Bought flights with Flybe? Watch out for refund scams

If you bought flights with Flybe, beware any unexpected calls or messages promising refunds. 

Scammers are quick to spring into action, persuading disappointed customers to hand over bank or card details by promising refunds.

Never give out your personal details, bank details, card number or PIN over the phone or by email. 

The only way to get a refund for cancelled Flybe flights is through your travel agent, your travel insurer or via your payment card provider. 

ATOL protects package holidays

If you booked a ‘package holiday’ through an ATOL-protected travel company, the company is responsible for arranging alternative flights or giving you a refund. You simply need to contact the company you booked with. 

ATOL – Air Travel Organiser’s Licence – is a financial protection scheme which protects most package holidays sold by travel businesses based in the UK. The ATOL scheme only covers packages so if you bought only flights, your purchase isn’t covered by ATOL.

There’s more information about ATOL protection on the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) website. 

Claim on your travel insurance

If your flights weren’t protected by ATOL you might be covered if you have travel insurance.

Even if you haven’t bought a travel insurance policy, you might have travel cover, for example if your personal bank account includes travel insurance. 

The policy wording will set out if you’re covered when you’ve paid for travel tickets and the operator goes out of business. To claim for a refund, get in touch with your insurer. 

We can help you get a refund

If you paid for flights with Flybe and the purchase isn’t ATOL-protected and if you don’t have other travel insurance, we can dispute the transaction for you.

We’ll ask you for full information such as the date of your purchase, how much you paid and a screenshot of your booking confirmation. 

It can take several weeks before we find out if our request for a refund is successful, and we can’t guarantee we’ll be able to get any money back.

If you’d like us to try to claim your money back or to ask us if you might be eligible, just message us in the Tide app.