Eliana Willis

More than 80 private travel testing companies will be issued a two-strike warning after failing to maintain suitable standards for consumers.
The businesses could be removed from the official list after issuing misleading prices, the health and social care secretary announced.
Following a rapid review of the pricing and service standards of day two and day eight testing providers listed on the government website, 82 providers have been identified as displaying lower prices there than are available on individual websites at the point of checkout.
The government website will be updated to reflect the true cost of the tests and companies will be warned this week that they will be removed if they advertise misleading prices again.
The decision impacts on around a fifth of all providers.ADVERTISEMENTA total of 57 companies will be removed from the list today as they no longer exist or do not provide day two and day eight testing.
As part of the ongoing review, regular spot checks will be introduced from this week to make sure companies are complying with the rules to ensure prices displayed are accurate, providers are legitimate and companies have not changed their name to get back on the list.
Health and social care secretary, Sajid Javid, said: “It is absolutely unacceptable for any private testing company to be taking advantage of holidaymakers and this action clamps down on this cowboy behaviour.
“Some 57 firms will be removed from the government list and a further 82 will be given a two-strike warning – if they advertise misleading prices ever again, they’re off.
“We are also introducing regular spot checks this week to make sure all private providers follow the rules and meet our high standards of transparency.”
The findings of the review will be shared with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to support their own review of the market and align recommendations and actions.
Rory Boland, Which? travel editor, said: “It is inexcusable that it has taken the government nearly half a year to properly audit its own list of private test providers to remove firms that don’t exist and others advertising misleading prices.
“The number of firms being taken off or facing a warning shows the huge difficulty travellers face in choosing a trustworthy, reliable test provider.
“Many will have faced delays and missing tests because they used cowboy firms listed by the government.
“While it is frustrating that it has taken so long for the government to clamp down on rogue providers, with many summer holidays already ruined, it is vital that it now takes immediate action to remove any companies not following the rules.”

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The Advantage Travel Partnership has announced a 40 per cent increase in membership enquiries year-on-year with particular growth in conversions of Advantage Managed Services (AMS) and home working members.
From the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, the consortium has increased communication with members, provided useful and supportive webinars to tackle every issue from refunds to re-openings, actively lobbied government and given the travel agent a clear voice via national and regional media channels on issues such as furlough, the traffic light system and testing requirements.
New Advantage member, Natasha Mouscos, commented: “We recently joined Advantage and we have found that all the team have been very supportive, we are already seeing the commercial benefits to joining and the security of operating within a consortium is great for us.”
In addition to an increase in members in the UK, the organisation has also welcomed two new members from Australia into its international network, WIN. 
The Bay Travel Group and FBI Travel bring the total number of global members to 91 with representation across 82 countries.ADVERTISEMENTKelly Cookes, leisure director, Advantage Travel Partnership commented: “We are especially seeing an increase in enquiries and subsequent conversions of AMS members.
“Our AMS product is unique in the market-place with all customer monies protected in trust and a franchise ATOL option.
“Our trust facility provides an additional level of security not only for our members but also for customers.
“This has been an incredibly tough year and throughout we have tried to adapt our services to best support our members and hopefully get them through the tough times and into a period of recovery.”

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The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) reports that over 300 respondents have contributed to the ATOL reform consultation.
The consultation received high levels of “constructive engagement” from a wide range of industry stakeholders, consumer organisations, financial institutions and travel trade bodies.
Engagement from stakeholders will allow the CAA to better understand any concerns when shaping changes to the ATOL scheme.
The CAA said it will take full account of the need to allow industry to adjust to any new arrangements that will be implemented following the overall consultation process.ADVERTISEMENTThe ATOL team has worked closely with stakeholders over the past few months to discuss the consultation and encourage engagement.
The consultation primarily looked at how ATOL can protect consumers, with a focus on how ATOL holders fund their operations and how the use of customers’ monies should be considered within the regulatory scheme.
Matt Buffey, head of ATOL regulation and governance at the CAA, said: “We would like to thank everybody who has engaged with the consultation since it opened in April.
“While the ATOL scheme exists to protect consumers, we do appreciate the travel industry has faced a period of significant financial uncertainty and it has been highly valuable to listen to their views and take on board any concerns.”
The CAA will now consider these responses and a summary will be published in the autumn, ahead of launching a second consultation making specific proposals in the spring.

