Cancelling Holidays.

[Cowsham]

Equally, if hotels would stop the stupidity of dynamic pricing there'd be less late cancellations.

That low deposit -- high deposit thing is really dodgy and should be outlawed.

You pay a low deposit like £30 ( as quoted in above post ) with balance due at a point (12 weeks before you go I think ) but if you have to cancel you pay a high deposit.

It's to fool you into thinking you have time to change your mind but in reality you've paid a high deposit.

You have no idea what that "high deposit " is costing cos it's not shown anywhere on your documents ( received by email)

This high deposit is hidden in the small print on a page you have to hunt through their website to find and even then it's hard to decipher cos the high deposits are on another page listed as a percentage deposit but not a "high deposit" and doesn't really correlate with your actual full price but just gives % price bands.

Very sneaky and can't really be legal to do that.

[mjr]

We had an Interrail holiday booked departing mid-May. All hotels and seat reservations booked - it's taken forever to untangle it and its still not completely sorted.
The most expensive hotels (3) I booked as cheaply as I could on a non-refundable rate - those should be covered by travel insurance. I can't get a straight answer from Eurostar or Austrian Railways (Nightjet sleeper reservation) about refunds.

Similar here but June not May.

I think the Nightjet reservation is refundable as long as you've not printed the coupon. It may even be refundable if you have, if the Nightjet is still not running then.

I've not yet tried to get my Eurostar refunded. Maybe this week.

[Cowsham]

Well I tackled the accommodation near York today and had a satisfactory outcome -- transferred to next year and don't have to pay the balance till about the same 12 weeks prior to arrival. It is a little more expensive -- probably taking inflation (and demand probably more like )into consideration but it's as good as I could have hoped for. -- credit where credits due - well done COTTAGES.COM

Also got the shows sorted -- that turned out better than expected -- voucher for full ticket prices paid plus a complimentary £10 extra to spend on refreshments - well done ATG TICKETS.

Premier inn, which we needed for a couple of stopovers, have a notice on their website not to call as phones won't be answered and there's no facility to rebook so they leave you choice but to cancel with full refund which I suppose is OK although I'd suspect there will be a premium on prices next year.

Couple more things to unravel but a lot progress a lot better than expected.

[Cowsham]

The reason the cottages.com came out better than I expected was because they only made provision for people due to leave in the near future whereas I wasn't leaving for over two months but would have had to pay the full amount in a few days time ( from now) -- but because we got a letter from the doctor confirming the very high risk status of my son and told to shield him for at least 3 months I had no choice but to cancel everything. We had already decided we wouldn't be going before the letter arrived cos we wouldn't be able to relax and enjoy the holiday anyway.

[PH]

Couple more things to unravel but a lot progress a lot better than expected.

Good stuff, all those businesses are going to take a hit, I hope those that treat people well get the credit and make at least some of it back from the goodwill generated.

[francovendee]

It must be hard for long distance cyclists on a long tour of the world to be stuck in one country, now not able to cross borders.
Money, health and time constraints must be a real worry to some. No insurance for this type of holiday.

[Cowsham]

It must be hard for long distance cyclists on a long tour of the world to be stuck in one country, now not able to cross borders.
Money, health and time constraints must be a real worry to some. No insurance for this type of holiday.

I've never had travel insurance -- but then I don't travel to far from home.

Last time I was on the continent was when I was a 15 y old although I'm a regular at the IOM TT which is an international destination. -- you can't go there now they're locked down tight and they can enforce with jail sentences, big fines and on the spot fines coming soon.

[[XAP]Bob]

Have to be very careful not to continue the “environmental benefit” train of thought to its logical conclusion - that we should all go out and get/spread covid in order to reduce the global population.

[mjr]

[...] I can't get a straight answer from Eurostar [...] about refunds.

[...]
I've not yet tried to get my Eurostar refunded. Maybe this week.

No refund yet, but https://www.eurostar.com/rw-en/travel-i ... ar-service makes me think that journeys until 1 June can now be postponed without charge but only up to the end of March 2021 which seems a bit rubbish because the event I'm travelling to has been postponed a whole year and I suspect that's fairly common.

[millimole]

The Man in Seat 61 was saying recently that Eurostar were giving refunds if the specific train you were booked on didn't run, but were pushing for time limited vouchers if the train ran, but you couldn't use it. (Personally I suspect that if you stood your ground, you'd get a refund).

My issue is not a ticket as such, but a reservation, which may, or may not, be treated differently.

If you've got Twitter he's pretty good at responding to questions.

[Cowsham]

Got everything sorted now -- I think --
premier inn = full refund
stenaline = full refund
Narrow boats should reschedule OK but waiting for confirmation
Accommodation rescheduled to 2021
So hopefully I'll be OK and hopefully still have a job by then.

[Cowsham]

Had everything rebooked for 2021 but now I'm wondering what happens if we get scheduled for our vaccines during the time we would be away.

This thought occurred to me after seeing an ad on tv 'Jab&go ' meaning if you get an appointment to get your vaccine when your holiday has been scheduled you can change your flight/holiday package.

Anyone know? mine is all separate bookings in july so would be a nightmare to change at short notice.

[millimole]

Anyone know? mine is all separate bookings in july so would be a nightmare to change at short notice.

I'm in a very similar situation.
We had an Interrail trip booked for 2020 which took a lot of unravelling, and I've rebooked it for June.
At least this time I've had the sense to book hotels on a "free cancellation" basis, and will leave claiming our passes until the last possible minute.
There are a few ancillary things (pet sitting, family arrangements etc) that do need sorting sooner rather than later.

I also wonder if there might be travel restrictions on unvaccinated individuals?

[Cowsham]

a friend at work has told me you can get an idea of when you'd be getting the jab by looking for your vaccine group on the internet.

Jonathan?

[Lookrider]

I've not read all the responses so apologies if this is already on

If the holiday you booked is no longer as it appears in the brochure ..ie some hotel bars closed...hotel facilies reduced ...children's play area closed etc etc
Then you may very well have an excuse in that the agent has broken there contract in not supplying what they said and what you paid for
I heard about this tactic during first series of lockdown and passed it onto a friend of wifes
They said the same things to the agents and then the agents refunded on that reason
Now....that was 1st time around and agents may have written into contracts that everything advertised may not be available from the day you booked
I'm not a consumer rights guy
Just passing on viable excuses to attempt your refund
Further note
Pay for everything on credit card ALWAYS
You will always have more recourse on a package holiday than one where you book flights transfers accommodation separate...
sometimes all you save is minuscule amounts...agents know this so they now have great deals on a package
Holiday that costs not a lit more
Good luck and if you get a refund please share your " excuse used " to the agents