EasyJet Holidays is allowing customers to use their deposit payments as credit towards a new holiday in the event of a cancellation.
The operator said the move will provide greater flexibility for customers due to travel this June, July or August and mean customers who do not pay balances will retain their deposit.
Usually terms and conditions mean customers who have paid a deposit but do not make their balance payments will lose their downpayment.
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The revised terms allow any customers with existing bookings for holidays this summer to retain their deposits as a credit towards a new holiday booking to be made within the next year.
EasyJet said the move complements existing options offered by easyJet Holidays to customers who have fully paid for their holidays and are due to travel in this year’s peak summer months.
Customers can change their existing bookings online to another holiday currently on sale and due to depart up to October 2021.
For a limited time, customers choosing this option will also be offered a discount off their new holiday as a thank you.
Alternatively, customers have the choice of receiving their money back, plus an extra amount in the form of an online easyJet Holidays credit to use towards a future holiday.
The operator said it hopes to be able to operate holidays this summer so the remaining option for customers with a booking is to keep hold of it.
Customers still wanting to travel this summer are required to make any outstanding balance payments.
EasyJet Holidays said: “The company, like others in the travel industry, is currently only cancelling holidays in strict departure date order to ensure the approach is as fair as possible to customers, while closely monitoring FCO travel advice.
“When a holiday is cancelled, easyJet Holidays is offering customers full refunds back to their original payment method.
“The holiday company has reiterated its commitment to processing full refunds for cancelled holidays as quickly as possible and to date has been averaging 13.4 days – within the standard 14-day requirement window.
“easyJet Holidays has already been offering amendment and online credit options to customers with earlier departure dates and the approach has proven popular with thousands of customers.”
Matt Callaghan, customer director at the operator, said: “We can’t wait to take people on holiday again, but we know that right now there’s a great deal of uncertainty about when that might happen.
“While we remain optimistic about when we can all go on holiday again we know that there’s a range of different views customers have about their upcoming travel plans.
“We just want to be able to give people as much choice as possible so they can make the decision that’s right for them.
“And we believe our new deposit-return solution takes this one step further as we go above and beyond our standard terms in these exceptional times.
“We hope the options we’re providing go some way to giving people more of a chance to book something to look forward to.
“At the same time, we’re working hard to process refunds for holidays we’ve had to cancel, and so far on average, we’ve been able to do this within 14 days.”
