Government’s Covid Passenger Charter - Which? response

Since March 2020, the international travel sector has experienced unprecedented widespread disruption to flights and holidays. 

In response to the strain on their businesses, we saw numerous holiday companies and travel operators breaking the law, withholding billions of pounds of refunds and rendering consumer protection meaningless. Additionally, due to the evolving nature of the global health crisis, and within the small window of borders reopening last summer, many travellers were left confused and unprotected due to conflicting government advice. Our latest investigation on package holiday providers suggests that many will break the law on refunds again as international travel re-opens. 

With hopes of a return of visiting family and friends and taking holidays, the hard lessons of summer 2020 must be learnt so that travellers have clear advice to enable them to book with confidence and strong protections that will be upheld to keep their money safe. With additional requirements for testing expected this year, travellers must also have access to trustworthy information at the right time in order to travel safely this summer. 

We therefore welcome the Government’s plans to publish a Covid-19 Passenger Charter setting out consumer rights and responsibilities. In order for this to meaningfully support people to make informed decisions about booking travel this summer, Which? strongly recommends the following information and commitments are included in the Charter to be published on 17 May ahead of travel reopening:

• The Government’s Passenger Charter must make travellers aware of their rights under the Package Travel Regulations and EC261, and information on what constitutes good flexible booking policies.
• Regulators must monitor industry behaviour on refunds and take strong action against any operators found to be misleading customers or breaking the law
• FCDO and DfT advice to travel must be aligned to ensure passengers have clear and reliable information to travel safely
• The Charter must clearly signpost to trusted information and advice on PCR testing providers, expected timings and capacity to provide services.
• The Government and regulators must ensure that insurance providers are being clear about Covid-cover terminology.
• The Government must ensure the security of travellers arriving at the border with clarity over social distancing measures and adequate staffing to avoid long queues at airports.

We also recommend that the Government ensures the following is delivered in time for the following review in June.

• The problems currently affecting the PCR testing market are urgently addressed. In particular, we would highlight the UKAS accreditation system, pricing and accessibility of tests, and the poor quality of service and unfair terms by some providers.
• In addition, there is urgent need for coordination across Government departments and sector regulators in addressing reducing levels of insurance cover and the rising prices.