Health has been very clear regarding the recommendations to travel in the midst of the coronavirus crisis: it should not be done if it is not “really important“A tip that the majority of the population has endorsed but, with Easter on the doorstep, many find themselves with the ticket purchased and without the possibility of requesting a refund for free. Because, although there are airlines that allow you to change the date of the flight without cost due to the pandemic, there are those who do not want to or cannot travel at another time and want their money back. In this case, FACUA’s recommendation is “fight and claim, claim and claim, until you reach the courts if necessary and for a judge to decide whether it is cause of force majeure with the right to reimbursement. “The situations in which users find themselves are diverse and we have consulted with an expert what to expect in the following cases:
If the company cancels
In this case it is simple: the airlines have to return all the money to the user.
If the user decides not to travel
“If it is the user who decides not to travel to certain areas, following the recommendation of the Ministry of Health, he can claim defending that he does so due to force majeure, but winning is not easy. In any case, it is necessary to press, since there are companies that, as a result of these claims, have ended up accepting changes of tickets for other dates and / or other destinations, “encourages Rubén Sánchez, spokesman for Facua.
If it is a tourist package to an isolated area
“In case a tourist package (travel and accommodation) has been contracted with an agency, destined for an area isolated by the coronavirus, the agency has to refund all the money. If it is a trip to several places and only one is affected, the agency must manage how that destination is exchanged for another one within the package, “explains Rubén Sánchez.
If Health considers that it is a destination “with evidence of community transmission”
Factors that can help when claiming THE REFUND
- That Health has qualified the destination as “area with evidence of community transmission”
- Trips canceled by airlines
- Population at risk
- Previous pathologies
The Ministry of Health shares a list of “areas with evidence of community transmission”in which the risk of contagion is much higher. In this list are some areas of Spain (the Autonomous Communities of Madrid and La Rioja, and the municipalities of Labastida-Bastida and Vitoria-Gasteiz and Miranda de Ebro), in addition to Italy (the whole country), the French departments of Haut-Rhin (Grand Est) and l’Oise (Hauts-de-France), the German department of Heinsberg (North Rhine-Westphalia), China (all provinces, including Hong Kong and Macao), South Korea, Hokkaidō Island of Japan, Singapore and Iran. If the destination of the scheduled trip is one of those, FACUA encourages you to claim both the airline and the agency, if any, but remember that “It is not safe to win.”
If it is a destination that has prohibited the entry of Spaniards
More than 60 countries have imposed restrictions on travelers from Spain and about twenty have directly prohibited them from entering its borders. Despite that, in case the destination is to one of those countries no airline currently returns the money. Yes they admit changes until November 30 but no returns.
The countries that prohibit the entry of Spaniards due to the threat of the coronavirus
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If you close the airspace
At the moment the Government decides to close the airspace, the money from its flights will be returned to users who have purchased tickets. from that date.
–Recommendations on health trips
/ MINISTRY OF HEALTH
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