Who's going skiing and where - 2021 #postcrisis

[Carbon Sasquatch]

Carbon Sasquatch said:

It's not particularly early for EasyJet - about their normal timing for release isn't it ?

I answered my own question - 11 April last year I booked a bunch of flights so 3 weeks early

[gregs656]

Carbon Sasquatch said:

I answered my own question - 11 April last year I booked a bunch of flights so 3 weeks early

Plus the pricing is flat.

They obviously want some cash.

[chip*]

I am tempted to take advantage of the free flight change from Easyjet. As the new flight price (£60) is much cheaper than the original flight (£207), does Easyjet auto refund the difference back to my original credit card, or maintain the credit on my account for future bookings? Never had to change Easyjet flights, and I couldn't find anything on the website, so appreciate any feedbacks.

[S100HP]

chip* said:

I am tempted to take advantage of the free flight change from Easyjet. As the new flight price (£60) is much cheaper than the original flight (£207), does Easyjet auto refund the difference back to my original credit card, or maintain the credit on my account for future bookings? Never had to change Easyjet flights, and I couldn't find anything on the website, so appreciate any feedbacks.

You lose the difference

[chip*]

Thanks.
Not ideal, but not end of the world.

[S100HP]

chip* said:

Thanks.
Not ideal, but not end of the world.

You'd be better getting a refund if the flight has been cancelled.

[chip*]

S100HP said:

chip* said:

Thanks.
Not ideal, but not end of the world.

You'd be better getting a refund if the flight has been cancelled.

Yep, I am leaving the May flight alone for now and see how that plays out i.e. hopefully Easyjet cancel and refund me in full. Just checked, Easyjet is showing the same flight availability at a crazy price of £400!

[Carbon Sasquatch]

Easyjet seem to be slow at completing the cancellations though - I've had a few in processing state for over a week now.

The next flights I still have showing as though they are going to happen are 9th April - I get occasional mails reminding me that I can change them, but I'll wait for them to get cancelled.

[The_Doc]

I think Easyjet play the "who blinks first" tactic on cancellations, to save them handing back cash.

timeline:
say 4 days to go, you change to another flight, they keep the cash and plan their business on post crisis flights
2 days to go, you blink and cancel yourself - they keep your cash minus the taxes
1 day to go, they blink and cancel the flight - cash back to you.

I have to credit the business acumen in it, its how I'd do it, morals excepted.

Edited by The_Doc on Wednesday 25th March 16:10

[Carbon Sasquatch]

Agree - EJ were also well ahead of the game with the offer of 'free' changes - you only had to pay the difference in fares - I'm sure a lot of people took them up on that in the last few weeks

[The_Doc]

Ok, what is the correct method for getting a refund for an Easyjet flight that they cancelled ?

I'm filling out the EU261 form on https://www.easyjet.com/en/claim/EU261, but the final disclaimer says

" By checking this box, you acknowledge that submitting this claims form will not refund your unused ticket. If you are entitled to a refund, please visit Manage Bookings."

And on Manage Bookings there is no refund button

??

I would like a report from a successful refundee, please

[Dog Star]

I think skiing next year will probably be a. really busy b. really expensive.

Obviously some last minute deal might pop up, but I’ve already decided to give it a miss.

[GT72]

Dog Star said:

I think skiing next year will probably be a. really busy b. really expensive.

Obviously some last minute deal might pop up, but I’ve already decided to give it a miss.

What’s the logic behind that?

We’re potentially about to head in to a global recession the likes of which has never been seen before. Huge numbers of people all round the world have lost their jobs and are having to be financially supported by their governments.

There are a fixed number of beds in the ski resorts. Some operators will go bust. They’ll just be replaced by new companies buying into the market at a discount. The world will keep turning, but demand will drop and supply will be fixed, so prices will drop.

Same with flights - some operators will go bust, but their stock and routes will be purchased by new operators at a discount. Flights will continue.

We’ve just bought our flights for our annual trip - £200 for 4 of us, the same flights this year were just under £2,000. We’ll sort the chalet out later once the dust has settled. But the same chalet we had this year is currently available for the same price we paid this year.

I can follow the logic that if it’s cheap the slopes might be packed, but expensive and busy - I don’t see that happening?

[The_Doc]

The_Doc said:

Ok, what is the correct method for getting a refund for an Easyjet flight that they cancelled ?

