Simon Calder says UK 'can book a holiday if they want to'

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Travel expert Simon Calder has hailed package holidays as the way to go for Britons keen to book a holiday thanks to their refund and cancellation policies. While holidays have not been given a confirmed restart date, there are hopes they may resume as soon as May 17.

What are the latest restart dates, cancellation and refund updates from some big-name package holiday providers?

TUI

Holidays provided by TUI are currently cancelled up until May 17 at the earliest.

Customers who are impacted by cancellations will be contacted directly by TUI to discuss the options available to them.

They can also log onto the “Manage My Booking” portal on the TUI website to make any changes to their plans.

TUI explains “all TUI holidays departing from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, including flight-only and accommodation-only bookings, due to depart on or before May 16, 2021” are now cancellation.

Furthermore, holidays “including flight-only and accommodation-only bookings” to Los Cabos, Mexico, and Kvarner Bay, Croatia, due to depart before October 31, 2021, are also cancelled.

The holiday operator states: “Please rest assured, if your holiday has been cancelled, we’ll be contacting you soon to discuss your options.

“If you booked online, your booking information in Manage My Booking will be updated as soon as possible, too.

“We’re working around the clock to do this and are getting in touch with customers in departure date order.”

It adds: “If your holiday is not listed here, we’ll be in touch with you nearer the time if your holiday is cancelled.

“On April 12, we expect to know more about when international travel will be able to resume.”

British Airways

BA plans to resume package holidays from May 17 at the earliest following the Prime Minister’s “roadmap” announcement.

“All affected customers will be contacted and offered a refund,” an airline spokesperson previously told Express.co.uk.

The company said in a statement: “If we cannot fulfil a holiday, we’re committed to ensuring customers receive a full refund within 14 days.

“Customers who are unable to travel, or choose not to, can continue to change their holiday without a change fee, or request a voucher for future use.”

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easyJet holidays

easyJet holidays have cancelled their package offering until May 17 in line with the ongoing travel restrictions.

“Following the news that international travel restrictions are set to be in place until at least 17 May, easyJet holidays has taken the decision to cancel all holidays up to and including 16 May 2021,” a spokesperson told Express.co.uk

“All affected customers will be contacted with their options, which include a full refund or taking advantage of a £100 off a future holiday incentive if opting to rebook their holiday for a later date.”

The airline says it is working towards issuing all refunds in an “average of 12 days”.

The package holiday provider adds: “We’re continually working through how Covid-19 may impact future bookings in departure date order.

“If your holiday becomes affected, we’ll let you know as soon as we can.”

Jet2holidays

Jet2holidays made the decision to cancel all package holidays until May 17 in line with the Government’s “roadmap”.

In a statement, Jet2holidays said: “Following the release of the government’s roadmap, we’ve taken the decision to extend the suspension of all flights up to and including May 16, 2021.

“If you’ve been affected by these programme changes, we’ll be automatically cancelling your booking with a full refund.

“If you’re due to travel from May 17, 2021, onwards, we’ll provide an update closer to the time.

“We want our customers to be on holiday enjoying themselves and we’re looking forward to resuming our award-winning flights. In the meantime, we’d like to thank you for your patience and understanding.”

Virgin Atlantic Holidays

Virgin Atlantic holidays, the package holiday arm of Virgin Atlantic, has cancelled all holidays until May 17.

The holiday provider assures it is contacting customers directly to inform them of their options.

This will be done in date order.

“The UK Government has confirmed that restrictions will remain for the near future, easing no earlier than May 17, 2021, which means that unfortunately, we’ll be cancelling all holidays up to and including May 16, 2021,” said Virgin Holidays in a statement.

“If you haven’t heard from us just yet, please don’t worry as we will be in touch. We’re grateful for all our customers’ patience as we contact everyone affected.”

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