COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions

From 18 March, the Australia government implemented international and domestic travel restrictions.

Domestic travel restrcitions are changing rapidly. For the latest information, please see Tourism Australia's interactive state border map: https://www.australia.com/en/travel-alerts/australian-travel-status-map.html

We will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide updates.

From 18 March, the Australia government implemented international and domestic travel restrictions.

Domestic travel restrcitions are changing rapidly. For the latest information, please see Tourism Australia's interactive state border map: https://www.australia.com/en/travel-alerts/australian-travel-status-map.html .

We will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide updates.

We know that coronavirus (COVID-19) is causing uncertainty and the situation is changing daily. We're monitoring things closely and are in contact with health authorities and government agencies to ensure we are following all the latest advice.

We would never send our customers on holidays unless it was safe to do so. We want to reassure our community; PLAY is in a good position to weather this storm. Last year, we launched PLAY as a trial with Afterpay and thanks to your support it has been a resounding success. With investment from AP Ventures, we are in a strong position to keep moving forward, with plans to expand our destinations and to improve our website.

The partnership with AP Ventures is an important step in supporting the Australian travel industry as it weathers the impact of COVID-19 - providing long-term opportunities for our travel partners and consumers to book and pay for travel over a 12-month period.

When you are ready to travel, or for those looking to book future travel, we are here to help you and at the same time we're committed to supporting the recovery of the tourism industry.

For new bookings, we have implemented a 30 day ‘change of mind’ policy and have some more information here.

All travellers departing before 31 August 2020 have been contacted. We are now in the process of contacting travellers departing up to 30 September 2020 and beyond where airline, hotel or tour operators have released COVID-19 change policies.

For customers departing from 1 September 2020 onwards, we appreciate your patience. Our team are monitoring airline policy changes on a daily basis and will continue to advise you when new information becomes available.

If you are departing from 1 September 2020 and have enquiries in regards to your booking, please feel free to email our team at [email protected]

The following airlines have released updated COVID-19 policies for departures as follows:

• Virgin Australia travellers, as Virgin Australia is in voluntary administration policies vary depending on departure date, booking date and credit date
• Garuda Airlines travellers for departures up to 30 September 2020
• Fiji Airways travellers for departures up to 31 July 2020
• Singapore Airlines travellers for departures up to 30 September 2020
• Qantas Airways, due to rapidly changing domestic border closures, please refer to us for details specific to your booking
• Qantas Airways International travellers for departures up to 24 October 2020
• Jetstar travellers due to rapidly changing domestic border closures, please refer to us for details specific to your booking
• Thai Airways travellers for departures up to 26 October 2020
• Hawaiian Airlines travellers for departures up to 30 September 2020
• Emirates travellers for departures up to 31 December 2020

Update on Virgin Australia Group: Click here

For those holding bookings in credit, we will be in contact when it’s appropriate to start thinking of new dates. Travel bans are easing and we expect to see inter-state travel to return soon.

Many airlines, tour companies and hotels do, in normal circumstances, take up to 12 weeks to process refunds. Please refer to refer to the Australian Travel Agents Association for industry standards: https://www.atas.com.au/covid19-update

Significant delays in processing refunds are being experienced for those whose refunds include funds from an airline or cruise line as they struggle to process the volumes of refunds.

Airline and cruise lines refunds are taking a minimum 14-16 weeks to refund us at this stage however this timeline may increase as more cancellations are received.

Please be assured we are working as hard as possible to process your refund and as soon as the refund is submitted to us, we will process the refund.

For customers departing from 1 September 2020 onwards, we appreciate your patience. Our team are monitoring airline policy changes on a daily basis and will continue to advise you when new information becomes available.

Most airlines have not released policy changes for departures beyond 31 August 2020, therefore, changes or cancellations are subject to regular cancellation fees.

If you are booked with an airline, hotel or a supplier who has more flexible policies beyond 31 August 2020, our Customer Care team would have been in contact already.

For cruise departures up to 29 October 2020, a full refund or future cruise credit is available. Our team has been in contact with all cruise travellers departing up to 29 October 2020.

For cruises departing between 30 October to 30 November 2020, you can now cancel your booking up to 48 hours in advance and receive a Future Cruise Credit.

Standard cancellation fees will apply for all departures from 1 December 2020 onwards until new announcements made by the cruise line.

Royal Caribbean is offering the option to cancel your cruise up to 48 hours prior to departure in order to receive a Future Cruise Credit. Cash refunds are not being offered.

If you have any questions regarding the above information please don’t hesitate to contact us via email on [email protected]

Each supplier has a different change and cancellation policy. Therefore each booking will need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Please contact us via email and we will do our best to accommodate your request where possible.

We are doing everything in our power to work with suppliers to provide date changes and travel credit where possible. Many airlines and hotels are providing greater-than-usual flexibility around date changes for travel up to 30 September 2020.

If you wish to cancel your booking for departures 1 October 2020 onwards, we recommend visiting your Account/Login page to view cancellation conditions (each trip has different cancellation conditions depending on the time prior to departure and supplier conditions.)

For hotel, tour and flight packages with departures up to 30 September 2020, in most cases we are able to place the entire booking into credit to be used for a late date. We are encouraging customers to consider rescheduling your travel dates to help avoid cancellation fees and charges.

For hotel, tour and flights packages with departures beyond 1 October 2020 we ask for your patience whilst we wait for the suppliers to extend their policies.

To provide peace of mind, if you want to proceed with a new international or local holiday booking, we have introduced a 30-day “change of mind” guarantee to all new forward bookings made from 10 March 2020.

The Australian Federation of Travel Agents has released some important information for consumers: AFTA Refunds Facts

We understand things are changing on a daily basis at the moment. To provide peace of mind, if you want to proceed with an international or local holiday new booking, we have introduced a 30-day “change of mind” guarantee to all new forward bookings made from 10 March 2020.

Australian Federation of Travel Agents Updates

Australian Federation of Travel Agents Refunds Facts

A Message from our CEO

Coronavirus Guide