Consumers can claim reimbursement of unused vouchers from travel agencies that refer to trips not taken by September 30, 2020, due to the pandemic, with companies having 14 days to return the money.
According to the diploma that establishes these measures, published in Diário da República, and cited by Turismo de Portugal, “the cancellation, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, of trips organized by travel and tourism agencies whose date of completion should having occurred between March 13, 2020 and September 30, 2020" generated "the issuance of vouchers to be used by travelers until December 31, 2021" and "the right of travelers to see trips rescheduled for a later date, until December 31.12.2021, XNUMX .XNUMX”.
“If not used by December 31, 2021, the guest is entitled to a refund, to be made within 14 days”, the text of the decree-law reads.
In addition, if the scheduled rescheduling “is not carried out by December 31, 2021, due to lack of agreement between the tourist resort or the local accommodation establishment and the guest, the guest has the right to be refunded the amount paid at the time of the cancellation of the reservation, to be made within 14 days" and "if the rescheduling is made for a date when the applicable rate is below the value of the initial reservation, the difference must be used in other services of the tourist development or local accommodation establishment , not being returned to the guest if he does not use it”, the text of the diploma reads.
These provisions apply “to reservations for accommodation services in tourist developments and local accommodation establishments located in Portugal, with or without additional services, made through travel and tourism agencies” that are not refundable at the outset.
Turismo de Portugal, in turn, indicates that “travellers/consumers covered by the provisions of art. 3 of Decree-Law No. 17/2020, of April 23, interested in obtaining the satisfaction of credits resulting from non-realization, by 31.12.2021, of trips that should have taken place by 31.12.2021 or from non-refund of the vouchers they hold may require” the intervention of an arbitration commission “for possible activation of the Travel and Tourism Guarantee Fund (FGVT)”.
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