Coronavirus Updates

Since the UK closed its borders on the 17th March we have been working hard behind the scenes to assist all affected customers and dedicated all of our time and resources to this important issue. This lead to a temporary suspension of our phone lines and new booking enquiries as we prioritised dealing with these cancelled holiday bookings. We continue to be available via email and responses are usually made within a few hours via this medium as we work remotely. Our office is being prepared as ‘covid secure’ and we hope to back and operating to the next stage on 1st June.

We have been in contact with all coronavirus affected bookings and continue to do so on a daily basis in this ever evolving situation. We are tending to bookings on a rolling, 7-day in advance basis, unless a specific date has been supplied.

For bookings that have been cancelled due to coronavirus, the process of obtaining a refund is starting. Obviously in this unprecedented time, this is not going to be a quick process. In the first instance we have protected your funds in the form of a credit note to the value of your original holiday as confirmed on your ATOL Certificate. This is valid for 1 year from the date your original booking was due to start and can be used toward making a new holiday booking later this year or indeed in 2021. Flights and rates for much of 2021 have been released early with super competitive offer prices to encourage new bookings and date switches so now is a great time to use your credit note to secure your next amazing holiday. Many of you have already taken advantage of this, as indeed many of us have too and we’re sure you are all looking forward to a holiday as much as we are! If the new holiday is cheaper than the value of your credit note then a cash refund will be supplied for the difference.

It would mean the world to us if you were happy to accept your credit note for a future holiday booking and we promise to do our best to make that holiday extra special with discounts, upgrades and extras. Although we do understand that people’s circumstances may have changed and we will be able to process a full refund as soon as we receive these from the suppliers which, due to the magnitude, may take some months. We thank you for your understanding and bearing with us during this time.

Hopefully we are closer to the end of the situation than the start as we begin to see the lockdown eased and hear talk of travel starting to get back to a ‘new normal’ sometime in June. We are learning of fantastic efforts from everyone in the travel industry to get things up and running again safely. Airports are going to be much cleaner throughout, airlines are taking extra steps to ensure everyone is as safe as possible, resorts are making social-distancing easily possible and hotels are securing their properties to fall in line too. Which means that, at the moment, we are hopeful of international travel recommencing safely, soon. We will of course monitor this situation and keep everyone up to date and contact affected bookings when applicable. If you are looking for a quote on a new holiday, please let us know your requirements by email and we will send you a full quotation.

Let us take this opportunity to thank you all for bearing and indeed sticking with us through this challenging time as we look forward to sending you all (and us!) on a much needed holiday again soon.

As you are aware with the ongoing situation of the coronavirus, covid-19, the UK Foreign Office have altered their travel advise to ‘all non-essential travel has stopped for indefinite period’. This does not necessarily mean that if you have a holiday booked with us, then it is automatically cancelled, this means that at this time they are unable to advise of a date when travel will recommence. Therefore unless we have made contact with you, your booking remains live and subject to booking  terms and conditions.

If you have a holiday booking which has an outstanding balance, or you are making instalment payments, it is extremely important that you continue to make these payments. Failure to keep up to date with your payments may result in your holiday being cancelled, you will forfeit your consumer protection meaning you will be unable to claim your funds should your holiday then be cancelled following any further FCO travel advise.

It is highly important that you understand that any payments made to us are always fully protected, your funds are held in a trust account which is entirely protected by the travel governing bodies.

At this stage we are working through clients bookings in order of departure date, those that are affect will have received communication from us via email, so please do check your email inbox as well as your spam/junk folders. Those who we have not yet contacted please do bear with us and we will make contact soon.

To make an instalment or balance payment please contact us on 0207 0303 739 (Mon-Fri 9am-5:30pm), alternatively please email with your contact details and we will make contact with you.

We are also now seeing a growing demand for holidays in 2021, with many clients moving their holidays where possible. You do not necessarily have to choose the same holiday destination so if there is somewhere else you would like to visit please let us know.

We understand that due to the current unprecedented circumstances,  there is cause for some anxiety and frustrations surrounding your holiday booking. As your agent we are doing all we can to service our clients to the very best of our ability, although as you can appreciate with the current lockdown, we are limited on our business functionality but we are doing our best.

FAQ’s

Why can’t I have my refund straight away?

As we act as your agent your funds are held in a Trust Account, this means that your funds are always protected. As your agent we make the reservations with the relevant suppliers using agency funds. We are working very hard with all of our suppliers to claim these funds back which in turn will allow us to refund you. Under normal circumstances this would be a seamless process, which enables us to refund our clients in a timely manner. However the current situation is somewhat different, as the airlines and suppliers are taking longer to refund monies. This in turn then delays the time in which your funds can be returned to you.

How long will it take to get my refund?

We are currently unable to advise an exact date as to when you will receive your refund, but we can assure you we are working hard each day to claim our funds from our suppliers. So if you have already contacted us expressing your wish for a cash refund, this will have been flagged on your file and we will process this once it is possible. As you can appreciate during this extremely busy time may we ask you to refrain from sending follow up emails as this puts additional strain on the already very busy staff.

Will you ever get your money back?

Absolutely 100%. Your money is coming back to you should you not wish to change your dates or confirm a replacement holiday, it’s just taking a little longer than usual. Until we are able to issue a cash refund, we will issue you with a financially protected Credit Note for the value of your holiday.

Can I amend my holiday to another date?

If your holiday has already been cancelled yes this is definitely possible and we would encourage our clients to do this, as after all when this is all over most will certainly want a holiday to look forward to! If your holiday hasn’t yet been cancelled, this will all depend on the suppliers whom we have confirmed your holiday with. Many suppliers will allow changes and have relaxed their amendment fees, this allows clients to change their dates without any financial penalty. If your preferred alternative date is currently unavailable to change to, we will be able to change your holiday at a later time. We are monitoring our suppliers availability to secure more options and during this period your funds remain safe.

Is a Credit Note safe, what happens if my airline or supplier fails?

Your funds are always protected, this is why we are protecting a cancelled holiday with a credit note and not a holiday voucher. It provides our clients with total peace of mind, which is ultimately the most important thing as far as we are concerned.

What if I don’t want to go to the same destination that I previously had booked?

We are being as flexible as possible and we understand that each of our clients have individual needs and that may require them to alter their destination. Which is why we will do all we can to help, so just let us know and we will do our best to keep you smiling.

When all this is over will you continue to provide amazing value for money holidays?

That goes without question, we can not wait to return and continue to service our wonderful clients, after all you are the most important part of our business.

Once again we cannot thank you enough for your continued patience, we understand how difficult this time is for all of us, but together we will get through and… We’ll Meet Again!

Office Address:

Westmead House
Westmead
Farnborough
Hampshire
GU14 7LP

0207 084 7156

enquiry@chcholidays.com

Opening Hours

Telephone Lines Open Monday to Sunday 09:00 – 23:00

Live Chat Available: 09:00 – 23:00, 7 Days A Week