We were due to be travelling to Rhodes at the end of July with TUI but with the way things are going, this is looking highly unlikely.

Our daughter falls in the “at risk category” so we have no option other than to avoid travel. We have so far paid approx £2k of a £5k holiday and have been advised to pay the remaining balance to be in with a chance of a refund should TUI go ahead and cancel the holiday.

From reading comments on TUI’S FB page, others are in a similar position and have been told they would face losing the full deposit plus a £600 admin fee! And to make it worse, any refunds offered could take upto 12 months to process, if not longer.

We have tried to claim on our credit card which they are declining to do at this time. I thought paying on a credit card offered a certain level of protection – obviously not!

Anyone facing a similar issue?

I’m half tempted to withdraw money from an ATM and walk it straight into the bank and then tell the credit card lender to chase up the balance with TUI – I know this obviously won’t work but that’s what I feel like doing.

The wife and I are supposed to be going to Cape Verde on the 13th of may. TUI cancelled all holidays until the 15th of may, they have offered a credit note with 20% discount on the holiday we use it on so not all bad.

I don’t know the ins and outs of the legalities, there’s no way I’d be giving extra cash to a travel operator that may not be around in July.

Might be worth speaking to your insurer, if you have one. They may take a view on whether or not they wish to be exposed to the extra cash should it all go tits up.

July is a long time from now, things may change.

and have been advised to pay the remaining balance to be in with a chance of a refund should TUI go ahead and cancel the holiday.

by who? Sounds odd, surely if the holiday is cancelled, they’d refund any monies paid, including deposits?

You don’t want to be in the position of the holiday NOT being cancelled, and you (sensibly) deciding not to go because of your daughter… might not get any kind of refund, or CC/insurance protection in that scenario, so the less of your money they have, the better!

Personally I wouldn’t pay any more, and wait & see how it pans out.

I don’t know the ins and outs of the legalities, there’s no way I’d be giving extra cash to a travel operator that may not be around in July.

actually, TUI going under would probably be ideal for the OP! Presumably it’s a package holiday, so he’d get reimbursed under the ABTA scheme in that case!

Why would the credit card company cover you choosing not to travel at this point? If your doctor is advising against travel (which they aren’t by the sound of it) it’s a claim on your insurance surely.

I’d wait and see what happens but I definitely wouldn’t be paying the balance.

Have you spoken to TUI about it?

been advised to pay the remaining balance to be in with a chance of a refund

When is the remaining balance actually due? If it is now and you don’t pay it you may lose your deposit as a matter of course (check your t&cs). If not, then don’t pay it until it’s actually due – if the holiday is cancelled you should still get the deposit back.

In terms of cancellations – you are only entitled to your money back if it is the travel company that cancels, not you.

It was a packaged holiday. I believe it is TUI themselves that state under the T&C’s that if a holiday is not paid by the due date, it is the customer who stands to forfeit any monies paid which is why I will not pay anything more.
I’m not sure the ATOL protection applies unless the holiday was paid for in full as that forms part of the contract. They too could end up sinking as a result of this pandemic.

I personally think TUI will go bust. I have made reasonable attempts to make contact with them to cancel/discuss options which I am unable to do as the phone line goes dead due to caller demand.
If I were to pay the remaining balance, the only way I could do this would be to go in store. The longer they stay closed, the better chance I have of making a claim I guess…..

I can see the holiday companies playing hard ball, cancelling holidays at the last minute, if you don’t pay the balance before they deem you to have defaulted on the contract and you lose everything you’ve paid. Same with credit card companies, unless you’ve paid everything and the tour operator cancels I think they’ll deem you to have cancelled. Lots of travel insurance doesnt cover pandemics apparently.

Best bet is to probably pay up, wait for the holiday to be cancelled and get a refund, credit card or tour operator. That said I’d be very reluctant to hand over another £3k I might not see back for a year if at all. Actually painful as my bus I might right off the 2 grand and use tge balence next year rather than risking the full £5k.

