Should I still pay insurance for a trip that might not happen?

Simon Calder answers your questions on the continuing coronavirus pandemic and its impact on your travel plans

We had booked a holiday in Sardinia for June (Getty/iStock)

Q We have a family holiday booked to Sardinia on 20 June. We booked the holiday with TUI within the last few months but hadn’t yet taken out travel insurance. I previously had travel cover with my bank but changed accounts and totally forgot about needed to arrange travel insurance.

Our balance of £1,000 is due on 28 March. Do we pay this? At the moment there is no travel to Italy but will this change? If we pay the balance and the ban is still in place, will we get a full refund? If we decided we don’t want to risk going what will happen? Will we lose everything or will TUI allow us to transfer the holiday to a later date?

Going on holiday then being restricted to the hotel would be awful. Help!

Karen H

A There’s quite a lot of questions there, but my main answer is: pay the balance.

While I have no idea what will happen in the next three months, there is a significant possibility that your trip to the wonderful Italian island of Sardinia will go ahead as normal. If the holiday does go ahead and you decide not to travel, you will lose most or all of your money. But I suggest that would not be a rational choice: if the holiday happens, that will be because the UK government, the Italian authorities and the holiday company all believe you will be able to make the trip safely and happily with no significant risk of being placed in quarantine.

Looking three months ahead, there is probably a greater likelihood that the trip will be cancelled. If that happens, you can expect a full refund within two weeks. But deciding not to pay the balance means that you lose the money. In addition it is quite likely that any replacement holiday, in Sardinia or elsewhere, will not be ideal. While there will undoubtedly be some good deals around to stimulate demand when people start flying again, the travel industry is likely to be much reduced in scale for a while holidays may be scarce and expensive.

Finally, if you decide you really don’t want to go, then – as you have wisely booked a package holiday – you will be able to transfer it to friends or family for a nominal fee of around £50 per person.

Assuming travel is allowed, treat yourself to a Bilbao trip at the end of June (iStock)

Q I’m due to fly out at the end of June to Spain for the Euro 2020 finals, however now it’s postponed for a year due to Covid-19. As the Foreign Office is advising against travel to Spain, can I get a refund from my airline for a flight that far in advance.

Badja87

A Not yet. Like you, I was looking forward to the Euro 2020 championships. The four-yearly tournament was supposed to be a pan-European festival celebrating more than 60 years of football competition across the continent. Also like you, my footballing friends and I find ourselves with tickets for a match that is not now taking place in June 2020, and also for flights. (I have managed to cancel our accommodation in St Petersburg without penalty.)

My hope and expectation for travellers and the aviation industry is that many flights will be restored by June. I also expect the Foreign Office warning against foreign travel to be lifted by May at the latest. If your flight to Bilbao (the host city in Spain) and mine to St Petersburg are taking off as normal, then the airline is perfectly entitled to say: “The flight is going ahead. The fact that you don’t want to be on board is not our problem.”

I can confidently predict there is no possibility of a refund for your flight unless it is cancelled (in which case, insist on cash rather than a voucher). If it is grounded, the airline will probably inform you at least two weeks before departure – any less, and it would also need to compensate you.

It is not inconceivable that the airline would consider allowing you to postpone the trip. But I think a more optimistic outcome is to plan to go anyway. I can think of few better places to be at the end of June than northern Spain, apart possibly from northern Russia. So fly out, enjoy the sunshine, the pinxtos (Basque tapas), the Guggenheim and the Metro ride out to the seaside, and then repeat the experience with added football in the summer of 2021.

Vietnam is enforcing a number of measures to combat Covid-19 (Getty/iStock)

Q I have booked flights through a travel agent to Vietnam for departure on 26 April. That is after the Foreign Office warning against going anywhere expires. But there is a separate Foreign Office warning specifically saying UK travellers may not be able to enter the country due to Covid-19. I’ve been calling the agent incessantly without success, and my travel insurer has been no help, either. How do I get my money back? I’m in a lot of distress.

Name withheld

A Many people are feeling anxious, confused and upset about the effect of the coronavirus crisis on their travel plans, and I sympathise with your concerns. The Foreign Office advice to avoid all but essential travel took effect on 17 March and will continue to be in force until 16 April. It is not about protecting British travellers against coronavirus, but against the jigsaw of barriers springing up around the world. In addition, Vietnam has taken radical moves to slow the spread of Covid-19, including suspending the issue of visas.

But your trip is due to depart in five weeks. While I realise that you want your money for flights refunded now, the assumption right now is that your trip will be going ahead. In about two weeks the Foreign Office may extend the advice. Even if it doesn’t, then the Vietnam advice may continue to be in force.

Meanwhile I urge you not to waste any more time trying to contact your agent right now. The extremely high demand on the call centres of travel agents and airlines are understandable considering the number of people who have extremely pressing concerns, such as: “How do I get home from Egypt/Malta/Cyprus when all flights appear to be cancelled?”

If your trip does not go ahead, and the only component of your trip that you have organised is the flight, then you should ultimately get a refund of the cost of your ticket. Only aspects of the trip for which you cannot secure a refund – such as accommodation or pre-booked tours – may be covered by insurance, but you will need to show that you have tried to get the money back. Again, address that if necessary nearer the time. In summary, as difficult as it may seem, all I can suggest is that you try to relax and wait to see what the next couple of weeks hold.

Cross-Channel services are continuing... for the moment (AFP/Getty)

Q We booked our usual annual Easter ski trip to France in September last year, with Eurotunnel across the Channel, then driving down to a chalet booked through HomeAway, with ski passes bought direct from the resort. We have just found out all the ski resorts have been closed all over France due to Covid-19. We have tried to contact the owner of the chalet but we’ve had no response from either her or the company. Eurotunnel has told us that there hasn’t been any lockdown on travelling to France from the UK and said we wouldn’t be entitled to a refund but can extend the ticket until the autumn.

We paid nearly £800 for our ski passes and have had no response to our request for a refund. My husband contacted his credit card company to find out where we stand with the situation of getting any of our money back but they said we wouldn’t get any and we have been informed by our insurance that if we cancel our trip we do not stand a chance of clawing any money back. Could you please advise us on what we can do?

Maxine P

A Most unfortunately, the way that you chose to book your ski holiday means that your refund rights range from limited to non-existent.

The easy part is the ski passes. Since the resort will be closed when you are notionally due to visit, you should be entitled to a refund of your £800. I shall generously assume that the resort operator is working at full tilt on earlier refunds, but if you don’t hear anything in a week then contact your credit card company and commence a claim under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act (though tediously the bank may want to wait until the lift pass validity was due to begin).

Your request for a refund on accommodation is strictly a matter between you and the chalet owner, or “partner” as HomeAway describes them. The firm says: “HomeAway is not, and does not become, a party to any contractual relationship between the traveller and the partner and does not mediate between the traveller and the partner in the event of any dispute arising between them.” I fear that a lot of chalet owners are sticking doggedly to a no refunds policy; the best you might be able to negotiate could be a postponement of your booking until next year.

Eurotunnel, the vehicle service through the Channel Tunnel from Folkestone to Calais, says: “Our shuttle services continue to operate normally, and we will provide a service as long as the authorities allow it. Following recent government announcements we understand that travel between France and the UK is still permitted. We fully expect to continue to provide cross-Channel services.”

The firm’s normal terms offer flexibility: “Most ticket types have a full year from date of original purchase to be used, as long as amended before the day of your booked travel, and there are no admin fees for changing dates.” Because you bought in September, half the validity has already been used up, and I fear all you can do is try to arrange a summer break to France or risk losing the cost of the shuttle to Calais and back.

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