Firm bookings, fast refunds: easyJet and On The Beach aim to reassure jittery travellers with holiday pledges
Forget the best infinity pool or alluring sea view: travel firms are now competing for the summer holidaymakers’ pound with pledges of the least likely cancellation – or the fastest refund,Airlines and travel companies have been vying to announce fresh commitments to reassure jittery consumers who are booking flights ever later since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran,The hostilities have been driving up oil prices, with jet fuel costs rising even more sharply,More worrying for many thinking of a summer trip, as the standoff and blockades around the strait of Hormuz continue, is the prospect of scarcity leading to flights being axed,Some European airlines such as Lufthansa have already cancelled thousands of flights owing to rising fuel costs, while Virgin Atlantic has introduced a fuel surcharge on long-haul flights.
EasyJet and its holiday business launched a “book with confidence” promise on Friday, ruling out any additional fuel charges, with the airline affirming that it “intends to run” its full summer schedule, carrying more than 50 million passengers.Meanwhile, the travel firm On The Beach committed to same-day refund processing for cancelled flights.The firm said it was the first package holiday provider to pledge to give customers holiday money back in full immediately, or to offer an alternative flight, should disruption strike this summer.Most large holiday firms, including Tui and Jet2, have – quietly or not – now ruled out additional charges.Jet2 underlined the point last week by saying it had “removed the provision” in its booking conditions allowing for fuel surcharges and added a “no surcharges” strapline to its ads.
The airline and travel industry has been clear it does not anticipate disruption anywhere near the level of the Covid pandemic or its aftermath, but many consumers will have recent memories of struggles to obtain refunds swiftly or at all.Caspar Nelson, of On the Beach, said its immediate refund pledge meant customers could “get back to looking forward to their summer instead of worrying about it”.Many, however, clearly still are concerned.EasyJet said the travel industry was seeing later bookings amid heightened uncertainty.Kenton Jarvis, the airline’s chief executive, said: “We understand that global events may affect travellers’ confidence at the moment, but we believe that everyone has a right to book their flights and holidays with confidence.
”Garry Wilson, the boss of easyJet’s holidays arm, said its operations remained unaffected and customers could be confident their holiday would go ahead as planned,Julia Lo Bue-Said, the chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, welcomed the “bold, positive messages” from travel firms to help convert “strong browsing into bookings”,She said: “The feedback from our travel agents is that consumers are desperate to go away, but the headlines don’t help; the appetite is there but the noise does create some uncertainty,”Mark Tanzer, the chief executive of the travel association Abta, said news of soaring jet fuel prices and potential scarcity would have left people wondering about their upcoming holidays,He said: “We’re keen to assure people that travel is still going ahead, and holidaymakers are getting away on their trips.
”Holidaymakers who have booked packages are usually best protected while abroad, while airlines are also obliged to offer full refunds or provide alternative travel.The UK government and airline industry have said they do not currently have any shortage of jet fuel, with imports from the US largely supplementing supplies from the Gulf.However, they have made contingency plans for cancellations, and the International Energy Agency has warned that Europe will face shortages of jet fuel within weeks.While uncertainty about airline cancellations persists, travel firms have indicated that fears over visiting the eastern Mediterranean appear to have subsided, with renewed bookings to Turkey, Cyprus and Egypt.Holidaymakers are also anxious about the impact of the EU’s entry-exit system, which should now be requiring visitors to register biometric information at the border, and has already meant some travellers missing flights.
Greece has said it will not enforce the checks on British visitors, to minimise the potential for summer chaos.Wizz Air’s boss, József Váradi, earlier this week maintained that despite uncertainty, and the potential for some airlines to go bust if fuel prices stayed high, July and August bookings remained strong.“People are sticking to their summer plans and they say no matter what, ‘I’m going to go’,” he said.
