Bente van Veen and her boyfriend Jasper would be on holiday in Portugal next week. But the country’s travel advice has changed from yellow to orange in recent days. Government advice: travel only if necessary, even if you are vaccinated.
“I am a heart patient,” says Van Veen, who preferred not to take the risk of the trip anymore. Travel insurance do not cover corona-related costs. “And if I want to go into a restaurant, I have to take a test everywhere,” she tells RTL Z.
So rebook
So rebook, the two thought. But the travel company Vakantiediscounter, where the holiday of about 1,100 euros was booked, did not go along with that. It couldn’t be this close to the departure date. “And if we were to cancel the trip, we would get about 10 percent of the travel sum back,” says Van Veen.
“Your holiday continues as usual”, was the answer. The flights are scheduled and the hotels are open. To Van Veen’s surprise, because competitors TUI, Sunweb and Corendon had a completely different policy with regard to ‘code orange’. Trips were rebooked and canceled free of charge.
–
–
complain
Van Veen climbed into pen and telephone, and knocked on the door of several authorities with questions. More travelers complained about the company. “But nobody can really do anything about it,” said Van Veen.
Vakantiediscounter will inform you in a written response that, in principle, the travel will not be canceled unless the partner company that offers the trip does so. Vakantiediscounter is, as it were, a middleman.
‘Many people want to travel’
According to Vakantiediscounter, the government’s advice is not binding. “You are allowed to travel,” the company writes. “We can therefore fulfill the travel agreement and we also see that the majority of customers really want to go on holiday.”
According to the company, unforeseen circumstances can no longer be spoken of, a reason that was argued en masse last year to cancel trips. Corona is no longer a new phenomenon.
Comply with conditions
According to Vakantiediscounter, the site has stated for some time that cancellations cannot be made free of charge. The company’s policy would also meet the conditions of the trade association ANVR.
The ANVR says that as a consumer you can always cancel because of corona. But the costs are in principle for you: fear is not a reason for free cancellation. And we must accept corona measures if it is new normal.
–
–
‘ANVR is not clear’
But the Consumers’ Association disagrees. “The ANVR is not entirely clear in its answer,” said spokesman Joyce Donat. If a country was already orange when you booked a trip, it is at your own risk. But if a country is yellow and jumps to orange after books, that is still ‘unexpected and unavoidable’, she says.
And according to Donat, these are reasons for free cancellation under the European Package Travel Directive. According to the association, Vakantiediscounter customers must initially indicate in a written response that they wish to cancel free of charge on the basis of these conditions.
It is a first step to let the company know that you do not agree with the policy. Legal action may then follow. “We’re keeping an eye on things,” Donat says. The association also consults with the ANVR and ACM.
‘turnips cooked’
According to Donat, it is not clear how many travelers are involved. She does see many complaints about intermediaries such as Vakantiediscounter and Prijsvrij on social media. Also because these companies are hard to reach. “The big companies like TUI have things like customer service better in order,” she says.
At the moment, the Consumers’ Association is not receiving any signals that there are more travel companies that act like Vakantiediscounter. “We are concerned,” said Donat. Because if more follow, the turnips will be ready for consumers, according to the association.
–
–
:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/SJCJ3Y5VBFF4DLVMZA6OVAXEGE.jpg "Live Transfer Market: highs, lows and rumors in European football | Lionel Messi | Cristiano Ronaldo | FC Barcelona | Griezmann | Transfers | Real Madrid | NCZD DTBN | Lbposting | SPORT-TOTAL")
