LoveHolidays and STA are refusing holidaymakers’ refunds even if their trips are cancelled due to coronavirus
TOUR operators are refusing to pay refunds to travellers who have their holidays cancelled due to coronavirus.
An investigation conducted by Which? magazine found customers were either being offered credit notes or the option to rebook at a future date.
Some were only given a credit note for half of their bookings.
Stacey Brook, who booked a holiday with STA Travel to Sri Lanka, was told that "no refunds were permitted".
Despite paying £1,485 in January, by mid-March her trip was cancelled - yet she was only given the choice of a credit note or to book at a later date.
Similarly, LoveHolidays customer Jessamy Worms was only offered a credit note of £399.28, which was half of her £814 payment after booking a holiday to Morocco, and didn't include what she paid for her flights.
An STA spokesperson told Which? that "ABTA is highlighting that customers may be offered a Refund Credit Note instead of an immediate cash refund, which can be used to book another holiday at a later date and, in the meantime, it is protected by ABTA/ATOL."
A spokesperson for LoveHolidays said credit notes had airfares deducted as they were waiting for "cash from the airlines".
They too insisted they were following ABTA guidelines.
Sun Online Travel contacted the tour operators for additional comment.
ABTA has warned that holiday providers could go bankrupt if forced to offer refunds to travellers, meaning millions of trips could be cancelled.
Mark Tanzer, ABTA Chief Executive, explained: "The rules around 14-day refunds were never designed for the mass cancellation of holidays, which we’re now seeing as result of Government measures to contain the pandemic."
Holidaymakers are being urged to accept credit notes, or they risk losing their holidays entirely.
Airlines are also begging the UK government to allow them to keep passengers' money for their cancelled flights and to offer vouchers instead to keep the cash within the travel industry.
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