Holiday arrangements are still up in the air from the grounding of Monarch
The dust is beginning to settle around the news of Monarch Airlines going into administration, and it’s now getting to the time that customers have been querying their rights to travel home from holidays, finding alternative flights for holidays already booked, and refunding Monarch bookings that are now worthless. The majority of people are aware that they must have rights surrounding this kind of situation, but very few seem to be fully aware. Looking at the PR disaster that encompassed all the Ryanair cancelations, it is quite obvious that for a while there has been an assumption that your provider will do their best to see you right if there are any problems, and unfortunately that no longer looks to be the case. Especially if your booking isn’t ATOL protected…
Credit cards can be as valuable as ATOL protection
For those who are seeking out a refund for their bookings, bookings not covered with ATOL protection, it may be a bit of a worrying time. Sadly travel insurance hasn’t been enough for many customers, as very few of them cater for ‘travel abandonment’, but does this mean that holiday makers should be stranded? It’s an inhumane way to be handling a crisis that has been described as ‘the largest peacetime evacuation in history’. It’s hard believe that out of the company that’s done them wrong and the travel insurance refusing to compensate, that it is actually the Consumer Credit Act to the rescue! Section 75 of this act states that your credit card provider is jointly liable for purchases between £100 and £30,000 and therefore the consumer is well within their rights to have their credit card provider refund the transaction, as the paid-for service has not been provided.
The CAA saves the day
The Civil Aviation Authority have also pitched in to remind consumers of their rights in this new-ground for most travellers. It has been confirmed to passengers that they do not have to cut holidays short, that alternative flights home will be made for the same time as booked or as close as, and any charges incurred by hotels and the like will be refunded by the CAA on arrival home, providing there is an itemised receipt of those charges. This news must have calmed passengers, who must have been blown away by the speed of Monarch’s collapse. It is difficult to imagine that a holiday could continue as normal after news of this nature, joking about never going home stops being funny when the reality of it presents itself!
Will this happen again?
Reasonably so, there are those who have questioned how Monarch was able to continue operating if owners knew of the financial instability the company faced. Many have argued that there should be groundwork in place to safeguard passengers from what has happened this time around, and although government have taken responsibility of getting passengers home, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling is looking at options of reform to ensure they don’t need to again. Moreover, as much as it sounds great that the government are stepping in, it is still going to cost the taxpayer around £60m. So much for a budget airline!
We would always recommend to buy Travel Insurance. Some providers may not cover you for airline collapses such as Monarch, however they will cover you for other unfortunate circumstances that may occur on your holiday. Always read the small print of what is covered. If you are looking at going away and dont have travel insurance then why not check out our Travel Insurance comparison service who compare all leading and niche providers to find the best deal for you.
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