The traveler will thus benefit, at no additional cost, from the possibility of being reimbursed and / or of exchanging his holiday plan in a flexible manner, in addition to having the guarantee of being repatriated in the event of an emergency. in the destination country. According to a recent survey of 9,000 TUI customers, it appears that Belgians above all want to be sure that their booking is flexible if the Covid-19 should not yet be 100% under control from the Easter holidays 2021.

The tour operator has therefore added three “guarantees” to its package holidays at no additional cost. It thus provides a reimbursement guarantee: if the travel advice becomes negative for a destination, the trip is fully reimbursed. “The customer receives by default a voucher. But, if he wishes to recover the amount paid, he can request a refund by bank transfer via the TUI website”, adds Piet Demeyere, spokesperson for the tour operator.

Added to this is a flexible exchange guarantee, allowing the customer to modify their trip twice, free of charge, up to seven days before departure, without any particular reason. He can modify the date of departure, the destination or the participants of the trip.

Finally, TUI guarantees repatriation for all travel participants should an emergency arise at their destination. A guarantee provided by the sector and which people are not always aware of, according to Piet Demeyere, spokesperson for the tour operator.

However, in a reaction, Test Achats qualifies these various guarantees. The law provides for a reimbursement obligation on the part of the tour operator if exceptional circumstances arise on site. The change to red of a zone or a country is one of them. “But what if the area where a customer is reserving is currently red and the rest on the date the trip is to take place?” Asks Julie Frère, spokesperson for the consumer organization.

“If a currently red area remains at the time of scheduled departure, we will cancel the trip, no later than three weeks before the date of departure, and the customer will of course be refunded,” TUI responds, acknowledging that almost all summer destinations are currently dressed in this color but hoping that vaccines will be able, by the summer, to reverse this trend somewhat.

The repatriation guarantee is, for its part, an obligation provided for by law for package travel, further points out the representative of Test Achats.

On the other hand, it welcomes the guarantee of flexibility, which “brings real added value”.