Author: Peter

Update from Jet2 on 25th June 2021

Jet2 confirming on WhatsApp the update will take place on 15th July

EMAIL TO PANORAMIC VILLAS

Every time I email Panoramic Villas, I usually get a reply within 24 hours. I didn’t get a reply this time, so I emailed them again next day. I still didn’t get a reply so I called and only got an answer machine message saying they are only taking communications by email. I emailed them again and the only way I know they received my email is by requesting a read receipt

So I still do not know the official status of our booking, i.e. whether they have cancelled it or not as the balance due date has passed – most important thing is, i’m not going to cancel it and i’m holding out for them to do it. But they can’t say that I haven’t informed them.

We really are being left in limbo but I suppose thousands of other people are in the same boat.

Next review from Jet2 is on 15th July – we’ll know for certain after this review if we’re getting our money back or whether we have to change our flights to another time.

What happens with the villa deposit money, I don’t know – but if Jet2 cancel the flights then I think we have a stronger case of getting our villa deposit back but we’ll need to wait and see.

See you on the 15th ….

Waiting for the email to come from Jet2 – supposedly there’s going to be some kind of announcement today.

However, I don’t think this is going to bring the closure we want it to because as far as I am aware, any announcement regarding green lists or whatever is only going to cover the next 3 weeks whereas we are due to fly in 4 weeks.

Jet 2 said yesterday: If the government update is tomorrow then the next one should be 3 weeks later so around 15th July it would be expected. The review tomorrow will apply to flights travelling in the next 21 days and then there would be another update.  So the status of your country could go green tomorrow and then be changed to red at the next update so it is just not possible for us to say what will be happening for definite. 

Problem is, we have a balance of £2761.25 to pay for the villa in 5 days.

I think it would be absolutely crazy to pay this money out if we still don’t know if we’re able to fly regardless of what the announcement is today because as Jet2 said, it could change again in 3 weeks.

But what do we do about the villa?

I certainly don’t want to hand over another penny if we don’t know if the holiday is going ahead. But that means we could lose the villa and our deposit. But I think we have a greater chance of getting our deposit back if we allow Panoramic Villas to cancel the booking rather than if we do it.

If we tell them that we can’t make a decision until 15^th July (or thereabouts) then the onus is on them (or the owners) to either wait or cancel our booking. If they cancel it, I’d be looking to go down the credit card and / or section 75 route to get it back.

I don’t think the villa owners have a multitude of people waiting to take our place so they might have no option but to wait and see themselves.

But we can’t ignore the scenario that Panoramic villas could cancel our villa in 5 days and Jet2 announce we’re all good to go in 3 weeks …..

With regards to the flights, I think we need to wait until 15^th July to see where we stand and we have three options:

a) get a full refund

b) change flights to another date

c) go on holiday

We can’t make a decision on the flights today but we need to decide on what we’re going to do on the villa in the next day or two.

From: petermccluskey@gmail.com <petermccluskey@gmail.com>
Sent: 04 June 2021 20:55
To: Panoramic Villas <andy@panoramicvillas.com>
Subject: RE: Enquiry – #174400: SP002

HI Andy,

We were hoping to have some clarification one way or the other by now, we were told we’d get some news by the beginning of June.

However the latest update from Jet2 (today) is that they’re waiting for the next review in three weeks’ time which is the exact day our balance is due.

If they drag this on any longer, I’m sure you’ll understand this well outwith our control but hopefully by 25^th we’ll all know where we stand.

Speak soon,

Peter.

__________________________________________

Scottish Govt have updated their website today.

Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance on travel and transport – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Main thing for me is this that they are suggesting a test would need to be taken after arrival – as long as that remains the case and as long as Spain moves to green, then this could very well be on.

See below emails sent back and forth to Panoramic Villas. Main thing to take into account is that the balance due date has been put back to June 25th

From: petermccluskey@gmail.com <petermccluskey@gmail.com>
Sent: 16 May 2021 11:29
To: Panoramic Villas <andy@panoramicvillas.com>
Subject: RE: Enquiry – #174400: SP002

Good morning Andy,

Regarding the last point in your email: “You may wish to assess the travel situation closer to your balance due date on the 29^th of May 2021” :

To be honest, it’s looking very likely that we’ll need to wait longer in order to make a decision (that’s if we have a decision to make because it still might be taken out of our hands) because the airline have advised the next update will be on 1^st June and every three weeks thereafter – click here  

Therefore given the fact that it’s highly likely Spain will still be in amber at the end of the month, can we kindly ask if we can extend the balance date till the end of June? Whilst UK guidelines say travel will return on 17^th May, there might be stricter rules in Scotland so at this moment in time there is no guarantee our flights will go ahead.

