Dear guests,
We hope you are in good health in these extraordinary and challenging times.
We are informing you today, as you are one of our guests who unfortunately could not travel to their well-deserved holidays due to the Corona crisis. We are sure that you have been looking forward to this time out and are now rightly wondering what will happen to your holiday plans and the payments already made.
We have summarized this to you below and would like to apologize in advance for not being able to contact you earlier. We are very grateful for your patience! In fact, under the circumstances it was not possible for us to contact you earlier: Due to Corona and the unprecedented, worldwide consequences for the travel world, we too are confronted with challenges that nobody could have foreseen. Over the past few weeks, we have brought around 65,000 FTI GROUP guests home from their holiday destinations at short notice, unscheduled and despite ever fewer flight connections. Since this historic return flight was successfully completed at the beginning of April, we are now devoting our full attention to our guests whose departure date was or is between 16 March and 30 April 2020 and whose holidays had to be cancelled by us.
On April 2, 2020, the German Federal Government passed a resolution for cases like yours, which provides for a mandatory issue of travel vouchers for all cancelled trips. The government subsequently asked the EU for approval for this regulation. Unfortunately, despite the urgent situation, the approval from Brussels is still pending.
As a partner at your side, we cannot and do not want to keep you waiting any longer. We are convinced that you need planning security and have therefore decided, following the proposals of the German government, to make you an offer now:
AT HOME TODAY - TRAVELLING AGAIN TOMORROW WITH THE FTI GROUP
Your advantages at a glance:
- You receive a "holiday credit" over the value of the payment you have already made (down payment and/or balance payment). This holiday credit can be used for all FTI GROUP operators (until 31 December 2021)
- In addition you will receive - regardless of the amount of your holiday credit - a FTI GROUP cash voucher in the amount of 200 Euro
In detail, this means that the FTI GROUP will now send a cancellation confirmation by mail within the next 14 days to all guests whose trips with arrival between 16 March 2020 and 30 April 2020 had to be cancelled by us due to the corona crisis. Enclosed you will also receive your FTI GROUP holiday credit in the amount of the payment already made, plus an additional FTI GROUP cash voucher of 200 euros. If we have your e-mail address, you will receive the cancellation confirmation directly and your holiday credit and the FTI GROUP cash voucher within 14 days.
Your holiday credit can be used for all FTI GROUP tour operators (FTI Touristik, BigXtra, 5vorFlug, FTI Cruises, LAL Sprachreisen). It can be redeemed at the booking office of the original travel booking (e.g. travel agency or online portal). The FTI GROUP cash voucher for 200 euros can be used once when redeeming the FTI holiday credit as a flight package in selected destinations for numerous services on site, such as excursions. Get to know your holiday destination even better, depending on what you like to do - thanks to the voucher as a free extra on top, so to speak!
The German government is also considering a so-called hardship clause - but we do not know any details about this as of today. Should this regulation demand that for specific target groups only payments be made for cancelled trips, or should you wish to be reimbursed, we will of course comply with this.
Additional information including detailed FAQs can be found here. Until then, we ask all our guests to refrain from asking questions about this topic in our service centers.
The Corona virus has catapulted us all into an exceptional situation. However, we hope that with these lines we have been able to explain to you how important you are to us as our guest and that we are working hard to be there for you.
Stay healthy and we look forward to welcoming you as our guest again soon!
With best regards
Your FTI GROUP Management
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