Originally Posted by
Vokes55
Which is why you’re on a spotters website and not in airline or tour operator management. Cancelling ski holidays 3-5 months in advance, and letting all that money leave the business in the form of refunds, and worse still, go to the competition is commercial suicide. Keeping that money in the business for another 2-4 months could be the difference between survival and not in these times.
I know more than a little about cash flow, I also know more than a little about customer service. Fact is though that you can't use cash you're more than likely to have to return to punters unless you're pretty certain there will be more coming in, which presently in this industry you simply can't. As for customer service, being up front with customers will buy you loyalty; holding on to cash then procrastinating over returning it to disappointed customers will lose you good will faster than you can say "Jack Robinson". It is, I appreciate, a difficult balancing act.
Personally I'm not giving any money in the form of deposits, or credit card numbers to any travel related business presently, be they a foreign holiday operator, a UK hotel or for that matter the pub restaurant down the road for the dreaded "Christmas Fayre". I have absolutely no confidence my booking would go ahead, and little confidence my money would be returned in full in a timely manner. That's not to tar Jet2 with any brush, I don't book IT holidays, and won't fly for as long as masks are required in airport and on board aircraft.