Trip canceled due to Covid-19: how to get a refund?

Your stay had to be canceled in 2020 due to Covid-19? This news may concern you. Credit notes issued by travel agencies between March 1 and September 15, 2020 begin to be refunded. The order of March 25, 2020 authorized tour operators to offer their customers an advance payment valid for 18 months instead of a cash refund. Goal ? Preserve their cash in the face of a wave of cancellations. Two thirds of these assets, which represent a total of 1.5 billion euros, have already been used, in particular for stays this summer, according to the trade union Les Entreprises du Voyage. So a third of this amount remains to be returned to travellers...

What trips are affected?

This concerns "package travel", i.e., according to the Tourism Code, travel including at least two tourist services (flight + accommodation, for example) reserved with the same French tourism professional ( physical or online agency), which had to be canceled between March 1 and September 15, 2020. Also concerned are cruises as well as “independent services such as accommodation, car rental or tourist service”, recalls Les Entreprises travel. On the other hand, dry transport, such as a plane ticket purchased without any other service, is excluded from the credit note system.

How do I get my credit refunded?

“The assets will not all be reimbursed in September, warns Maître Emmanuelle Llop, lawyer expert in tourism law at Equinoxe Avocats. Reimbursements will be staggered until June 2022 at the latest. The tour operators had three months after the cancellation of the stay to issue their client a proposal valid for 18 months: either an identical or equivalent service, or a deferred reimbursement (the famous “credit”). “The starting point of the 18 months corresponds to the date when this proposal was formulated”, underlines the lawyer. Theoretically, the maximum period for a consumer to be reimbursed is therefore 21 months.

My dad just said "dont say in front of my friends you dont know how to cook yucca cause ill lose my cred as a cost… https://t.co/OjYNZJP3X4

— dalai lama stan Fri Jul 02 21:19:17 +0000 2021

Example: in the event that the cancellation was confirmed on March 15, 2020 and the credit note was issued on April 20, 2020, the stay must be refunded no later than October 20, 2021.

The tourism professional must automatically refund to the credit card used for payment. But it costs nothing to contact their branch to make sure they have bank details or to find out about processing times. Some travel agencies may offer to extend the validity of credit notes: in this case, you are free to accept or refuse this proposal. They must then repay.

Can I be reimbursed before the expiry of the 18 months?

In some cases, it is possible to obtain early repayment of your credit. This concerns in particular people who have suffered significant financial losses (dismissal, end of unemployment rights, etc.) or who have been transferred abroad. These particular situations are analyzed by a commission made up of two representatives of consumer associations and two representatives of professionals. Requests must be made to the tourism and travel mediator. “Some professionals have already reimbursed their clients even before the 18-month deadline, either at their request or spontaneously,” observes the lawyer.

Read alsoReimbursement of assets: the big headache for tour operators

What if my travel agency refuses to reimburse me?

In this case, it is best to first try to settle the dispute amicably. In the event of persistent refusal, you can get help from several organisations, such as consumer defense associations (UFC-Que Choisir, European Consumer Centre, etc.), the repression of fraud (SignalConso) or the tourism ombudsman and travel. As a very last resort, it is possible to go to court, but the processing of cases can take several months or even a year.

Read also Plane, hotel, stay... Who to contact if my trip goes wrong?

My travel agency has gone bankrupt: who can I turn to?

Some tour operators did not resist the health context and went bankrupt. If this is the case with your travel agency, you will be reimbursed by their financial guarantor, the main one being the Association professionnelle de solidarité du tourisme (APST). "It is necessary to contact them yourself within three months after the date of failure of the company", recalls Emmanuelle Llop. To do this, you must send an email (for the APST, complete an online form) or a letter to the financial guarantor summarizing your situation and attaching your invoice and bank details.