Tui is offering customers a 20% bonus if they choose to rebook their cancelled holiday rather than request a refund.
Refund Credit Notes are being offered to any Tui customer who was due to travel on or before May 14, 2020.
The additional 20% bonus is being offered to customers separately to the Refund Credit Notes, in line with Abta guidance.
Tui confirmed that if customers’ original booking was part of a package, the refund credit will carry the same Atol protection as the original booking.
Cash refunds for the original booking amount are also available, and Tui said requests were being processed and will be with customers “shortly”.
More:Tui clarifies stance on refunds
Abta issues fresh guidance on Refund Credit Notes
Advice: At-a-glance guides to Refund Credit Notes and chargebacks
Tui sent a letter to third party travel agent partners on April 23, answering a series of FAQs.
It said RCNs can be exchanged for a cash refund ’12 months from your original departure date’ – but Tui later clarified to Travel Weekly that customers, either via their agent or direct, can request a refund “at any time”, adding that cash refunds that are already being processed are typically taking “around four weeks”.
The letter also said RCNs would arrive with customers approximately four weeks after their departure date, and reiterated the rebooking bonus of up to 20% – which can be used up to October 31, 2021. The bonus can be used towards any Tui or First Choice package holiday, Marella cruise or Tui river cruise. If the replacement holiday costs less that 120% of the original, the rebooking incentive will be capped at the cost of the alternative booking.
Commission on bookings made by third party agents is protected on rebookings. Agents will not receive extra commission for the replacement booking, but if the replacement warrants more commission, the difference between the two will be paid to agents. Commission will not be paid on cancelled bookings.
Once they have claimed refund monies from Tui, third party agents must provide proof that they have refunded the customer.
Please read our latest travel info for cancelled holidays. We kindly ask you not to contact us – you’ll find most answers to your questions here: https://t.co/Y4fZVfLlwrpic.twitter.com/XcP1svYLOC
— tuiuk (@TUIUK) April 17, 2020
Announcing the move on Twitter on April 17, Tui said: “We appreciate there’s still some uncertainty around holidays at the moment, and we’re really grateful for your patience and understanding.
“We’ve been working tirelessly through these unprecedented times to come up with a solution that offers our customers great value, and secures the holidays our customers deserve.”
Travel industry association Abta is advising its members to issue Refund Credit Notes, which entitle customers to a cash refund at a later date. Its guidance, released earlier this week, makes clear that Refund Credit Notes must be issued separately.
