Consumers forced to abandon this year’s holiday plans because of the coronavirus lockdown are being urged not to lose their deposits without speaking to their travel agent first.
An independent travel agency, with 14 advisers and 61 years experience between its co-owners, insists that people do not have to give up the deposits for their holidays despite all travel plans being on hold.
The co-owners of Travel the Globe say some are just writing off their deposits, and taking the view that they will only think about a holiday once the coronavirus restrictions are lifted.
Claire Milby and Lisa Barnes advised people to pick up the phone and talk to them.
Operators are continuing to release holidays all the way up to 2022 and people are continuing to make bookings so they can look forward to having a break, according to the owners of the Cumbria-based firm with branches in Barrow and Ulverston, who are working remotely throughout the lockdown.
Milby said: “Travel the Globe is here to support the community throughout the coronavirus lockdown.
“We are determined that it won’t impact on our ability to serve customers and we are fully focused on maintaining a full service and giving everyone the best advice.
“We are operating as normal – it’s just that like everyone else we are working remotely at this time to ensure the safety of our customers and our staff.
“We are still only a phone call away. We are asking anyone who wants to contact us to give us a call.”
She added: “It’s really important that people contact us and find out exactly what their options are as it can vary between travel operators.
“Everyone is different, and everyone has different requirements and the advice will depend on each individual’s circumstances.”
Many customers have been pleased to be able to transfer their 2020 holidays to next year.
“Because of the excellent relationship Travel The Globe has with Jet2holidays we are able to amend bookings from May onwards to 2021,” Milby said.
“That means people can transfer their deposit and move their balance over to next year, which gives people a bit of breathing space and longer to pay for their holiday.
“It means some people have not lost their deposit, and they still have a holiday to look forward to when all this is over.
“It’s obviously a worrying time for everyone and some people won’t even want to think about holidays at the moment.
“Other people want to have a holiday to look forward to, and to use this time to plan ahead.
“They want to secure a holiday now at the right price and have the pick of what’s available.
“We would expect prices to rise when this is all over because there will be a big increase in demand.
“Above all else we want to help people, and let them know that they do have options, and not just to be sitting at home thinking they have to lose their deposits.
“We would far rather people picked up the phone, gave us a call, and we will try to help them as best as we possibly can.”