Advice for customers affected by the collapse of Monarch Airlines
Bournemouth, Dorset (PRWEB UK) 2 October 2017 -- The news of the collapse of Monarch, the UK’s fifth largest airline, upwards of 100,000 passengers from across the UK are affected.
As the news broke, travel agencies and Travel Consultants from around the UK were moving quickly to reassure and assist clients who may be affected.
“The priority is of course those customers already on their holidays worried about how they will return, then those due to travel shortly” said Steve Witt, Co-Founder of Not Just Travel, one the UK’s fastest growing travel companies.
This is obviously a sad day for Monarch, one of our most loved airlines. The last month has been a particularly troublesome time for UK travellers with the recent issues with Ryanair and now Monarch. However, it is worth stressing that the UK travel industry is one of the biggest and best in the world and anyone thinking of booking a holiday should be reassured with this knowledge, particularly if they book through a travel agency or well-known tour operator.
With the collapse of Monarch, 1000’s of customers are stranded overseas as the airline is unable to operate any flights. “For these holiday makers, the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) will be arranging flights to get passengers home.” says Witt.
There are of course thousands of passengers due to travel in the near future, all looking forward to their holiday. For many this will be the moment they have been looking forward to all year, their dream holiday and quality time with their loved ones. So what does it mean for them?
“We first became aware of a possible issue earlier this week when we received a tip-off from a senior manager within Monarch. Since then our team have been busy preparing to help our customers.” Says Witt
“Our priority is to ensure we help customers continue with their holidays. We know this time is really important to them so we are doing everything within our power to help customers ensure they still get away. In case of this very situation we had already pre-prepared advice and information to be provided to customers the moment the news broke. We also ensured we knew exactly which customers would be affected and could prioritise giving help and support.” Witt Continues.
One of the benefits of having booked a holiday with a travel company such as Not Just Travel is that you have a whole team of travel experts available to assist you when problems occur.
In addition, if you booked a flight and hotel using a Travel Consultant or travel agency, you may find that you have greater level of protection.
What advice would we give to anyone affected by the collapse of Monarch?
1. Your priority is to look for alternative flights. We can help you with this (contact us today). However, remember that anyone who has booked a Monarch flight is now going to be looking for alternatives so these will rapidly sell out.
2. Remember that prices will increase quickly as people look to rebook flights, so act quickly to avoid having to pay extra.
3. If your flight is booked as part of a package, make sure you contact the travel agency or tour operator you booked it through. They will help you rebook flights or organise refunds as this is the responsibility of the tour operator.
4. If you booked flights and accommodation separately, you need to find alternative flights to get you to your accommodation. Or you should attempt to cancel the accommodation. It is not guaranteed that you will receive a refund for the accommodation just because the flight has been cancelled. You should check this out before making a decision.
Will clients receive refunds or compensation?
The advice here is to contact the agency, tour operator or place where you booked your flight or holiday. The rules for refunds and compensation are quite complex as it will depend on how you booked, where you booked and whether you booked other elements at the same time.
If you booked direct with Monarch then check details on their website or visit
https://monarch.caa.co.uk/ for more details.
Steve Witt comments “The collapse of Monarch has again highlighted the importance of booking a holiday through a reputable travel consultant. It has also turned the spotlight on the relevance of choosing a holiday that is protected by the UK’s ATOL scheme.”
Free Advice
Not Just Travel are offering a free advice service for anyone who is unsure of what to do or needs advice. They can be contacted via their Facebook page or by phone on 0800 530 0621.
Rachel Atkins, Not Just Travel, +44 1202 618148, [email protected]
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