Zack Polanski apologises for sharing tweet criticising police at Golders Green stabbings
Zack Polanski has apologised for sharing a social media post critical of police following the Golders Green stabbings after the head of the Metropolitan police said the Green leader risked undermining public confidence in his officers.Polanski, who leads the Greens in England and Wales, said he was sorry for having shared someone else’s post “in haste”.Keir Starmer, speaking to the BBC before the apology, described Polanski’s actions as “disgraceful” and unfair on police faced with making split-second decisions.Police were filmed detaining the suspect after two Jewish people were stabbed in the north-west London suburb on Wednesday. Footage of the arrest shared on social media shows two officers appearing to kick the man on or near his head
Zack Polanski apologises for sharing criticism of police response to Golders Green attack – UK politics live
Zack Polanski, leader of the Green party, has apologised for sharing a social media post about the police officers who arrested the suspect in the Golders Green attack.‘Everyone in leadership has a responsibility for lowering the temperature at a time of such tension, and I apologise for sharing a tweet in haste,” Polanski said in a statement.He continued: “Police responses to emergency situations such as these do need later reflection in the right forums, but I accept that social media is not the appropriate channel for doing so.“I have invited Mark Rowley to meet with me to discuss the police response and the wider issues raised in his letter.”Polanski had reshared a post on X that alleged that the officers who arrested the Golders Green attack suspect “were repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by Taser
End of Trump tariffs on whisky sparks row between Scottish parties over claiming credit
Donald Trump’s announcement that he will lift punishing US tariffs on scotch whisky has been overshadowed by a row between rival Scottish party leaders over claiming credit for the decision.The whisky industry and business leaders were delighted by the US president’s announcement on his Truth Social network on Thursday that he would end the tariffs to mark the visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla.“The King and Queen got me to do something nobody else was able to do, without hardly even asking!” Trump said.The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) estimates the 10% tariff imposed by Trump last year has cost producers about £150m in lost sales and led to hundreds of job losses. Shares in Diageo, the drinks multinational that produces Johnnie Walker, rose sharply on the news
Watchdog weighs investigation into Farage’s undisclosed £5m gift
The UK elections watchdog is considering whether to investigate an undisclosed £5m gift received by Nigel Farage before he announced his candidacy at the last general election.The Guardian revealed this week that the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne gave the Reform UK leader the money.In a written response to the Conservative party, the Electoral Commission said it was “aware of this matter and are considering it under our regulatory remit. We will consider all the available relevant information and recommend what, if any, next steps the commission will take.”Farage had previously stated he did not intend to stand as an MP but reversed his position in June 2024, within weeks of receiving the personal gift from the Thailand-based businessman
Where does Starmer’s leadership stand – and who are his potential challengers?
As the May elections creep closer, the leadership speculation at Westminster grows more intense. Is Keir Starmer safe and, if so, for how long?When will Angela Rayner’s tax affairs be resolved, and will she return to the cabinet? Who has Andy Burnham done a deal with to get back to Westminster, and would MPs support him if he did? Why has Wes Streeting gone so quiet?To the frustration of many – not least the prime minister himself – discussions about who is up and who is down have long been a staple of Westminster life. But as the security of Starmer’s position has ebbed and flowed in recent months, it has intensified. So where do Starmer – and his putative rivals for No 10 – stand?Despite feverish leadership speculation, and Starmer’s rock-bottom public approval ratings, the most likely scenario remains that he stumbles on. The quiet, loyal majority of the parliamentary Labour party may feel deeply despondent about their predicament, but many feel that ousting him remains the nuclear option
Starmer restores powers to ousted hereditary peers in Lords shake-up
Dozens of hereditary peers whose seats have been abolished have had their lawmaking powers restored as Keir Starmer seeks to accelerate changes to the House of Lords.It is understood that 15 Conservative hereditary peers, two Labour and nine crossbenchers have been handed life peerages, enabling their return to the red benches.The apparent concession was made in a bid to end a long battle over Starmer’s plans to remove the right of the last remaining hereditary peers to sit in the Lords, a commitment made in Labour’s 2024 manifesto.A government source described the parliamentary session that has just ended as “tortuous” given that every stage of the bill to abolish hereditary peers has resulted in considerable disruption in the Lords, as well as demands in private meetings for compensation for removed peers.The peers have already been subject to a due diligence process run by the House of Lords appointment commission, which includes a check by HM Revenue and Customs
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Firm bookings, fast refunds: easyJet and On The Beach aim to reassure jittery travellers with holiday pledges
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