Written evidence submitted by Which?

 

Summary

●        The widespread cancellations of flights and holidays have left thousands of passengers seeking refunds for trips that they can no longer take. Which? has heard from thousands of passengers who are struggling to get money back for cancelled trips with some airlines and travel companies simply refusing to offer refunds that they are legally required to.

●        During a period of widespread uncertainty, it is important that all passengers understand what they are legally entitled to when their flight is cancelled, and are able to easily claim money back where owed.

●        It is vital that the government considers all options to support industry to navigate this challenging period. The government must take urgent action to ensure that consumer rights are upheld and guarantee that the travel industry treats its customers fairly, so that consumer confidence in the travel sector is not permanently damaged.

●        Consumer protections, and in particular consumers’ legal right to a refund, must not be revoked.

 

Flight & holiday cancellations: refunds and credit notes

  1. All flights on UK and EU carriers and all flights leaving from a UK or EU airport are protected by the EU’s Denied Boarding Regulation, which requires refunds or re-routing when flights are cancelled. Similarly, the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations state that if package travel is cancelled due to ‘unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances’, consumers are entitled to a full refund.
  2. However, a significant number of airlines and package travel providers are refusing to meet their legal obligations to issue refunds for cancelled flights and holidays, instead only offering credit notes or vouchers for a future booking.
  3. Which? research found that the UK’s 20 biggest travel operators and airlines are openly breaking the law by delaying refunds for cancelled trips or removing customers’ refund rights altogether. The analysis found that none of the UK’s 10 biggest holiday companies are currently offering full refunds within the legal time frame, with some refusing to provide refunds altogether and instead offering customers the choice of rebooking or accepting a voucher or credit note. In addition, none of the UK’s 10 biggest holiday companies are refunding passengers who have had flights cancelled within the legal time frame, with one airline refusing to process refunds at all.[1]
  4. A separate Which? survey[2] conducted with members of the public between 20 and 24 March 2020 found that a quarter of those with a cancelled flight in April weren’t offered a refund and 19% were waiting to hear back. For those who had a holiday cancelled with a travel agent or holiday company, a quarter weren’t offered a refund and the same proportion were waiting to hear back.
  5. Many airlines appear to be trying to avoid paying refunds to customers by only providing links to voucher request forms in their passenger communications, or by limiting people’s ability to contact them - for example, removing Live Chat or other functions from their websites and directing people to already overstretched call centres.
  6. Separately, Which? has seen examples of airlines refusing to pay cash refunds to passengers who, on Government advice have chosen not to fly, if their flights still operate. In some cases people have ended up cancelling flights themselves - not realising they then lose any possibility of getting a refund.

 

Support for the travel industry and for holidaymakers

  1. The Government, regulator and industry must work together to ensure that all consumers who are eligible to receive a refund are offered one.
  2. It is vital that where individual airlines are failing to honour refunds, the regulator takes swift and effective action.
  3. Some airlines and other travel operators are often refusing to provide refunds to package holiday companies, as they are with passengers, complicating the holiday provider’s ability to reimburse their own customers. To provide additional flexibility, the statutory 14-day refund period for package holidays should be temporarily extended to a maximum of one month.
  4. All credit notes/vouchers must be time-limited, and those offered for cancelled package holidays must be insolvency protected.
  5. The government should establish a temporary Travel Guarantee Fund to support travel companies that are unable to fulfil their responsibilities to holidaymakers as a result of coronavirus cancellations.

 

April 2020

 

Which? is the largest consumer organisation in the UK with more than 1.3 million members and supporters. We operate as an independent, a-political, social enterprise working for all consumers. We are funded solely by our commercial ventures and receive no government money, public donations, or other fundraising income. Which?’s mission is to make individuals as powerful as the organisations they have to deal with in their daily lives, by empowering them to make informed decisions and by campaigning to make people’s lives fairer, simpler and safer.

2

[1]» UK’s biggest travel operators and airlines openly breaking the law on refunds for cancelled holidays

[2] These are for flights and holidays ‘scheduled for the next month’ at the time of the survey (20–24 March 2020).