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A lack of trust in some holiday companies is the biggest barrier to rebooking with them after travel disruption last year, according to research from Which?.
Millions of people have had a package holiday cancelled since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, with billions of pounds having been illegally withheld in refunds for cancelled holidays over this time.
Most companies have since worked through their backlog of refunds, but trust in the industry and some holiday companies has still suffered.
Earlier this year, Which? surveyed more than 4,000 people who had a package holiday that was unable to go ahead between March last year and February 2021 to establish whether they would book with the same company again in the future and why.
Overall, seven in ten respondents in the survey told Which? they were likely to book with the same company again in the future, but huge differences were evident between companies that had tried to treat customers well during the pandemic, and those that didn’t.
More than eight in ten customers of Audley Travel, Hays Travel, Jet2 and Saga who had a package holiday they were unable to go on said they would be likely to book with the company again.
But at the other end of the spectrum, only half of Ryanair and Teletext Holidays customers surveyed said they were likely to book a package holiday with the same company again.
While Which? has previously reported on the struggle Ryanair customers have had to get refunds for flights, this is the first time it has reported complaints from customers who have booked a flight and a hotel together from the carrier.
Ryanair denies that these are package holidays, but Which? believes it is currently selling packages under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Regulations 2018. ADVERTISEMENTUnder the regulations, customers who have booked a package holiday have more rights than those who just booked a flight.
In a balanced response, Ryanair called respondents to the Which? survey “deluded”.
A statement added: “This is yet more ‘fake news’ from Which?.
“Ryanair does not market or sell package holidays and if misguided or mythical Which? survey participants claim that they will not book non-existent packages with us then this devastating news will not cost us a penny since we don’t sell any package holidays to Which?’s mythical or deluded survey participants.”
Ryanair is also at war with Kiwi.com today
Overall, half of those surveyed who said they would not book with the same provider in the future said this was because they no longer trusted the company.
Almost a quarter of those who said they were unlikely to book a holiday with the same company in the future said it was because they were not satisfied with what they received in place of the holiday that did not go ahead.
Many package holiday customers did not receive the option of a refund that they were legally entitled to when their holidays were cancelled last year, and were instead only offered the option of rebooking for a later date, or accepting a voucher or a Refund Credit Note.
Others only received partial refunds, as package holiday providers struggled to recoup money for flights from airlines.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: “With international travel still fraught with potential risks that could leave holidaymakers unable to travel as planned, trusting that a company will refund you if things go wrong will be vital to encouraging customers to book in the near future.
“A considerable number of companies do not seem to have learned lessons from last summer’s disruption though, and continue to offer holidaymakers limited financial protection if their holiday is disrupted by changing travel restrictions or being told to self-isolate.
“It’s important that travellers do their research before booking a holiday while coronavirus remains a risk, to check whether their holiday provider will leave them out of pocket if they cannot travel when the time comes.”
Only half of those who had package holidays that did not go ahead with Ryanair (50 per cent), Teletext (51 per cent) and Opodo (53 per cent) said they’d be likely to book with the companies again, while only six in ten Southall Travel (58 per cent), Love Holidays (60 per cent) and Expedia (62 per cent) customers whose holiday did not go ahead said they would book with the same company again in the future.
Almost two thirds (63 per cent) of Ryanair’s package holiday customers who said they wouldn’t book with the company again said that it was because they no longer trust the company, while more than three quarters of Love Holidays’ customers (77 per cent) said the same.
Many of the complaints about these two companies focused on problems with securing refunds, with customers complaining of long waits, partial refunds, and a lack of sympathy or understanding from the companies when trying to get their money back.

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Tui Group has reported a loss of €670 million for the third quarter of the year.
However, the company has now resumed business activities in all European markets, with cashflow positive for the period.
Tui chief executive, Fritz Joussen, explained: “Our business model and the strong Tui brand remain a successful model and are the guarantee for the successful restart.
“Customer demand and booking momentum remain high as soon as state travel restrictions are withdrawn.
“Where the state gives back normal entrepreneurial freedom, we are very successful – where states intervene and restrict entrepreneurial freedom, these interventions impact bookings.”ADVERTISEMENTHe added: “With one and a half million additional bookings since May and a total of more than four million bookings for the summer business, the figures are encouraging.
“Especially in Germany and in the continental European markets, the current booking figures show a high pent-up demand.”
Joussen added he expected the bumper summer figures to become clearer in the fourth quarter results.
The tourism chief also called for the further loosening of travel restrictions.
“In Europe, vaccination offers are available to everyone who wants to be vaccinated, severe disease progressions do not increase noticeably, and the health systems are not overburdened anywhere in Europe,” he said.
“This is a great success of the vaccination campaigns.
“Vaccination protects – vaccinated people are protected and are no longer a significant risk to others.
“Those who are not or hardly at risk should now have their liberties fully restored.
“This is especially true for children and young people, for whom vaccinations are not compulsory.
“Whether one gets vaccinated or not is and remains a personal decision.
“However, a few should not be allowed to permanently set the pace and restrict the everyday life of the majority.”

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