Unfortunately, we do not yet know which countries will be placed in each category, although this is expected in early May.
We do, however, have a good indication as to what rules will be in place depending on whether a country is categorised "red", "amber" or "green".
Countries will be categorised based on Covid-19 risk, including levels of Covid vaccination and success of vaccination programmes.
The measures only govern the rules for returning to the UK; individual countries may have their own additional Covid border controls and measures travellers will need to comply with to enter.
The Global Travel Taskforce has confirmed the government will publish a green list, highlighting the countries with the lowest perceived Covid risk, but that still doesn’t mean your clients can just hop on a plane as they once did.
What if my client’s destination is green?
If your customer has a green country booked then, provided you can supply the services they have booked, the booking should continue as normal. Customers may not want to travel if they have to pay an additional fee for a PCR test but, as this does not trigger the right to a full refund under the Package Travel Regulations (PTRs), they will be subject to the normal cancellation charges as set out in your booking conditions should they wish to cancel for this reason.
What if my client’s destination is amber?
The amber category is the most uncertain and certainly the trickiest for travel companies to deal with. However, as with the above, if it is just the case that the customer has to self-isolate upon their return to the UK and pay for a PCR test, this does not trigger the right to a full refund under the PTRs because it doesn’t affect your ability to provide the travel services. Therefore, if they choose to cancel for this reason, they would be subject to the cancellation charges as should be set out in your booking conditions, or otherwise advised to the customer.
The most challenging aspect is the fact that there is a higher risk in these countries and so the customer may be unwilling to take that risk. This would be a disinclination to travel, which does not trigger the right to a full refund under the PTRs. However, it is possible that the Competition and Markets Authority will take a different view here and, while the CMA guidance is not law, if they decided to take a stance and start court action on this issue there could be some battles ahead and so the industry should bear that in mind if they are refusing refunds.
