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Wales Online
Wales Online
Entertainment
Laura Clements

People are fighting to get their money back after Vueling cancelled their holidays

Customers have been fighting to get their money back from an airline which cancelled their holidays after the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Some holidaymakers have waited for more than a year before Spanish airline Vueling finally agreed to refund their cash.

Jamie Horton, from Carmarthen, was left £200 out of pocket after booking flights while Paul Rowlands, from Cardiff, was owed £500 for a holiday he booked in 2019.

Jamie told BBC's X-Ray show she had spent 14 months "going round in circles" after Vueling pulled her flight citing the coronavirus outbreak. She claimed she has been left on the end of the phone for hours to the customer support team and even posted on Facebook in a desperate attempt to get her money back.

Jamie Horton said she'd been 'going round in circles' to get her money back (BBC/X-Ray)

She said she had run out of places to turn and contacting X-Ray was her last resort.

Paul and his friends Dave and Gino booked a trip to Spain but Vueling cancelled the flight and issued them a credit voucher instead. But when they went to redeem their voucher in 2021, they found it was invalid.

"We therefore contacted Vueling on various occasions by email to try and get either our money back or a further credit they wouldn't bend in any way and we were at a loss about what to do," they told X-Ray.

Vueling flies from Cardiff Airport to holiday hotspots like Malaga, Majorca and Alicante. But many customers, who booked and paid for a holiday in 2020, have been left waiting months to receive a refund.

After the BBC got in touch with Vueling, the airline said it would sort out a refund for Jamie and issue new vouchers for Paul and his friends.

It's been a torrid time for international travel as the coronavirus pandemic grounded flights and barred trips to certain countries.

In May an 81-year-old man was unable to board his Vueling flight at Cardiff Airport after arriving for a Spanish holiday. Garry Tate was prevented from flying because of Spanish travel rules.

While on Monday, stressed tourists landed in Cardiff after rushing back from Portugal to avoid quarantine rules after the country was put on the UK's Amber travel list.

Vueling was asked to comment.

Are you waiting for a refund from your cancelled holiday? Contact reporter Laura Clements on 07876 371421 or email laura.clements@walesonline.co.uk

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