Accuracy is verified through our qualified fact-checkers and fact-checkers. Learn more about fact-checking in CHOICE.
Plans are made to be broken, and unfortunately, your plans are no exception to this rule. You might have to cancel your vacation due to illness, the airline might cancel your flight, or anything out of everyone’s control, like a pandemic, can override everyone’s plans.
Travel agencies and third-party booking sites like Booking. com, Expedia, and Airbnb have their own terms and situations that make up the first benchmark for whether you’re eligible for a refund or credit. But the fine print is still the subject of Australian customer law.
So, what are your rights and how do you get them back?
Whether you can get a cash refund from an agent or booking site for replaced or canceled plans sometimes depends on whether you or the provider makes the changes.
If you think your vacation may not go through or you’re concerned due to illness or smaller destination alerts, contact your agent about your options.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) states that it expects refunds to be granted in the following cases:
Most of us have (hopefully) overcome the trauma of the 2019-2020 bans and wildfires that prevented many other people from getting to their holiday accommodations.
If you find yourself in a similar situation again, check the terms and conditions of your contract for a “force majeure” clause. It describes what happens when it can’t be provided due to a circumstance beyond everyone’s control.
ACCC management warns that restrictions can also cause a “breach of contract” under general law, which may entitle you to a refund or credit voucher for any payments you have made, minus the agent’s “reasonable expenses” incurred prior to cancellation.
Frustrated contract law differs from state to state. South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales have express legislation, while other states may have a common law, so check with your state’s customer coverage company to find out how this might affect your situation. .
Travel agents conjure up photographs of other people sitting in offices with shots of the Greek islands on their walls. But on those days, you’re more likely to interact with online agents through booking sites like Booking. com, Expedia, and Airbnb.
The user you paid your cash to is who you want to get your cash from.
These tips also apply to online booking sites and brick-and-mortar agencies. Sites like Airbnb rarely have extenuating cases for conditions like wildfires and travel bans, but otherwise want to refer to the booking site’s terms and conditions (note that Airbnb’s policy on COVID-19-like extenuating cases is no longer in effect).
If you booked through a third-party booking site, please persist in canceling through that site, even if they try to refer you to the supplier. The terms and conditions of the supplier, such as the accommodation provider or airline, regularly, whether you are entitled to credits or refunds, however the user you paid your cash to is usually the one you want to get your cash from.
“We paid a deposit for an excursion to two cities in Russia. Our agent said that if we don’t pay the balance they will cancel it and we will lose our deposit of about $1,300. We can’t pay right now like I could. I won’t be able to do it at all. – Kerry O’Leary, CHOICE member
It depends on the terms and situations of the contract with the agent and whether a contract impossibility would apply.
If this is the case, deposits can also be refunded in cash or by other means, such as a credit voucher.
In addition, the ACCC advises that deposits should not exceed 10% unless the agent can justify a higher amount due to a potential loss or inconvenience.
A higher amount could be an upfront payment, and upfront payments are refundable, minus a moderate cancellation fee.
Going abroad? Get your free insurance advisor now.
Going abroad? Get your free insurance advisor now.
Travel agents would possibly charge cancellation fees that reflect the moderate prices of making the initial reservation and canceling it.
What constitutes a moderate payment is a gray area. Fees should be specified in the agent’s terms and conditions and should reflect expenses such as on-the-job payments and steps to contact vendors to process refunds or credit vouchers.
“Flight Center charges a cancellation fee of $300 per person, which can equate to $1,200 per couple for the cancellation of ground and air components. Flight Center’s reason for those payments is the recovery of the costs of organizing the and that are sanctioned through the ACCC. – Vic Reynolds, CHOICE member
Flight Centre’s cancellation policy on COVID-19 travel bans stipulated an overseas cancellation payment of $300 per user based on the booking, in addition to the supplier’s payment.
So, as Vic said, if a couple booked flights and accommodation through Flight Center, those payments can be temporarily multiplied. Flight Center has since capped the payment from $300 per user to $600 per booking.
