What are travel credits?
Return to the first confinement.
On March 25, 2020, an ordinance establishes a derogatory device to the Tourism Code.
To safeguard the cash flow of professionals in the sector, the government authorizes them to provide assets to their customers whose stays have been canceled due to the Covid-19 crisis and the total cessation of tourist activities, rather than reimbursing them. .
This exemption applies to package tours contracted with travel agencies, hotel reservations or car rentals, scheduled between March 1 and September 15, 2020. It does not concern "dry transport", c 'that is to say, plane tickets, train tickets ... booked directly with rail or airline companies, even if the latter have massively offered “credits” to their customers, rather than reimbursing them.
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This deposit, of a value equal to the sums paid, is valid for 18 months from the confirmation of the cancellation, whether at the initiative of the agency or the traveler.
The professional makes travel proposals, the client can do it too.
In the end, the reimbursement must take place if the credit note has not been consumed after these 18 months.
Read also: Coronavirus, cancellation or postponement of travel: how do assets work?
Responses from a lawyer
This exceptional measure ended on September 15.
Since then, the Tourism Code has applied again.
If the stay is canceled by the tour operator, in particular because of the health situation, the latter may continue to offer a credit note, but customers are entitled to refuse it and directly request a refund.
Conversely, if the customer wishes to cancel himself a possible stay maintained by the tour operator, the usual conditions of sale apply: he bears the cancellation costs provided for in the conditions of sale of the contract, with a scale progressive (the closer the cancellation is to the scheduled date, the higher the costs).
The customer can also activate his travel insurance, or that of his bank card.
On September 15, the total amount of unused assets stood at one billion euros, according to the trade union of tourism professionals Travel Enterprises (EdV).
"
And this amount has not decreased much since in view of the low activity of the sector
", underlines its president Jean-Pierre Mas.
So when and how to use them and with what guarantees, now that we can once again consider going on a trip?
We go around the question.
Read also: End of credits for canceled trips, which changes on September 15
Can the new trip take place after the 18 month deadline?
The order does not require that the new trip, whether it be a stay or a tour, take place during the period of validity of the credit note.
Clearly, it is the date of booking the new trip that is taken into account.
"There is therefore nothing to prevent the new stay from taking place beyond 18 months"
, confirms Hervé Tilmont, general secretary of the Union of tour-operating companies (Seto).
In addition, this 18-month period does not quite start at the time of cancellation.
“After the cancellation, the tour operator had three months to offer the customer another stay
,” explains Jean-Pierre Mas.
This one could accept, or refuse.
If he refused, he was given a credit note valid for 18 months. "
The 18-month period therefore begins with the new proposal made by the tour operator.
The last credits of the device issued for trips canceled on September 15, 2020 will therefore expire, at the latest, on June 15, 2022.
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What happens if I don't use the credit note within the 18 month period?
If the credit note is not used at the end of the 18 months, the agency must reimburse the costs incurred.
If you have booked a new trip, for example for the next Christmas or February holidays and the price is lower than the credit amount, the remaining balance is refunded after the 18 months.
Read also: Reconfinement until December 15: can I cancel my trip?
Will the 18 month deadline be extended?
A priori, the government has not planned to extend this period of 18 months.
But according to Jean-Pierre Mas, this will be possible at the request of the customer, on a case by case basis.
“Professionals should be accommodating.
If the customer wants to use the credit after the deadline rather than requesting a refund, that is in their interest, ”
says the president of Travel Companies
.
Likewise,
"beyond this period, we can always offer an extension, but the customer will have the right to refuse," said
Guillaume Linton, president and CEO of the travel agency Asia.
Can I give my credit to a loved one?
The credit note is registered but it can be transferred, as authorized by article L211-18 of the Tourism Code.
In addition, the credit can be used in several installments with the same travel agency.
Some professionals offer even more flexibility in the use of assets.
This is the case with UCPA, a specialist in sports trips and summer camps, which has extended their validity to 24 months (with a possible reimbursement after 18 months).
Customers can also donate part of their assets to support solidarity actions related to the health crisis implemented by the associative group.
Read also: Covid-19 and travel: where can the French go in December and at Christmas?
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Am I protected if my travel agency goes bankrupt?
If the ordinance on assets was intended to preserve the cash flow of travel agencies, they are, despite everything, not immune to financial difficulties.
“In this case, the funds paid by the customer are protected by a financial guarantee provided for by
article L211-18 of the Tourism Code
.
This guarantee is compulsory, otherwise the professional will not receive the license allowing him to practice, ”
recalls Hervé Tilmont.
Several organizations guarantee reimbursement to customers.
Among them is in particular the Professional Association of Tourism Solidarity (APST), which had for example taken care of the reimbursement of injured customers after the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook in the summer of 2019.
I am in great financial difficulty.
Can I be reimbursed immediately?
A joint committee set up in September is responsible for handling the files of customers experiencing significant financial difficulties.
It is made up of representatives of tourism professionals, consumer associations and the Tourism and Travel Mediator.
Customers can, in certain cases (dismissal, illness, transfer), obtain reimbursement of costs incurred before the expiration of the credit note.