I’m certainly not going to risk gambling with the extra £3k – we’ve already decided not to go so if it were to go ahead as they currently claim, we’d lose the lot!

I’m sure that Tui have changed the rules so that you only have to pay the balance 4 weeks before departure, I was going to Mexico but that was cancelled and I’m waiting for a refund. I would give them a call and see what they say.

I don’t know the ins and outs of the legalities, there’s no way I’d be giving extra cash to a travel operator that may not be around in July.

OP you bought a package holiday, your money is safe and will be refunded under The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 if TUI should go bust. (It is a requirement that all monies are bonded until the holiday is completed).

The current advise icl from Martin Lewis is to pay the balance or you forfeit the right to any claim

If tui or Boris states you can’t go then you get a refund from Tui

If your doctor states you can’t go then the insurance will pay out

If tui go bust which is unlikely then Atol pay you back

If you don’t pay the balance when you are supposed to the T&C’s will say you loose your deposit. They haven’t cancelled the holiday, so you will need to pay the balance (if you don’t want to loose deposit). Make sure you pay it with a CC , thus making it the CC’s problem . TUI can be right shitbags when it comes to refunds, and if you don’t comply with the terms you will go to the bottom of the pile.
Bloody P & O have got £6k of my money at the moment. At the time they never actually cancelled the cruise, but offered 75% future credit and 25% back. They gave you up to a certain date to cancel, and after that it would go to 90% future credit and 10% back. We cancelled on that date so we would get the better deal.
2 days later , THEY cancelled , and offered everyone their money back or 125% future credit. Tossers. This was just before the virus went global. I wanted to hang out and wait, but the missus wanted her 25% contribution back 🙄.
I paid using CC so if P & O go bust then I’m assuming they will take it up with them. ( paid the CC balance off at the time so I don’t have any leverage with them though )
The only problem I foresee, is that technically I don’t actually have a holiday booked with them at the moment

Yes the above advice ‘re paying or forfeiting your rights is correct. Tui shares are c 3 quid v 10 quid before so the market doesnt think they will go bust. In fact today quite a volume bought probably due to better virus news.

Always wait to be cancelled, I just got back refunds from ez, Ryanair, Travelodge, rail companies. I think they have all acted responsibly.

Some real scoundrels out there, hello sykes cottages….look at the fb group of customers if you want a lesson in not handling things well.

We’re due out mid-July, not expecting to travel but we paid the balance on yesterday’s deadline.

Our circumstances are a little different but I’m not too sure we’ll still want to go in July, figured the best chance of getting the full amount back is keep our end in order and take the refund if/when they cancel.

And we’ll still have the opportunity to travel if things change significantly.

Hadn’t really thought about how long the refund would take, ours was nowhere near 3k though. I guess a lot depends on if you can afford to park it for a while?

Bloody P & O have got £6k of my money at the moment. At the time they never actually cancelled the cruise, but offered 75% future credit and 25% back. They gave you up to a certain date to cancel, and after that it would go to 90% future credit and 10% back. We cancelled on that date so we would get the better deal.
2 days later , THEY cancelled , and offered everyone their money back or 125% future credit. Tossers. This was just before the virus went global. I wanted to hang out and wait, but the missus wanted her 25% contribution back 🙄.
I paid using CC so if P & O go bust then I’m assuming they will take it up with them. ( paid the CC balance off at the time so I don’t have any leverage with them though )
The only problem I foresee, is that technically I don’t actually have a holiday booked with them at the moment

Sounds to me like you’ve swapped 75% of your payment for a voucher. I’d be checking with your CC what the deal is because IME vouchers are never a good idea. Good luck.

I’ve got a 2 ferries booked. 1 with DFDS and one with Brittany ferries. Luckily the Brittany ferries one is fully flexible. The DFDS (Newcastle to Amsterdam) is unlikely to go ahead, but I’m still expecting a bit of a fight on getting refunds.

One lesson I have learned is to not use Paypal or Curve even if backed by a credit card for big purchases as that would just add another level of admin/pain to any claim procedure.