Although Flight Center stipulated payment in advance in its terms and conditions, the application of a fixed payment in any circumstance, combined with the multiplication of payments consistent with the visitor and with the reservation, may have simply meant that the fares exceeded the moderate prices to cancel the trip in many circumstances.
Under pressure from the ACCC, Flight Center has replaced its cancellation fees. The ACCC said it would have taken legal action if Flight Center had replaced its position.
This is worth keeping in mind if your agent makes a payment for a similar matter. If you have insurance, your policy may cover your agent’s cancellation payments, so check with your insurer.
Travel agents can offer a new booking or credit voucher to the agent. The ACCC’s recommendation for cancellations and adjustments is that corporations can offer solutions such as a credit note or voucher, depending on the agent’s terms and conditions.
But when a service provider, such as the airline, has reimbursed the agent in cash, that estimate is expected to be returned to them as soon as possible.
So if the vendor informs the agent that they will charge you for a credit but possibly won’t give you your cash back, then yes, the agent can simply keep the cash in the form of a credit voucher. However, if the supplier returns the cash to the agent, the agent will have to return it to them as soon as possible.
You may rightly be concerned if you can use your credit vouchers before they expire. Regulators advise:
You are bound by the contract you entered into when booking your holiday. Therefore, if those terms and situations entitle you to a refund, the agent cannot modify them to deny you such a refund.
If they replace the terms of the contract without allowing you, as a consumer, to do the same, this may be an unfair contract term.
If you are charged an unreasonable cancellation payment or treated unfairly, file a complaint with the company and refer it to the ACCC counsel. Keep in mind that if you don’t get an acceptable solution, you’ll escalate your complaint to your state’s office. Client Coverage Agency.
If your agent is a member of the Australian Travel Accreditation System (ATAS), you can also lodge a complaint with ATAS, who will investigate whether the agent has breached the industry code of conduct.
If your agent already paid cash to the airline, accommodation, or other service provider before filing for bankruptcy, your service deserves to remain valid.
However, if the agent has not transferred the cash to the supplier, your booking could be affected. Check with the supplier if they will still accept your booking.
Some travel agencies offer their own form of insolvency protection. If your agent had an account reserved for the consumer, you may be able to claim cash from it.
TravelManagers agents have a visitor fund designed to protect their consumers against the insolvency of an airline or other supplier used through TravelManagers. If you can’t get a refund from your insurance or bank, you can request it from the fund.
The fund is an independent and isolated legal entity, to which TravelManagers makes normal invoices, a kind of self-insurance fund for its clients.
Your travel insurance is unlikely to cover your losses if your travel agent goes bankrupt, but check with your insurer to make sure.
If you can’t get your cash back from the agent and the supplier doesn’t honor your reservation, check out our tips for getting your cash back via a credit card chargeback.
If you are unable to process a credit card chargeback, you will need to log in with the travel agent’s third-party administrator as an unsecured creditor. This puts you in a queue to get your cash back, secured creditors such as staff and shareholders.
Be wary of canceled reservations made through a company that later went bankrupt. Following the collapse of online agent Fly365 in 2020, CHOICE saw an example where someone requested a refund, only to lose their cash when that refund was transferred back to Fly365.
In this case, converting the booking or asking if the airline can keep your credit voucher would possibly be a better option.
Your travel insurance is unlikely to cover your losses if your travel agent goes bankrupt, but check with your travel insurer instead of assuming it may not cover you.
In our insurance comparison, we did not find any insurer that covered an agent’s insolvency and unfortunately we do not know of any insurers that do. If you know of an insurer that covers an agent’s insolvency, please let us know in the CHOICE Community.
If a provider, such as an airline, hotel, or cruise line, goes bankrupt, your insurance may cover it. Read our insurance and insolvency tips to learn more.
Compare features to find the policy that’s right for you.
To express your opinion or ask a question, visit the CHOICE Community Forum.
Stay informed. Get product reviews, money-saving tips, and more.