Since the tour operator FTI went bankrupt at the beginning of June, hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers have been waiting for compensation. They should now receive the money by autumn. But this does not apply to everyone affected.
Following the bankruptcy of the tour operator FTI, affected package holidaymakers are to receive their compensation in the coming months. “The majority of the refunds should have been made by autumn,” said a spokeswoman for the German Travel Insurance Fund, which insures package holidays. “The refund process is in preparation and will start soon.” The spokeswoman did not give an exact date for the start of the payments.
After evaluating the booking and travel data of the insolvent company, a total of 250,000 package holidays were cancelled, it was said. In addition, there were 60,000 package holidaymakers who were already on holiday with FTI when the company went bankrupt. Payments that those affected had to make on site in order to continue trips that had already begun could now also be reimbursed. When asked, the fund did not provide any information on the total amount of compensation due.
After the FTI bankruptcy, the travel security fund commissioned other tour operators such as Tui and DER Touristik to look after stranded FTI holidaymakers so that they could continue their vacation. The majority of travelers were thus able to complete their trip as planned, it was said. The fund transferred the costs incurred directly to the respective tour operator.
Only package tours insured
FTI, previously the third largest German tour operator after Tui and DER Touristik, filed for bankruptcy at the beginning of June and shortly afterwards canceled all trips that had already been booked. Payments already made for package tours are insured against the tour operator’s insolvency through the German Travel Insurance Fund. The protection does not apply to individually booked travel components such as pure hotel bookings. There is also no reimbursement from the fund for individually booked flights or rental cars.
The fund, organized by the German tourism industry and supervised by the Federal Ministry of Justice, was founded after the insolvency of the travel group Thomas Cook in September 2019. In the event of a travel provider going bankrupt, it is intended to take care of the reimbursement of customers’ advance payments, if necessary the return transport of stranded holidaymakers and their accommodation until their return transport.
Source: Stern
