June at the beginning of May so it’s most annoying that we won’t get the deposit back.

I haven't even had a reply as such, just an automatic 'we have recieved ..... '
I fear I must kiss my money goodbye.

There was also something on the news. They have to by law refund in 14 days. If you paid by credit card you also have back up there.

DO NOT accept a voucher Actively pursue arefund Give them 7 days in which to respond Make a nuisance of yourself that generally works

We booked a fortnight in Lanzarote in mid May through Secret Escapes. All they’ve offered is a credit voucher. We paid in full rather than a deposit at the end of January even though it was far longer than 10 weeks before departure. We also paid a deposit for a Saga cruise in October and I’m highly doubtful about that going ahead either. No idea what to do.

Pebblesterrier - your credit card company said that the guest house taking your money was "unethical". Theft is more like it. You say your holiday was for mid June. You had paid a deposit in February. So the balance for the costs of the holiday would probably realistically not be due until early May - or 6 weeks before you arrived. But you say that their explanation was they took the deposit/s (and from others) because they had no money to pay bills? That's unbelievable. And they took it from you for nothing, except in the hope that your holiday may go ahead later or next year. On the information that we have at present with no clue as to what will happen just a few weeks from now, even if you have your holiday eventually, why would they assume that they could take your money months ahead , take money from your card without agreement or explanation. You are now subsidising their living costs but cannot be certain whether your holiday will go ahead. Everyone is likely to be very short of money by the time this crisis is even half over, but you don't deal with this by helping yourself to someone else's money, surely.
Our own guests return year after year and there is usually a sprinkling of new bookings too. As soon as I was aware that nothing will be considered for re-opening in our town in France until mid-July this year, no bars, restaurants, tourist attractions, and we will possibly remain in lockdown until June, I decided that as we could guarantee nothing in terms of dates, I would not have dreamed of holding on to deposits or letting people make final payments. Some people will probably want to re-book next year, but if they don't or can't others will book in their place. Until we are able to see how the situation pans out, will there be flights, how is travel being managed, borders being opened etc.,we honestly cannot offer holiday accommodation here. To offer it "later" and under the present extraordinary circumstances is really just an excuse to hold onto their deposits and is not far off sharp practice. None of us has a crystal ball. And if companies don't answer your mails, if they go bankrupt, if they sell up and move on? You will have paid for nothing. If you have already paid towards something - goods, services, etc., that you are not going to receive on the dates you arranged, you are entitled to expect that your hard-earned money be returned to you, at your request and without excuse or delay.
And Jane43 someone actually wrote to you to snipe at your complaining about a lost holiday....there are more important things in life, etc.,? Seriously, there are some very strange people who appear on Gransnet sometimes, and who clearly are shameless! The very best of luck in trying to recover your losses.