Siesta Statement February 2021

Siesta Statement February 2021

Published on Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Siesta Statement February 2021

Siesta Holidays Coronavirus Statement to Customers – Updated 23rd February 2021

Following the announcement of the Prime Minister’s ‘Road Map’, we now have reason to be optimistic around holidays for this summer and can now start to make some plans.

Of course we continue to monitor the situation very closely but we are now planning for our first departure of 2021 summer season to be Wednesday 19th May.

For our customers that have booked prior to 19th May, we will be contacting you in departure date order starting this week for our Easter departures. Please check your emails as cancellations will be notified this way.

We have adopted skeleton staffing working from home to answer emails and telephone calls where possible. It is extremely difficult under these circumstances for telephone calls to be answered. The vast majority of our team have been furloughed under the Job Retention Scheme until we start to see travel restrictions lifted.

Our first priority is to protect our customers and staff in these challenging times. We are following Government FCO advice in relation to Travel Restrictions, if a travel restriction is in place for any one of the UK, France or Spain we cannot operate our scheduled program.

COACH INCLUSIVE HOLIDAY BOOKING

1. What if my reservation is cancelled because of the travel bans?

We will contact all customers who have bookings that cannot operate due to the travel restrictions. You will be given the option to rebook for later in 2021 or 2022. If you are not yet in the position to make a rebooking we will issue a refund credit note to use on a Siesta Holiday for later in 2021 or for the 2022 season. The Refund Credit Note expires 31st October 2021 so should you want to transfer to 2022 you will need to make your booking prior to that date. If you are not able to make use of the refund credit note by booking another holiday, don’t worry, your money is safe and prior to the expiry date you will be able to claim a refund of the money you have paid. A rebooking or refund credit note remains protected under the Package Travel Regulations.

 

2. I have a booking and paid a deposit. Should I pay the balance?

Our terms and conditions state that the balance due date is 10 weeks before departure. Please remember that if you have paid your balance by the due date then your payments are financially protected.

 We understand some customers will not want to, or be in the position to pay a balance in these times of uncertainty. If this is the case, please cancel your reservation and we will issue you a credit voucher to the value of 50% of the deposit you have paid to be used anytime up to 31 October 2022. Please note that vouchers issued in these circumstances are a goodwill gesture and outside the Package Travel regulations. If you do not contact us and do not pay the balance we will assume cancellation in line with our terms and conditions and the holiday will be cancelled with loss of deposit.

 

3. What if my reservation is cancelled because a hotel/campsite is closed but the travel ban has been lifted?

We would look to offer a reasonable alternative i.e. different hotel/campsite. If this is acceptable we will transfer your booking at no charge. If the change is not acceptable to you we will cancel your reservation in line with point 1. No additional compensation would be applicable under Force Majeure conditions.

 

4. What if I am issued a Retail Credit Note and Siesta Holidays become insolvent.

Bonded Coach Holidays have confirmed that refund credit notes can be issued to our customers and will carry over the same financial protection for the amount paid on the original booking. The BCH Bond is effectively an insurance policy taken out on your behalf under the EC Directive on Package Travel to refund your money in the event of the financial failure of Siesta Holidays.

 

.ACCOMMODATION ONLY BOOKING

Accommodation Only bookings are not ‘package’ holidays as defined by the Package Travel Regulations and are therefore do not carry any financial protection.

1. What if my reservation is cancelled because of the travel bans ?

We will contact all customers who have bookings that cannot operate due to the travel restrictions. You will be given the option to rebook for later in 2021 or 2022. If you are not in the position to make a rebooking we will issue a credit voucher to use on a Siesta Holiday valid until the end of 2022. Please note that vouchers issued in these circumstances are a goodwill gesture and outside the Package Travel regulations. 

2. I have a booking and paid a deposit. Should I pay the balance?

In light of the current unknown situation we appreciate that this is a difficult decision to make.. If you pay your balance and then we need to cancel the reservation because of revised government travel bans then the instruction above in point 1 would apply to your reservation.

 

3. I am still not sure I should pay the balance on the balance due date

We understand some customers will not want to or be in the position to pay a balance. If we do not receive the balance payment we will revert to the booking conditions and cancel the reservation at no cancellation cost. Deposits will not be refunded or credit vouchers issued.

 

4. What if my reservation is cancelled because a hotel/campsite is closed but the travel ban has been lifted?

We would look to offer a reasonable alternative ie different hotel/campsite. If this is acceptable we will transfer your booking at no charge. If the change is not acceptable to you we will cancel your reservation in line with point 1. No additional compensation would be applicable under Force Majeure conditions.

 

We thank you for the unbelievable patience and loyalty shown so far in these extremely difficult times for all of us.

Stay safe and we hope to see you all again soon.

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