EARLY_SEASON FRESHTRACKS TRIPS HANG IN THE COVID-19 BALANCE
The Ski Club is facing the possibility of having to cancel Freshtracks holidays booked for December and January due to high levels of Covid-19 in key destinations
As Europe faces increasing levels of Covid-19 infection, the Ski Club Council and Freshtracks team elected in early October to cancel Ski Club Holidays to potentially unsafe regions 10 weeks before departure. Angus Maciver explains: “Freshtracks requests final payment for trips from Members ten weeks before the day of departure. Where we are not confident that a destination will be open to foreign tourism in ten weeks’ time, we will be obliged to cancel scheduled holidays there. We understand that the cancellation of any Freshtracks trip will disappoint our Members, yet we do so with their best interests at heart. We would not wish to take a significant financial commitment from our Members without feeling entirely confident that their holiday will go ahead.”
Angus goes on to say: “We will approach this situation flexibly – if rules change or infection rates are consistently stable and below the Government’s risk level, we will aim to run ski trips where we can. Furthermore, the Ski Club Council will review the Freshtracks ten-week payment policy in December, when we hope to have more clarity on what the winter will bring.”
“Members with Ski Club holidays in the pipeline can still enjoy peace of mind”
Despite the likelihood of early-season cancellations, Members with Ski Club holidays in the pipeline can still enjoy peace of mind thanks to the clear and simple Freshtracks refund policy: if a Freshtracks holiday is cancelled by the Ski Club because of Covid-19 (i.e. if the FCDO has issued a travel advisory against the country you’re due to travel to or that country instigates a national or local lockdown), you will be fully refunded. Alternatively, if a trip is cancelled and you would prefer to take a similar holiday to a different resort unaffected by Covid-19, Freshtracks will waive the standard amendment fee and arrange this for you at no extra cost.
Several Members have already been contacted by the Freshtracks team with the news that their early-season ski holidays have been cancelled. As Emma McQueen, Freshtracks’ Senior Sales and Product Executive, explains: “Members have been understanding of the cancellations. They realise that we wish more than anything that they could go skiing, but that we’re in uncharted territory and have to react to the ever-changing current situation.”
“We invite Members who have booked early-season trips to call us and discuss what options we can offer beyond simply refunding the cost of their cancelled trip.
“For example, of the 27 guests booked on to the Val Thorens Piste Progression trip scheduled for December 2020, 11 have already transferred their bookings to the same trip in April. We can work with Members to transfer to the same trip later in the season or put their deposit towards a different trip this winter.”