Busy programme this afternoon, with the CAA saying they expect 'most' people’s cash to be returned to XL Airways passengers by Christmas, more than three months after the collapse. So far only 2,000 claims have been paid out. David Moesli of the CAA, which administers the ATOL scheme, said the scale of the collapse, coupled with the need to prevent financial claims, means it is bound to be slow.
We also learned that the biggest island on the Caribbean is so dangerous that one large travel insurer is refusing to cover holidaymakers. The company is Direct Travel, the island is Cuba, and one man who is outraged about it is policyholder Alasdair Gibson. He told us that he had been misinformed that the reason was Foreign Office advice. He said he suspected the real reason was the US trade embargo on Cuba. Direct Travel has been taken over by AIG, who declined to take part in the Travel Clinic. But they did give me this statement:
"We made a corporate underwriting decision earlier this year that the risks arising from the continued provision of cover under our travel policies in respect of destinations such as Afghanistan, Cuba, Liberia and Sudan were unacceptably high at the present time."
Which fascinated me: Cuba more dangerous than, for example, Jamaica, Colombia, Indonesia and South Africa. But all the data I can see, from sources such as the UN, World Bank and World Health Organisation, suggest that Cuba is actually a very benign place compared with others in the region. I called the Foreign Office to alert them to the fact Direct Travel knew something they didn't - and was told in no uncertain terms that "Large numbers of British travellers go to Cuba every year. It's certainly not a dangerous destination."
Other destinations this week: Kam wanted to go to the Maldives; I hope that we persuaded her to consider East Africa, and in particular our destination of the week, Tanzania. Gerald from Dulwich said he’d been told that Visa Electron cards are no longer issued, but plenty of people got in touch to say 'Yes they are'. And we tried to find out about the effect on travellers of the Gambian president’s decision to outlaw homosexuality in his country. I’ll try to find out more by next week, when I will be talking to you from Brazil.