Family face losing £4,000 on honeymoon to Crete due to Tui refund policy

A couple face losing at least £4,000 on their honeymoon to Crete a year after they were due to travel.

Anna Webb and her fiancé Aled Williams, from Caerphilly, Wales, were planning to go to Crete after getting married last summer, along with Anna’s children Heulyn, 10, and Arwen, six.

Due to Covid restrictions, they were unable to go abroad or get wed, however now they face another threat of losing out after being told they will lose 50% if they pull out of the holiday.

With new guidance in place, Mr and Ms Webb are now due to get married on July 18, however, they are concerned about travelling to an amber destination with their young children.

Tui, the travel operator, says the rebooked holiday is going ahead on August 1, but the Government’s advice is not to travel to amber destinations unless it’s essential.

Have you lost thousands on a holiday cancellation? Tell us your story: emma.munbodh@mirror.co.uk

The couple told The i they do not want to take their children on a plane while they are unvaccinated and for work and family reasons are not able to quarantine for 10 days on their return.

Tui has told them they would only get half their money back if they cancel the trip.

Ms Webb, told The i: “I said what if we want to cancel, and Tui said you’re so far into it now you’re going to lose 50 per cent and that’s over £4,000.

“And the closer I get to the holiday it would 70 per cent, and then 90 per cent basically.

“It’s cruel, it’s almost like ‘well we’ve got your money what are you going to do about it type thing?’

“As far as I’m concerned nothing’s any different to last year, getting on a plane is still a case of Russian roulette.

“We will have been vaccinated fully by then but the two kids, are not vaccinated.

“It is just really, really frustrating the fact they’ve got you over a barrel.

The FCDO currently advises against all but essential travel to Greece and Spain, but exempts the Canary Islands and the Greek islands of Rhodes, Kos, Zakynthos, Corfu and Crete.

If the same advice applied to the islands, the holiday companies would cancel and give customers refunds.

Ms Webb said: “I think they’re just benefiting off the back of a loophole with the foreign office advice and that isn’t fair.”

The holiday originally cost a little more than £5,000 but when they had to move it to this year the hotel they had wanted was no longer available forcing them to upgrade to a more expensive one, taking the total price up to £8,374.03.

Ms Webb said: “If we don’t get a refund we won’t be able to afford to go anywhere. I said to Tui we’ve got an awful lot of money tied up in this holiday, it’s our honeymoon and all the rest of it.

“We were told we can move it for free to next year and I’m like, ‘well how much more is that going to cost me?’ Personally speaking I don’t want that much money tied up for another 12 months with the potential to pay again if we can’t book the same room.

“I’ve been booking with Tui for the last 20 years in their different guises, I’ve always booked with them, I do feel it’s a bit of a cheek really.”

A spokesperson for Tui said: “We’re sorry to hear that Ms Webb no longer wishes to travel on her holiday.

“We will still be operating to destinations where borders are open and FCDO advice allows travel, therefore Ms Webb’s holiday to Crete is due to go ahead as planned.

“We know that customers may be unsure about travelling this summer, so anyone due to travel before the end of August can change their holiday 14 days before travel, with the new holiday taking place any time before 31 October 2022.”