Advice on Coronavirus

Where there is no Foreign Office advice against travel to a country or a specific resort or area of a country the following applies:

If there is no Government advice against travel to your destination, you’re free to make the choice not to go, but there is no obligation for your holiday company to give you a refund. Normal cancellation charges will apply and you cannot claim any cancellation charge on your insurance as there is no cover for disinclination to travel

Where the Foreign Office advises against travel to a country or a specific resort or area of a country the following applies:

Does my tour operator have to refund the full package or only the parts of my holiday that are cancelled?

Tour operators can offer alternative holidays if they are able to. If these mean a significant change to the original arrangements, for example spending the whole or part of the holiday in a different country, you aren’t obliged to accept the alternative and will be entitled to a full refund of the package price.  

When am I not entitled to a full refund?  

If you have booked a package and are not due to travel imminently, tour operators will decide on an ongoing basis how far in advance they’ll begin offering alternative arrangements or providing refunds. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office advice is in relation to imminent departures and it is too early to say that your holiday can’t go ahead as planned. Therefore, customers with future departure dates will be required to wait to find out whether the advice changes and their holiday can continue as planned. If you cancel early you may have to pay cancellation charges.

If I cannot follow my initial travel plans due to the Coronavirus outbreak, am I entitled to compensation?

You won’t be entitled to any compensation, as the reason for the holiday not continuing is outside the control of the tour operator

If I am abroad and my plans are disrupted am I covered under my insurance?

Provided you have the dedicated Magicbreaks cover and have not travelled against the advice of the FCO, you are covered under section 6, Missed Departure and Journey disruption section if the there is a change in FCO advice, where it states:

Catastrophe cover

because you are forced to move from pre-booked accommodation to continue your trip or, if the trip cannot be continued, to return home as a result of;

Section b. local medical epidemic or directive from a competent national or local authority directly affecting the area where the pre-booked accommodation is