We will not be in a position to make any decision about our holiday until we have certain guarantees and at this moment in time, we don’t have them and I don’t think we’ll have them by the end of the month either.

Regards,

Peter McCluskey

________________________________________________________

From: Panoramic Villas andy@panoramicvillas.com
Sent: 17 May 2021 13:18
To: petermccluskey@gmail.com
Subject: RE: Enquiry – #174400: SP002

Hello Peter,

Thank you for your message. I am pleased to say that I have spoken with the villa owner and they have kindly agreed to delay your balance due date to the 25th of June 2021.

This will then only be just over a week (he should’ve said month, not week) before your travel date so the owners can’t really do any more than that. I hope this helps. Please let me know if you wish to move to this date.

Kind regards,
Andy Lea

andy@panoramicvillas.com | 0044 (0)161 2077 007

www.panoramicvillas.com

________________________________________________________

From: petermccluskey@gmail.com petermccluskey@gmail.com
Sent: 17 May 2021 16:03
To: ‘Panoramic Villas’ andy@panoramicvillas.com
Subject: RE: Enquiry – #174400: SP002

Hi Andy,

Thanks for getting back to me and please thank the owners for their assistance in this.

Two things need to happen before we can travel:

1) Spain needs to go to green
2) We need assurance that we will be able to get on the plane to come back home

Scottish Govt guidelines suggest we will need to take a Covid test when we get back home, Jet2 are suggesting we need to take a test in Spain (and prove negative) before being allowed to get back home.

In the latter scenario, we have no idea where we would go, how much it would cost to stay and when we would get back home and how it would affect our jobs. Unless we get assurances on all of these issues, it’s actually more stressful to go on holiday than to cancel it – I’m sure you can appreciate that.

With regards to the traffic light status, this is being reviewed every three weeks therefore we might be required to wait until three weeks before travelling to know where we stand. I appreciate the owners might feel that we’re trying to move the goalposts again but we’re not, we’re just reacting to the environment that we find ourselves in, you have no idea the amount of stress this is causing us right now but we can’t pay for something that we don’t know we’re going to get. If the owners feel that three weeks is too close to call, then we’ll just have to make a decision on 25th June based on the information we have at that time I know we have to draw a line on this at some point.

Has there been any interest in this villa from others? If there was then I think many in the group would consider allowing someone else to rent the villa so that the owners aren’t out of pocket and neither are we. This is something we as a group need to explore as an option. If you do have any enquiries about this villa, please let me know asap.

Thanks,

Peter McCluskey

________________________________________________________

From: Panoramic Villas andy@panoramicvillas.com
Sent: 17 May 2021 16:49
To: petermccluskey@gmail.com
Subject: RE: Enquiry – #174400: SP002

Hello Peter,

Thank you for your message. I have passed this and your thanks on to the villa owner.

I have now extended your balance due date to the 25th of June 2021. This will hopefully give everyone enough notice of the travel position at that time.

If I can be of any further assistance please let me know.

Kind regards,
Andy Lea

andy@panoramicvillas.com | 0044 (0)161 2077 007

www.panoramicvillas.com

Whilst there’s still nothing certain and things could still change – here’s what we can take from their reply today.

The first paragraph tells us that they expect to be travelling to amber listed countries as well as green listed countries. It also tells us that if we choose to sell our flights privately, then there won’t be any admin fee if 1) we sell the flights within 21 days of departure and 2) Spain remains in amber

The second paragraph tells us that they expect us to take a test before returning home and this is confirmed in other sources – see below

Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing before you travel to England – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Pre-departure testing for travellers to England – YouTube

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) – in this link it confirms the UK Border Force is stating they continue to urge airlines to carry out all necessary checks or risk facing fines of £2,000 for each passenger they carry who does not have a valid pre-departure test certificate, and £2,000 for each passenger who does not have a completed PLF.

This could all change tomorrow – but the info above is where we stand today.

See my email below and their reply further below. Doesn’t seem like we’ll get any of our deposit back but there’s no point in arguing with them just now until we know what the official situation is but i’m not paying another penny towards the villa until we are guaranteed flights will be on and we’re allowed to travel.