Britain’s biggest travel firm appears to have made the process of obtaining a refund more difficult for the hundreds of thousands of customers whose trips have been cancelled.

Under the Package Travel Regulations, Tui  is required to provide a full cash refund within two weeks of cancelling a departure.

Like almost all holiday firms, it is unable to meet the 14-day deadline, and many customers have expressed anger on social media about the delays.

A spokesperson for Tui said: “Every customer who has requested a cash refund will receive them shortly. We apologise for the delay but we are getting through them.”

But now the company has decided to make the procedure for obtaining a refund more complex.

The travel giant has cancelled all holidays before 15 May 2020, and the disappointed travellers are told: “If your holiday can no longer go ahead as planned, you’ll receive a refund credit for the full value of your holiday”.

Holidaymakers are still able ask for a refund – but only once they have been given a refund credit note, which they may not get until four weeks after their departure date.

A spokesperson for Tui said: “They have to wait for a refund credit to be issued to make sure that is removed from their booking, before we offer a cash refund to make sure they don’t receive both.

“We’ve worked for weeks on best solution for our customers – and will work through bookings as quickly as we can.”

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