Show Me The Money

The travel industry is in a little bit of a pickle, isn’t it. Almost every flight, ferry and coach service in Europe has been cancelled. The travel agents, airlines and other transport operators are legally obliged to provide a full refund within 14 days. But they don’t have the cash handy to return to their customers. This is a pickle, indeed.

Mrs P and I had three trips at risk. The first was a Ryanair flight to Malta on March 26th, which has passed. So now we have two at risk. I applied for a refund on Ryanairs website immediately. This was only three days into the lockdown, and the big voucher blag hadn’t been invented yet. 

I received a confirmation email to tell me I would be refunded as soon as possible. I waited and time passed, as it tends to do. Another email came, apologising for the delay. I waited some more. A second email came, apologising again for the delay. I waited some more.

And then another email arrived. I had been expecting it. I’d read about the big voucher blag and knew what was coming. Ryanair wasn’t going to provide a refund after all. I was going to get a voucher for future use. If I really, really wanted an actual refund, I would have to contact them using the Live Chat. Their agents were a bit busy, I was warned. It could take between forever and eternity to actually speak to anyone.

Oh, and even then I won’t get a refund, not till the pandemic had passed. Or so they said. But I had not only been expecting this email, but preparing for it too. I have a simple rule when purchasing trips. Always pay by credit card. Preferably with my Amex card. I applied for a chargeback online. And within minutes I had my money back.

We still have two trips at risk. In mid May we are due to board the night ferry to Caen. Brittany Ferries have cancelled all sailing up to and including the date we go, except for our ferry. It is, technically, the next ferry scheduled to carry passengers across the channel. But I suspect it will also be cancelled, and I will need to go through the same application, voucher, chargeback routine again.

In mid June Mrs P and I are scheduled to cross the Atlantic. Is it possible that the skies will have opened up by then? It’s possible. But I think unlikely.