Aegean / H4U Go Bust

[mariam]

Called my credit card company this evening and they tried to fob me off with going throught my travel insurance and then abta. Went onto Martin Lewis website who says always best to mention the section 75 clause, which I have since done. However, we have bought a few flights for this year and next and was wondering wether we would be covered? The total for each a return flight is over £130 but the outbound and return costs for each individual leg is lower than this and not sure if the credit company will look at it being a single item under £100 which they will then not pay. My invoices do not break it down like this, but don't want to get caught out. Any ideas anyone? By the way it was a Marks and Spencers Mastercard, they said they will be in touch within the next 7 days as they need to pass the details onto the payback team, no talk of a claim form coming our way at the moment. Many thanks to you all and best of luck.

[Scunner]

On the positive side, those affected will have the cost of their package or flights refunded by the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), under its Atol guarantee.

Meanwhile, anyone currently abroad can continue their holiday as normal as the CAA will ensure they are flown home at no extra cost, again under the Atol protection.


How many people are affected?

Holidays 4 U has 13,000 customers currently on holiday and 50,000 booked on future flights.

My holiday's not yet started. What should I do?

All future Holidays 4 U packages and flights are now cancelled.

Anyone with a package or flight-only deal from Holidays 4 U is fully protected. They can claim a refund from the CAA (see its website for details).

There is a chance those with flight-only deals may be able to re-book the same seat.

Holidays 4 U only sold seats on airlines; it isn't a carrier, so call the relevant carrier to check. In most cases, it will be Turkish budget airline Onur Air.

I'm currently overseas. What should I do?

The CAA says those on holiday now are unaffected and can continue in any accommodation as normal.

It will ensure all customers due to fly home in the coming weeks will be able to do so as planned.

Travellers should arrive at the airport for check-in as normal for their flight home, as it will pay the airline for the fare.

However, it adds that in some cases passengers may be placed on alternative flights home. If there are any flight changes, information will be placed on the Atol website.

Holidays 4 U customers currently abroad can call the CAA on +44 (0)161 444 5810 for help.

In some cases, hotels may ask guests to pay for their stay again - they'd have already paid when booking the package - even though the CAA will reimburse the accommodation provider.

The problem is some hoteliers overseas do not understand the Atol protection. The CAA says, if you're forced to pay, keep all receipts and claim the cash back from it when you return.

What about unaffected accommodation/other holidays costs?

Any separate accommodation booked with a travel agent, or any other holiday booking such as car hire and excursions is not protected by the Atol scheme if you are unable to use it if you can't reach your destination.

Try to get any elements refunded. If unsuccessful, try to claim on your travel insurance (see below).

If you booked accommodation or other holiday extras on plastic it is unlikely you'll get compensation from your card firm.

Under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act you can get a refund from your plastic provider if the retailer/travel firm breaks its contract, if you paid over £100.

In this case, only your flight or package has been cancelled, not anything outside that booking. So accommodation/car hire/other providers will still offer that service.

Visa and Mastercard run voluntary schemes offering a similar guarantee, which again is unlikely to pay out.

Will travel insurance pay out?

If you've booked non-refundable accommodation or other extras, call your insurer.

Whether you get a payout depends on the policy. Many insurers cover cancellation but not all do so there is no one-size-fits-all answer.

From http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

[laffa]

  I  read Kevskid comment as being directed to themselves,dont think it was meant to be nasty,
anyway, I just feel so sorry for the kids who have been looking forward to their holiday,we very nearly booked for 4 this week, so feel we have had a lucky escape,hope everyone gets sorted soon, I think this will hike the prices up now, and we have not got our return flight yet,

[june]

Terrible news once again, I really feel for the hardworking people that have saved so hard for their hols that are now trashed, most especially the ones that were just due to fly and the ones with children.

Also for you Lynne so much that's heartbreaking......

Kevskid I think you are a complete prat....however your comments were meant to be construed they were very very inappropriate .....to say the least...

[Scunner]

Now now folks there's a lot of emotion tonight, let's all try to support each other or at least not fall out over this. It's an awful situation - I can't imagine having to tell my kids two weeks ago that we weren't flying off in the morning after all. So sorry for all affected so let's pull together not apart  

[stoop]

quote:Originally posted by laffa

  I  read Kevskid comment as being directed to themselves,dont think it was meant to be nasty,
anyway, I just feel so sorry for the kids who have been looking forward to their holiday,we very nearly booked for 4 this week, so feel we have had a lucky escape,hope everyone gets sorted soon, I think this will hike the prices up now, and we have not got our return flight yet,

I read it the same way Laffa - especially as he has also been a victim in this if people have seen his post on the previous page.

[laffa]

its a bit worrying to re-book though, as they said on the news that it wont be the only company this year, is On The Beach the same type of company as H4U.

[Scunner]

I can't think of any companies that are the same type as H4u to be honest, not for Turkey anyway. They were chartering planes, filling them (or not) and sending them over. It's a very risky business. Their business plan was to sell cheap seats until the cost of the plane was covered, then raise the seat price and that is the profit. So you can imagine how scary a half empty flight was for them (hence all the merging and cancellations etc).

On the Beach are nothing like them Moe, nor are any of the other ones like Travel Republic, Sunshine.co.uk and the like...

[sagirl]

We were booked to fly out on Saturday, didn't book with H4U but with Travel Republic but they booked our flights with H4U, so we have still lost our flights.  So everyone please check carefully if you are flying with Onur Air even though you never booked through H4U your travel agent might have done so.

Luckily for us I heard about it just before lunch and we just managed to re-book with Thomas Cook, it did cost us an extra £40 each and we are now flying from Cardiff instead of Birmingham, but same distance for us so that is not a problem. Now I think we were lucky that it didn't cost us too much more.   But unfortunately for us we paid by debit card, Travel Republic have assured us we will get a full refund but when is the big question.

Thanks Scunner for posting all the relevant information, it is much appreciated. Your post from the CAA website states
 'There is a chance those with flight-only deals may be able to re-book the same seat'
I particularly asked TR about this, my thinking being that there would be a lot of empty seats but they told us that H4U actually charter the Onur Air plane, so it really has nothing to do with Onur Air direct bookings as such, and as the charter plane is no longer leaving there are ofcourse no seats available. The only Onur seats available would be if booked through an agent that didn't book through H4U.  I did try one company but all seats were sold out.

This is very sad for those that have not managed to re-book.

[kenkay]

Well it was nice while it lasted. I had Sept 2011 and May, July and Sept 2012 in the Aegean pot so it's now back to reality. Filled in the ATOL forms tonight for two holidays which I booked on debit card and will start claim tomorrow for two hols booked on credit card. Luckily my daughter works for Monarch and can get ne 20% off ZB flights. Might now have to look at a couple of 5-6 week breaks instead of 3 of 3 weeks Expecting a bit of a stampede and some profiteering so I rebooked Sept 2011 with Easy Jet. 550 quid for the two of us yukk[!] mind you,it's better than not going