Beachcomber Tours has completely scrapped the requirement for clients to pay deposits to secure their holiday bookings as part of the operator’s flexible COVID-19 land and air cancellation policy.
Sales director of the operator, Joanne Visagie, says that it has introduced flexible terms and conditions, which do not require a deposit to be paid to secure a booking, in order to encourage clients to commit to bookings without the concern of having to pay across funds during such an uncertain time.
The Beachcomber COVID-19 land and air cancellation policy outlines that the land portion of any new booking made is 100% refundable (excluding any fee a travel agent may charge for their time and service). Beachcomber Tours does not charge any cancellation penalty on land arrangements and does not require a deposit to secure land arrangements. As airlines have different rules, and are in some cases offering to amend dates rather than to refund bookings, Beachcomber is currently recommending that only land arrangements be booked for the time being, as the company is finding that clients do not want to commit to paying across money if there is uncertainty relating to whether it will be refunded.
“Everyone needs the money right now but we have chosen not to ask for deposits and to be as flexible as possible to try and make everyone happy. If clients choose to change their dates or borders close they don’t have to worry about the possibility of losing money,” said Joanne.
Beachcomber does intend to reinstate their deposit requirement for bookings in the future, though.
“Once the borders reopen we will again start asking for deposits. Payment deadlines will come into play again as the airlines will become stricter with ticketing time limits again,” she added.