CAA urges travellers to cash in £130m in refund credit notes
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is advising holidaymakers issued with refund credit notes during the Covid-19 pandemic to redeem their credit as international travel continues to open up.
Unspent ATOL protected refund credit notes currently total over £130 million, the body said.
In July last year, the ATOL scheme announced that consumers who accepted refund credit notes for cancelled ATOL protected holidays would continue to be covered.
This protection applied to refund credit notes issued from March 10th last year.
From midnight on December 19th, ATOL holders will no longer be able to issue ATOL protected refund credit notes for holidays cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Travellers who have accepted ATOL protected refund credit notes are unaffected by this change but are reminded to redeem their refund credit notes before September 30th next year.
Consumers are also reminded that along with redeeming a valid refund credit notes for a new booking, they can request a cash refund at any point.
Michael Budge, head of ATOL at the CAA, said: “With over £130 million of ATOL refund credit notes yet to be redeemed, and international travel opening up again, we want to remind consumers to redeem any unused credits to make sure they do not lose out.
“Refund credit notes have been a fantastic tool to reassure consumers and support the industry.
“The decision to end the scheme reflects the changing of international travel restrictions with significantly increased demand from consumers over recent months due to the opening up of more destinations.”