Holidaymakers could lose up to £54 million worth of travel refund notes unless they make a new booking or cash in the vouchers before the end of September, the UK Civil Aviation Authority has warned. The money is part of a protection scheme designed to safeguard customers' cash if bookings are cancelled.
In July 2020, the ATOL travel protection scheme announced that consumers who accepted refund credit notes for cancelled trips issued between March 10, 2020, and December 19, 2021., would continue to be financially protected.
Some £132 million of refund credit notes remained unspent last November and this reduced further to £85 million in April 2022. But if a travel company goes bust after September 30, 2022, consumers with outstanding refund credit notes will not be covered by the ATOL scheme and risk losing out on money they have already paid.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority reminds those still holding onto these refund credit notes that to avoid missing out on financial protection, either:
- Make a booking using their refund credit note – If this booking is a flight inclusive package, the trip will be ATOL protected.
- Request a refund – Consumers remain entitled to request a cash refund from their travel company.
Michael Budge, head of ATOL at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: “Demand for travel is continuing to grow and we want to make sure travellers are making the most of the financial protection available to them. With more than £50 million of refund credit notes remaining unspent, this affects consumers booked with some of our biggest travel companies.
“If you have one of these refund credit notes, we advise making an ATOL protected booking or requesting a refund before September 30, 2022, to avoid putting your money at risk.”
The law says your holiday must be protected if it is a package holiday. ATOL (which stands for Air Travel Organiser’s Licence) is a UK financial protection scheme and it protects most air package holidays sold by travel businesses. The scheme also applies to some flight bookings, usually those where you book flights (including UK domestic flights) but do not receive your tickets immediately.
ATOL was first introduced in 1973, as the popularity of overseas holidays grew. After a number of high profile travel business failures left people stranded overseas the UK Government realised consumers required protection when their travel providers fell into difficulties. ATOL currently protects around 20 million holidaymakers and travellers each year.
If a travel business with an ATOL ceases trading, the scheme protects consumers who had booked ATOL protected holidays. It will support consumers currently abroad and provide financial reimbursement for the cost of replacing parts of an ATOL protected package. The scheme is designed to reassure consumers that their money is safe, and will provide assistance in the event of a travel business failure.
