{"id":10608,"date":"2020-03-23T13:24:57","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T17:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/?p=10608"},"modified":"2026-06-13T06:05:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T10:05:15","slug":"coronavirus-ive-got-a-holiday-booked-what-are-my-options-for-uk-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/coronavirus-ive-got-a-holiday-booked-what-are-my-options-for-uk-residents\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus: I’ve Got A Holiday Booked, What Are My Options? (For UK residents)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic many people are now discovering that their long-awaited holiday will not be going ahead. We are currently in uncharted territory with many countries under lockdown and rolling out nationwide travel bans. The next few months are incredibly uncertain as governments try to tackle this pandemic, but where does that leave those who have holidays booked? In this article, the team at My Baggage<\/a> outlines your options and rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of these answers are specifically for UK residents, but many answers apply to everyone worldwide.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Current government\ntravel advice<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On the 17th of March the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the UK announced that they advised against all non-essential travel for British nationals for the next 30 days. This means that anyone who decides to travel during this time must only be doing so if it is absolutely essential. If you decide to travel for essential purposes (which wouldn\u2019t include a holiday), you must be aware of the risk involved, including the threat of being unable to get home, being stuck under another country’s travel ban or being held in mandatory quarantine in your destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happens if I\ndecide to travel during the non-essential travel recommendations? <\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

If you decide to\ntravel during these recommendations from the FCO you must be aware of the risk\nof being unable to get home or being trapped in another country. You also need\nto be aware of the quarantine procedures your destination will put on you and\nyour home country will put on you. One of the most important things to be aware\nof is that if you travel against FCO recommendations your travel insurance will\nnot be valid and you will not be able to use it to help you get home or claim\nagainst any lost expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about holidays\nbooked in late April or May?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The 30 days the FCO\nhas advised against travelling is an initial 30 day period that is likely to be\nextended. With heavier sanctions being brought in daily and cases in the UK\nrising it is likely that even if you have a holiday booked in late April or May\nthat travel will still not be recommended. However, it is important to remember\nthat if you cancel your holiday without FCO warnings in place then you will be\nunlikely to get a refund and may be held liable for cancellation fees. Get in\ntouch with your airline or tour operator to see what options they have\navailable and if you could reschedule for a later date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if I want to\nreschedule my holiday?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Due to the\nextraordinary circumstances many tour operators and airlines are offering\ncustomers more flexibility and allowing them to change their holiday dates. If\nyou wish to do this but haven\u2019t been contacted yet, get in touch with your\nairline or travel operator to see if this is an option for you, as in certain\ncircumstances this might not be possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I booked with a tour\noperator, what are my options?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

If you have booked\nwith a tour operator you are entitled to a full refund or to reschedule your\nholiday for a later date. Package holidays and cruises are being cancelled with\nbig brands postponing all trips. Package holiday company TUI are contacting\ntheir customers directly to offer them an alternative date or a refund. If you\nhave booked a holiday with them before June 2020, you can still amend your trip\nwith them free of charge. It\u2019s important to note that every company has their\nown policy, so it is best to contact your tour operator directly, call centres\nare currently inundated so be patient and be prepared to wait to speak to an\noperator. You could look to alternative contact methods like live chat or email\nin order to save you from a long telephone wait. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I booked\nindependently, what are my options?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Many airlines are\nshowing more flexibility allowing customers to reschedule or cancel their\nflights without fees, contact your airline to see what options are available\nfor you. Regarding private accommodation, websites such as AirBnB and\nBooking.com are allowing customers free cancellation on accommodation. Expedia\nis allowing customers to reschedule and cancel their accomodation without\npaying a fee and Hotels.com are allowing free cancellation depending on the\ncountry you are travelling from and to. Some hotel chains such as Premier Inn\nand the Hitlon are also allowing customers to cancel or reschedule their\nreservations without a fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have travel\ninsurance, will that cover my losses?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, a lot of travel insurance companies have changed their policies so that they do not cover the impact of the virus. It will depend on when you purchased your travel insurance. Many companies have stopped selling travel insurance altogether or are selling policies that will not have “disruption” cover, so if your journey is disrupted by the virus you will not be able to make a claim. If you are unsure about your policy or whether your insurer will cover you it\u2019s recommended to get in touch with them for confirmation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if my holiday\naccommodation or flights are cancelled?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

If you discover that\nyour holiday accommodation or flights have been cancelled and if it\u2019s in\nrelation to the FCO recommendations then you are likely to receive a full\nrefund. Under EU law, which is still applicable to UK residents in 2020, you\nare entitled to either a refund for your cancelled flight or alternative\nflights. If you are flying outside of the EU, your rights will be based on the\ncountry you are flying to, laws regarding refunds will vary depending on the\ncountry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about holidays\nbooked in the UK?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Popular holiday parks in the UK like Butlins<\/a> and Center Parcs<\/a> have closed due to the outbreak. Both of these companies are offering customers either a full refund or the option to rebook at a later date, with a discount. Contact the accommodation you have booked with and inquire about their current policy. The government has recommended against all but essential travel, so they should be able to offer you an alternative.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic many people are now discovering that their long-awaited holiday will not be going ahead. We are currently in uncharted territory with many countries under lockdown and rolling out nationwide travel bans. The next few months are incredibly uncertain as governments try to tackle this pandemic, but where does that leave those who have holidays booked?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10609,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_type":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[256,3],"tags":[1174,15],"class_list":["post-10608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-news","category-travel-advice","tag-coronavirus","tag-travel","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-23 23:28:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10608"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12676,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10608\/revisions\/12676"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.budgetyourtrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}