Eliana Willis

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.
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The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has argued the government should bear the cost of “hugely expensive” and unnecessary PCR tests for fully jabbed citizens.
The body claims the tests are deterring Britons from travelling.
Over the weekend, the UK health secretary, Sajid Javid, requested the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) step in to investigate ‘excessive’ pricing and ‘exploitative practices’ among PCR Covid test firms.
This follows widespread reports of vast differences paid by travellers for PCR tests by different companies.
Currently, the cost of PCR tests varies enormously between providers, with the average costing around £75. ADVERTISEMENTHowever, some firms are offering express PCR test results within 90 minutes at a cost of up to £400.
This makes UK PCR tests among the costliest in Europe – partly due to the 20 per cent VAT charge applied on top.
Now WTTC, which represents the global private tourism sector, says it is time the government stepped up to pay for people’s PCR tests in full, if they are fully jabbed.
This would remove the huge financial burden, which is depressing demand for travel, effectively halting the revival of international travel.
Genomic sequencing data from PCR tests is harvested by the government to rapidly identify variants of concern, understand transmission and slow the spread, however WTTC challenges why consumers should have to pay for this.
Virginia Messina, WTTC acting chief executive, said: “For many people –especially families and small businesses on a budget – the crippling added cost of the unnecessary PCR tests makes the difference between being able to travel or not.
“It’s clear that many British adults simply can’t afford to travel overseas at all if they have to pay the excessive cost of PCR tests.
“More affordable antigen tests, with PCR tests for those who do test positive, will help keep travellers safe and make taking a trip overseas within the budget of most people.
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Ailsa Pollard has been appointed as chief executive of dnata Travel Group in the UK and across Europe.
She will start in her new role in November.
Pollard will report in to the previous holder of the role, John Bevan, who now oversees all aspects of the global travel business for dnata in the role of divisional senior vice president for travel.
Commenting on the appointment, Bevan said: “We’re delighted that another part of the dnata family will now be able to benefit from Ailsa’s expertise and leadership.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with her for a number of years and know our team in the UK – as well as our valued industry partners – will enjoy working with her and will go on, together, to achieve great things.ADVERTISEMENT“These are challenging times for all UK travel businesses, and need clear headedness, agility, honesty and commitment to navigate.
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Pollard will assume responsibility for all of dnata Travel Group’s UK-based brands, including Gold Medal, Travel Republic, Travelbag, Netflights and Sunmaster.
She will be head of a leadership team and workforce numbering nearly 800 people.
Pollard said: “I’m looking forward to working with the UK team to emerge stronger from the pandemic.
“I know how tough the last 18 months have been on our people, our brands, our customers and our partners, but we have very strong foundations and the support of a global business on which we can collectively build an exciting future.”

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The Expedia Group has reported a net loss of $301 million for the three months to June.
The figure is, however, a substantial improvement on the loss of $753 million reported in the same quarter of 2020.
Expedia reported a $132 million operating loss for the quarter, took $2.1 billion in revenue and saw gross bookings worth $21 billion.ADVERTISEMENTThe half-year operating loss was $501 million, reduced from $2.1 billion in 2020, but this still left a $907 million net loss for the six months to June.
Expedia Group chief executive, Peter Kern, argued: “The second quarter saw continued improvement in many global travel segments, with North America in particular showing strength.”
Releasing the financial results for the period, he added: “Strong vacation rental performance and improved conventional lodging.”
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