Virgin, Love Holidays and Ryanair are some of the worst travel firms for offering holiday refunds during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey for MoneySavingExpert.com.

Brits were essentially banned from travelling abroad for over 100 days, meaning many people had to cancel their holiday plans.

During this time, millions of people have been owed refunds for holidays they couldn’t go on - but the MoneySavingExpery survey suggests that not every travel firm has treated their customers the same.

Results of the survey

The survey ran between 30 June and 6 July and received 77,101 responses. The aim was to find out how people felt about their ‘refund experience’ and whether they actually got one.

Three big names did particularly poorly. Ryanair scored the worst of the major brands with a net score of -89%. It was joined by Virgin (-88%) and Love Holidays (-81%).

Unsurprisingly these three firms were also among the worst in refunding with just 4% of Ryanair, Virgin Holidays and Love Holidays customers saying they had received a refund to date.

A majority of Virgin Atlantic and Ryanair customers said they had been waiting more than two months for a refund since first asking.

Alpharooms was rated the overall worst for customer experience and refunds, with a net score of -99%. Not one of customers surveyed said they received a refund.

However, not every travel firm has performed badly during the pandemic.

A total of 87% of Jet2 and Jet2 Holidays customers who had bookings cancelled said they received a refund.

Trailfinders and Airbnb customers were also likely to get a refund, with 85% and 83% respectively saying they had been refunded.

‘It is time for regulators and politicians to take action’

Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, has been outspoken about the refund issue throughout the pandemic.

He said that the “refund farce” and has left people in distress and “some have seen their mental health impacted” by it.

He added: "It is time for regulators and politicians to take action.

“Even now, after months, less than a third of people in our mammoth survey have received the full (usually) legally required refunds, and it simply isn’t good enough.

“We will be passing a dossier on this to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Civil Aviation Authority and Department for Transport.”

"Of course, we understand the impact of the pandemic on the travel industry sector is devastating. It’s why I’ve long called for forbearance both ways – if people can help by taking vouchers or rebooking then they should.

"Yet how individual firms have treated their customers during this time will long be remembered. And the fact so many firms are flouting the law and treating customers poorly means those that have bent over backwards in a difficult time need applause.”

Travel firms ranked from best to worst in the survey

1. Travel Counsellors

2. Trailfinders

3. Jet2 Holidays

4. Jet2

5. Airbnb

6. Hays Travel

7. British Airways Holidays

8. Haven

9. Center Parcs

10. Saga

11. Disney Holidays

12. Co-Operative Travel

13. EasyJet Holidays

14. Norwegian Air 309

15. HomeAway

16. British Airways

17. American Airlines

18. Eurocamp

19. First Choice

20. Booking.com

21. Hotels.com

22. Riviera

23. Ebookers

24. Travelbag

25. Qatar Airways

26. Travel Republic

27. Villa Plus

28. Tui

29. Cottages.com

30. P&O Ferries

31. Eurostar

32. Expedia

33. P&O Cruises

34. Brittany Ferries

35. Princess

36. Onthebeach

37. Wizz Air

38. Netflights

39. Hoseasons

40. EasyJet

41. Emirates

42. Vueling

43. Etihad

44. Turkish Airlines

45. Holiday Extras

46. Shearings

47. Aer Lingus

48. Air France

49. Loganair

50. Iglu

51. Travel Trolley

52. Secret Escapes

53. Lastminute.com

54. Sykes Cottages

55. Lufthansa

56. STA Travel

57. KLM

58. Love Holidays

59. Budget Air

60. Barrhead Travel

61. Fleetway

62. Virgin Atlantic

63. Virgin Holidays

64. Air Transat

65. Ryanair

66. TravelUp

67. Opodo

68. Teletext Holidays

68. Teletext Holidays

69. Jetline

70. Alpharooms