Usually, vacationers have to transfer the money for travel and flights well in advance - this could change in the future due to the corona pandemic.
Numerous airlines and tour operators have not yet managed to reimburse all travel expenses for canceled flights and holidays *.
500,000 Lufthansa customers alone are still waiting for their money.
The Luftfahrt-Bundesamt has already imposed fines on airlines in 21 cases - airlines normally have to repay the costs within seven days.
Politicians and consumer advocates alike are shocked that the mills are working so slowly.
During the consumer day on Monday, there was therefore a demand to
abolish prepayment when traveling
.
Reaction to Corona “scandal”: Can trips be booked in a more consumer-friendly way in the future?
Klaus Müller described the fact that airline customers are still waiting for their money as “embarrassing” and “a scandal”.
According to the Business Insider portal, the President of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) is therefore calling for a radical change in the advance payment regulations for travel services: In his opinion, customers should no longer have to pay for tickets in advance.
Instead, they should
only
have to be
paid shortly before departure
, he appeals to politicians.
Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, consumer advocates have received twenty times as many complaints as usual.
Marcel Fratzscher, President of the German Economic Institute (DIW), also warns of weak consumer demand.
The disposable income of many consumers has fallen due to the pandemic - which is why, according to experts, travelers should be
protected
even more
from cost traps or collection fees
.
The travel industry itself could also benefit from this: fewer restrictions or the abolition of prepayment for travel could ensure higher demand.
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End of prepayment when traveling?
Politics is also calling for drastic change
"The regulation makes it more difficult for consumers to get their money retrospectively if the service has not been provided, and is therefore already hostile to
consumers,
" said Amira Mohamed Ali, parliamentary group leader of the Left in the Bundestag, according to Business Insider regarding the travel payment.
The demand also received approval from SPD member Johannes Fechner: "We have to abolish advance payment when traveling."
Many tour operators have tried to fob off customers with vouchers - which contradicts current EU law.
They should provide some sort of interim solution for consumers and businesses.
Christian Kastrop, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Justice, explains: “After this transition period, however, it must now be possible to reimburse all canceled trips and flights.
This is a scandal that has to be dealt with now. ”
Legally, customers have a right to get their money back
.
According to Klaus Müller, the first tour operators are already more receptive to customer-friendly conditions.
With the abolition of inflexible cancellation conditions and advance payment regulations, the desire to travel could be rekindled more easily.
"The customer could actually be king again."
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editorial network.
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