Virgin and Love Holidays join Ryanair as the worst travel companies for Brits
VIRGIN and Love Holidays have been named as some of the worst travel companies for Brits, according to MoneySavingExpert.
The holiday firms join the ranks of Ryanair, Teletext Holidays and Alpharooms.
The study asked more than 77,000 customers about their refund experiences with holiday providers and airlines amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Many operators have come under fire for dragging their feet in regards to refunds, with holidaymakers waiting months for their money back or only being offered credit notes.
The most poor performing was Alpharooms, with a net score of -99 per cent, followed by Jetline (-97 per cent) and Teletext Holidays (-96 per cent).
Ryanair was also languishing near the bottom, with -89 per cent, and has been joined by Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays (both -88 per cent) and Love Holidays (-81 per cent).
Virgin Atlantic has fallen by 37 per cent from -51 per cent to -88 per cent since the last survey in May.
Full list of travel firms ranked
- Travel Counsellors +84
- Trailfinders +81
- Jet2 Holidays +79
- Jet2 +77
- Airbnb +69
- Hays Travel +64
- British Airways Holidays +63
- Haven +54
- Center Parcs +53
- Saga +52
- Disney +51
- Co-Operative Travel +34
- EasyJet Holidays +31
- Norwegian Air +23
- HomeAway +17
- British Airways +11
- American Airlines +9
- Eurocamp +7
- First Choice +5
- Booking.com +4
- Hotels.com +3
- Riviera +2
- Ebookers +1
- Travelbag -3
- Qatar Airways -6
- Travel Republic -12
- Villa Plus -17
- TUI -21
- Cottages.com,-22
- P&O Ferries -24
- Eurostar -24
- Expedia -29
- P&O Cruisesm-31
- Brittany Ferries -32
- Princess* -33
- Onthebeach -34
- Wizz Air -34
- Netflights -36
- Hoseasons -36
- EasyJet -39
- Emirates -48
- Vueling -52
- Etihad -54
- Turkish Airlines -60
- Holiday Extras -65
- Shearings -65
- Aer Lingus -68
- Air France -69
- Loganair -73
- Iglu* -73
- Travel Trolley -74
- Secret Escapes -77
- Lastminute.com -77
- Sykes Cottages -77
- Lufthansa -78
- STA Travel -78
- KLM -79
- Love Holidays -81
- Budget Air -82
- Barrhead* -87
- Fleetway -87
- Virgin Atlantic -88
- Virgin Holidays -88
- Air Transat* -88
- Ryanair -89
- TravelUp -89
- Opodo -92
- Teletext Holidays -96
- Jetline* -97
- Alpharooms* -99
Of the people surveyed, just 1 per cent of customers said they had received a holiday refund from Teletext and Virgin Atlantic.
Only four per cent said they received full refunds from Ryanair, Love Holidays and Virgin Holidays.
Last month, furious Brits blasted Virgin Holidays for failing to refund thousands of pounds four months after cancelling their trips, with 4,000 angry customers joining the online campaign Virgin No Refund Support Group.
Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, said: "This refund farce has now gone on too long.
"The pandemic has been a torrid time for millions, who have faced huge financial shocks.
"Having thousands of pounds tied up on what was once a dream, has turned into a nightmare.
"It’s left people in distress and some will have seen their mental health impacted."
"We will be passing a dossier on this to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Civil Aviation Authority and Department for Transport."
Some holiday companies have been praised for their handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Travel Counsellors had the best customer refund happiness score with +84 per cent, followed by Trailfinders (+81 per cent) and both Jet2 and Jet2Holidays (+79 per cent, +77 per cent).
Airbnb (+69 per cent), Hays Travel (+64 per cent) and British Airways Holidays (+63 per cent) followed closely behind.
Mr Lewis added: "Bravo then to Jet2, Trailfinders, Hays Travel, Airbnb, Travel Counsellors, and all the small firms that have helped that weren’t big enough to make our survey. I’d urge your customers to remember this, and reward you with their future custom."
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A Teletext spokesperson told Sun Online Travel: "We are delighted to advise that a high percentage of our customers with cancelled holidays have now either rebooked with us, or are happy to receive a credit note which enables them to rebook for a later departure date.
"For customers who have requested a cash refund, we are continuing to work exceptionally hard by processing refunds as quickly as possible.
"All customers with holidays booked during [March and April], and who have requested cash refunds, will receive funds by 17th July 2020. All customers have been contacted by email and we continue to deal with other cancelled bookings on a departure date basis in line with the communication with those customers."
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson also said: “As a direct result of global travel restrictions brought on by the impact of Covid-19, we have had to cancel a vast number of flight sand continue to be inundated with enquiries, including refund requests. Our absolute focus remains on supporting all of our customers to amend, rebook or cancel plans.
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“We would like to reassure all customers that if they’ve requested a refund for a cancelled trip, it will be repaid in full, and the work to process refunds is our priority. In order to accelerate the process, we have boosted the size of the teams handling refunds and trained additional staff to use the required systems, which is increasing our capacity to process refunds."
The Sun's Corona Crew has helped holidaymakers get thousands of pounds back in refunds for their trips abroad during the pandemic.