Cancelled Flights and Holidays
Flights cancelled, holidays that did not happen, and providers that offered a voucher when you were entitled to cash.
7 days
Airline refund deadline under UK261
14 days
Package holiday refund deadline
Both
Refund and compensation are separate
What this service is, and what it is not
Travel claims sit across several overlapping regimes, and which one applies changes what you are owed. That complexity is the main reason travellers accept less than they are entitled to.
For flights departing the UK or on a UK or EU carrier, UK261 gives you a right to a refund within seven days for a cancelled flight, plus fixed compensation depending on distance and delay where the cancellation was within the airline's control. Extraordinary circumstances remove the compensation but never the refund.
For package holidays, the Package Travel Regulations 2018 require a full refund within 14 days if the package is cancelled, and ATOL protection covers flight-inclusive packages if the organiser fails. For accommodation and services booked separately, you are relying on contract law, chargeback and Section 75 instead.
Vouchers are the recurring problem. Where you had a right to a cash refund and were offered only a credit note, the right did not disappear because a voucher was issued, and where a voucher was accepted under pressure or on inaccurate information, that is worth challenging. Unused vouchers from a provider that has since failed are a card claim, not a queue in an insolvency.
Business challenges this addresses
A voucher offered instead of a refund
Where the entitlement was to cash, a credit note is not a discharge of it. Accepting one under pressure does not necessarily end the claim.
Extraordinary circumstances asserted too broadly
Weather and air traffic control genuinely qualify. Crew shortages and technical faults usually do not, whatever the airline says in its first reply.
Booked through an agent
Agent, tour operator or airline, who owes the refund depends on who you contracted with, and that determines which claim to bring.
The provider has failed
ATOL, ABTA, chargeback and Section 75 each cover different situations. Choosing the wrong one wastes months.
How we deliver it
Every stage has a named owner on our side and a defined output. You always know what is happening and what comes next.
Typical duration: Most cases resolve in 8–14 weeks
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Free assessment
We establish who you contracted with, which regime applies, and what you are actually entitled to, which is often more than has been offered.
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Claim against the provider
A formal claim under UK261 or the Package Travel Regulations, with the correct deadline.
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Card claim in parallel
Chargeback and, where the booking qualifies, Section 75, so a provider's failure or refusal does not leave you without a route.
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Protection schemes
Where ATOL or ABTA applies, we handle that claim alongside rather than instead.
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Escalation
Airline disputes go to the relevant alternative dispute resolution body; card refusals go to the Financial Ombudsman.
What you receive
- Identification of who you actually contracted with and which regime applies
- A UK261 or Package Travel Regulations claim with the correct deadline
- Parallel chargeback and Section 75 claims where the booking qualifies
- ATOL and ABTA claims where the provider has failed
- Challenge to an extraordinary circumstances defence where it is overstated
- Escalation to aviation ADR or the Financial Ombudsman as appropriate
What changes afterwards
Cash rather than credit
Where the entitlement was a refund, we pursue the refund rather than accepting the voucher that was offered.
Refund and compensation are separate
Under UK261 they are distinct entitlements. Being refunded does not extinguish a compensation claim.
Several routes at once
Airline claim, card claim and protection scheme run in parallel, so one refusal does not end the matter.
Claims of this kind we have run
$8,900 recovered after a tour operator collapsed with the holiday unflown
They had been told to register with the administrators and wait. Registering was right; waiting was not. By the time they called us the window on the deposit was almost…
- Recovered in full
- $8,900 Recovered in full
- From first call to filing
- 4 days From first call to filing
- What the clock actually ran from
- Travel date What the clock actually ran from
Frequently asked
Not necessarily, particularly where the voucher was offered as the only option or on inaccurate information about your rights. It is worth asking rather than assuming.
It is fixed by distance and delay rather than by what the trip cost. It is payable in addition to any refund, and only where the cancellation was within the airline's control.
Chargeback and Section 75 both reach past an insolvency, and ATOL may apply to a flight-inclusive package. Do not join the creditors' queue before checking.
UK261 claims run for six years in England and Wales, five in Scotland. Chargeback is generally 120 days from the intended travel date. The card route usually expires first.
Services that pair with this one
Tickets and Cancelled Events
Events cancelled or rescheduled, tickets that never arrived, and resale platforms that will not refund.
Retailer or Provider Insolvency
The company you paid has gone into administration. Joining the creditors' queue is rarely your best option, and often not your only one.
Section 75 Claims
On credit card purchases between $100 and $30,000, your card provider is equally liable with the retailer. That is statute, not a scheme rule.