Unspent Atol refund credit notes are worth more than £54 million, according to the latest figures from the Civil Aviation Authority.
The regulator has reminded consumers to make a booking or request a refund to avoid losing money.
It warned that if a travel company goes bust after September 30, 2022, consumers with outstanding refund credit notes will not be covered by the Atol scheme and risk losing out on money they have already paid.
To avoid missing out on financial protection, consumers who are still holding onto these refund credit notes should:
• make a booking using their refund credit note – if this booking is a flight inclusive package, the trip will be Atol-protected.
• or request a refund – consumers remain entitled to request a cash refund from their travel company.
In July 2020, the Atol scheme announced that consumers who accepted refund credit notes for cancelled Atol-protected trips would continue to be financially protected under the Atol scheme.
This protection applied to refund credit notes issued between March 10, 2020, and December 19, 2021.
In November 2021, £132 million of refund credit notes remained unspent. This reduced further to £85 million in April 2022.
Michael Budge, head of Atol at the CAA, said: “Demand for travel is continuing to grow and we want to make sure travellers are making the most of the financial protection available to them.
“With more than £50 million of refund credit notes remaining unspent, this affects consumers booked with some of our biggest travel companies.
“If you have one of these refund credit notes, we advise making an Atol-protected booking or requesting a refund before 30 September 2022 to avoid putting your money at risk.”
Picture: OlivierLeMoal/Shutterstock.com
More: £85m in unspent refund credit notes set to lose financial protection