I'm filling out the EU261 form on https://www.easyjet.com/en/claim/EU261, but the final disclaimer says

" By checking this box, you acknowledge that submitting this claims form will not refund your unused ticket. If you are entitled to a refund, please visit Manage Bookings."

And on Manage Bookings there is no refund button

OK, for information I think I've cracked it.

Didn't fill in form EU261 online which I believe is for compensation rather than refund.
Rang 0330 365 5000 at 08:00 a few seconds after the Contact Centre opened.
Sat in a queue on hold for 10 mins
Obtained a full refund (initial ticket purchase and secondary hold bag purchase) after talking to a human.

Have yet to see the money come back onto my credit card, but the booking no longer exists on my account, so something has been changed. I can no longer move it to another flight, it is gone.

The spiel on the phone says they are processesing refunds only if your flight departs <48 hrs away and it has been cancelled by them.

[gregs656]

I don't see why next season should be expensive, or busy.

Everything at the moment suggests the opposite to me: flights are cheap, people facing financially difficult times, reluctance to book early.

On the other hand resorts will want people, so will incentivise early bookings and there will be deals to be done.

You do have to be prepared to carry some risk on the flights.

I bet there are good deals on kit at the moment too.

[EddieSteadyGo]

gregs656 said:

I don't see why next season should be expensive, or busy.

Everything at the moment suggests the opposite to me: flights are cheap, people facing financially difficult times, reluctance to book early.

On the other hand resorts will want people, so will incentivise early bookings and there will be deals to be done.

You do have to be prepared to carry some risk on the flights.

I bet there are good deals on kit at the moment too.

Think it will depend how we come out of this coronavirus mess, but I agree it is more likely to be quiet than busy next season.

If it is still lingering, or perhaps we get into a second wave next winter, I can see many people not bothering to go.

Couple that with the position of travel insurance companies - anyone underwriting those policies will be taking a hammering for the next few months. So they won't be covering future bookings made after the start of the epidemic which are affected by CV.

Hence there will be quite a few people who won't want to bear the risk of losing the full cost of their holiday next season.

[GT72]

EddieSteadyGo said:

Couple that with the position of travel insurance companies - anyone underwriting those policies will be taking a hammering for the next few months.

I wonder if the losses there will be offset by gains in the motor insurance policies. I would imagine motor insurance claims have fallen through the floor. My 3 cars haven't moved in the last 10 days and probably won't for the next couple of months, I'd imagine lots of other car users are in the same position.

[EddieSteadyGo]

GT72 said:

EddieSteadyGo said:

Couple that with the position of travel insurance companies - anyone underwriting those policies will be taking a hammering for the next few months.

I wonder if the losses there will be offset by gains in the motor insurance policies. I would imagine motor insurance claims have fallen through the floor. My 3 cars haven't moved in the last 10 days and probably won't for the next couple of months, I'd imagine lots of other car users are in the same position.

Interesting question and not something I had considered.

Just thinking it through, I still think it is more likely that anyone underwriting the insurance risk will be down, simply because, if you pick a period of time for a lockdown where fewer accidents will occur, most cars over that period wouldn't have been involved in any accidents anyway. Whereas holidays over this period any quite far beyond will be affected and will involve some quite high payouts.

Couple that with the costs of holiday insurance cover being relatively low, I think they will take a bit of a kicking. We can likely expect see a chunky rise in the costs of renewing holiday insurance next year where they try and recover some of their losses.

[Marcellus]

EddieSteadyGo said:

Interesting question and not something I had considered.

Just thinking it through, I still think it is more likely that anyone underwriting the insurance risk will be down, simply because, if you pick a period of time for a lockdown where fewer accidents will occur, most cars over that period wouldn't have been involved in any accidents anyway. Whereas holidays over this period any quite far beyond will be affected and will involve some quite high payouts.

Couple that with the costs of holiday insurance cover being relatively low, I think they will take a bit of a kicking. We can likely expect see a chunky rise in the costs of renewing holiday insurance next year where they try and recover some of their losses.

I think that will come down to who has to give those who've missed out this season their money back; will it be the Tour Operator who didn't/couldn't provide the holiday or the Insurer who pays up under the cancelled holiday clause, and that is/will be a messy bun fight!

[S100HP]

Marcellus said:

I think that will come down to who has to give those who've missed out this season their money back; will it be the Tour Operator who didn't/couldn't provide the holiday or the Insurer who pays up under the cancelled holiday clause, and that is/will be a messy bun fight!

You're telling me. Are you in sbit?

Edited by S100HP on Friday 27th March 16:39