Booked holiday to Tenerife before they put this new lockdown in place

[springbulb]

Morning,

 

Last week I booked a holiday to Tenerife after learning that they had reopened the travel corridor, only for the government to change its tack overnight and decide on yet another lockdown and foreign travel ban, just when they had said they would stick to the Tiered system instead of taking this draconian approach. 

 

It was booked via loveholidays, I have an option to amend my booking which would involve submitting a request to them, and, potentially, having to pay something extra, but they also have the following info on their website:

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If your booking has been cancelled due to Covid-19, we’ll be in touch via email to give you your options and direct you to Manage My Booking to make your choice. These options are:

• Amend your booking
• Get a Refund Credit Note
• Get a cash refund

As the situation surrounding travel and Covid-19 can change at short-notice, bookings may be cancelled close to the departure date. Don’t worry – your options will be the same no matter when your booking is cancelled.

Just so you know, there are two different processes for handling different parts of your booking: one for flights, as this process and timeline varies by airline, and one for everything else like your hotel, transfer, baggage and other added extras.

 

As the government only made the announcement last night, the booking hasn't been cancelled yet. 

 

What would you recommend? Shall I try to amend now with a post-lockdown date, or shall I wait for them to cancel it?  

 

[CraigMcK]

There is info on the .gov website regarding this. I would give that a read before doing anything else. 

[springbulb]

Thanks, I have looked there but can't find anything specific to booked holidays, only this: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november

 

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Developments in the coronavirus pandemic remain uncertain around the world. No travel is risk-free. If you do need to travel abroad before 2 December (and are legally permitted to do so, for example, because it is for work), even if you are returning to a place you’ve visited before, you should look at the rules in place at your destination, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) travel advice and the current travel corridor list.

But that doesn't say what to do about booked travel. 

[BankFodder]

At least give notice in writing that the contract is frustrated and that you want a refund and that you will not be accepting a voucher.

 

Beware of "accidentally" being given a voucher.

 

If you paid by credit card or by debit card contact the CC issuer or bank respectively and follow up in writing.

 

I have to say that anyone who books any holidays during this second wave is really pushing their luck.  I don't think that it was a very good idea

[springbulb]

9 minutes ago, BankFodder said:

At least give notice in writing that the contract is frustrated and that you want a refund and that you will not be accepting a voucher.

 

Beware of "accidentally" being given a voucher.

 

If you paid by credit card or by debit card contact the CC issuer or bank respectively and follow up in writing.

 

I have to say that anyone who books any holidays during this second wave is really pushing their luck.  I don't think that it was a very good idea

Well, it was the government themselves who opened the travel corridor with the Canaries as per their own website. They  clearly advice against all but essential travel to all destinations other than those in the corridor, so I acted within their advice. They didn't say they recommended not booking anything since they could just decide to put another lockdown in place virtually overnight. Also before booking, I read that it was very unlikely that the travel corridor with the Canaries would close, and that their intention was to keep the Tiered system and just keep adding areas to Tiers 2 and 3 as required. So it was all done according to their own rules. 

 

I paid by credit card. 

 

As I said above, the website gives the option to amend the dates so I could potentially request a change for December or January, which would be subject to review by them depending on availability, I'm not sure whether this would be an idea to start with.

[BankFodder]

Well send the messages as I suggested to cover yourself.

 

Whether you want to go for a new date is up to you - but  I think that you would be pushing your luck.

 

Frankly I don't expect any kind of stability to begin a very fragile return before next Summer

[springbulb]

Their website said to contact them via LiveChat, which luckily was open on Sunday and I managed to get through a live person quite quickly. Their response was:

 

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So I can see that your trip is before the 2nd of December and therefore in the lockdown timeframe. We are going to be sending out texts in departure date order in the next few days with the next steps following the government advice banning all travel up until the 2nd of December. The options will be to amend the dates of the trip, which you can do at any time on manage my booking https://www.loveholidays.com/manage/login.html, or to cancel and request a refund. All will be explained on the text, and we hope you can travel with us again very soon.

 

So I guess I should wait for their text and request a full refund.

 

[springbulb]

I also received an email at 10:50 this morning, while I was chatting with their agent, not sure if it was a coincidence or triggered by my enquiry:

 

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Unfortunately, new Government restrictions announced on 31st October mean that from 00.01am on Thursday 5th November holidaymakers from England are unable to travel internationally or in the UK until 2nd December.

We understand that this must be extremely frustrating and we will be in contact with affected customers in departure date order regarding your holiday and your options. In the meantime, we are providing customers impacted by these  government travel restrictions the option to amend their bookings free of charge. Please note any amendments are subject to the flight and hotel providers’ terms.

At the moment, many airlines are offering free flight amendments in response to the pandemic which is an option customers may wish to take advantage of. Once a flight amendment has been agreed with the airline, customers are then able to easily amend the rest of their holiday via the Manage My Booking facility on our website.

We also encourage customers to check if their insurance provider offers any additional cover for this situation.