Where is the best place to get Swiss currency?

Q We are hoping to travel to Switzerland on 4 December. But where do we get our currency from? We don’t want to do it at the airport.

Adam O

A I don’t think I’ve ever begun an answer to a travel question with the words, “Why do you ask?” – but allow me to do so now.

Why do you ask? Assuming you have a decent card with which to make purchases, I am struggling to think of any situation in which cash would be needed.

I should confess that the closest I have been to Switzerland this year is the rear of a tram whose front half was located in the city of Basel. In September I hopped off while still in the German border town of Weil-am-Rhein, while edging along the “Corona Curtain” – at the time Germany was off the no-go list but its neighbours were not.

Across Europe this summer, opportunistically taking quarantine-free journeys where I could, I have been lucky enough to visit France, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Poland and Greece. The only occasions when paying with plastic or a mobile device has sometimes not been an option were in Portugal and Greece: specifically buying tickets on trains and buses respectively. I don’t expect that to be a problem in Switzerland for you (where, as you may know, every passenger is expected to have sourced a ticket from a machine before boarding).

If you do not have a Halifax Clarity Mastercard or a Revolut account – which removes the standard foreign-exchange transaction charges – you should be able to source one in the next two weeks.

Having said that, it is always handy to have some cash – I prefer to tip in restaurants with coins (or, depending on the bill, notes), because I am more confident the staff will keep it. I suggest you simply head for a nearby Post Office on 3 December when English lockdown ends, and change £20 worth. You won’t get a great rate, but for what is effectively loose change it won’t matter.

Finally, if you are flying into Geneva airport, I hope the machine in the baggage hall is still there, dispensing free transport tickets into the city. Brits need all the financial help they can get when heading for Switzerland.

Q I booked a Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) cruise around the British Isles through an agent. It was due to depart on 8 May. The cruise was cancelled and, while I was waiting for a refund, CMV closed down. I have now been waiting more than six months for my money back. Can you help?

Beryl A

A Cruise & Maritime Voyages, based in Essex, was a long-established line which had a loyal following. It specialised in low-cost voyages from UK ports using older vessels – including the Astoria, built in 1948, the oldest ship in regular cruise service anywhere in the world.

Until the coronavirus pandemic, CMV was thriving, and planned to expand in 2021 by acquiring two ex-P&O Australia vessels. But the cruise business has been hit harder than any other part of the travel industry by the coronavirus pandemic. On 20 July 2020, shortly after the Foreign Office warned against all cruise-ship travel, CMV went into administration.

While you might reasonably expect the retailer who sold you the cancelled cruise to refund you, in fact your agent should have told you to claim from Abta, the travel association, through which cruise holidays beginning in the UK are protected. If you have not yet claimed, it is a reasonably straightforward matter which begins online at claims.abta.com.

It may be that you have already filed a claim but are still waiting for your cash. If so, you are not alone. I contacted Abta, which is dealing with “an exceptionally high number of claims and enquiries as a result of the 22 companies that have ceased trading” during the current crisis.

A spokesperson told me: “We have significantly increased our claims handling capacity to help us manage the volume but given that there are more than 25,000 claims registered for CMV alone, and that we’re receiving 500 new claims a week, it is taking longer than normal to process claims.”

Abta has processed only 42 per cent of the CMV claims so far. “We understand the delay in responding may be frustrating and we ask for patience while we work through the claims,” says Abta. “We would also encourage people to check they have provided all of the information required when they first submit the claim – that will help to avoid any unnecessary delays.”

The logjam over claims is likely to be used by proponents of the principle that holidaymakers’ cash should be ring-fenced and passed on to the operator only after the trip. Had this been the case, you would have got your money back very quickly. But it would require a complete restructuring of the travel industry.

Q In January, before anyone had heard about coronavirus, I booked a holiday in Tenerife for departure on 12 December – my birthday week. The flights are going ahead, and at present it looks as though we could go ahead with the trip. But the hotel has been closed, and we have been offered a different hotel that we don’t want. We can cancel the hotel and get a full refund, but the flights are still operating. What can we do?

Melanie B

A You are among the last of the millions of people who, in good faith, booked holidays in January 2020 unaware of the presence of Covid-19, or at least of the effect it would have on the world.

Tenerife, normally a fabulous place to be in December, will look and feel very different this year. The use of face coverings is mandatory in indoor and many outdoor public spaces. “Carry a face mask with you and be prepared to wear it throughout your stay,” says the Foreign Office travel advice. And while at present no quarantine is required of arrivals from the Canary Islands to the UK, the government has demonstrated that locations can be placed on the “no-go” list at very short notice.

Having said all that, I am afraid I see no possibility of a refund on your flights. I infer you have booked through one of the online travel agents that has taken the view, during the coronavirus pandemic, that if the holiday can go ahead (even if against Foreign Office advice) you are not entitled to all your money back. This has yet to be tested in law. But since there is no warning currently against travel to Spain’s Atlantic islands, it would not be relevant in your case: the company can change your hotel. And according to Abta, the travel association: “If the change is to accommodation within the same resort and of a similar standard as the accommodation originally booked, it won’t normally be regarded as a significant alteration.”

So I am afraid all I can advise is that you see what other hotels are available; if you can find something that appeals more, then go for it and cancel the company’s recommendation.

Finally, one more requirement you must bear in mind: a PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before arrival in Spain. If you happen to live in the Gatwick area, you can take advantage of the airport’s new testing facility – and a subsidised rate of £60, less than half the cost elsewhere.

Email your questions to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder