Holiday protection Protect yourself

There are a number of steps you can take to minimise the risk if your holiday is ruined.

Will I be okay if I see an ABTA logo on a website or in a travel agent’s window?

ABTA has never provided financial protection for air holidays as this has always been the role of ATOL. They did, however, cover agents. But the ABTA logo is no longer a cast-iron guarantee that you’ll be refunded if your agent goes bust. Worse still, there is confusion among travel agents about what constitutes a package.

Guidance and help is available from ABTA and the CAA website, is also useful. We recommend you always discuss financial protection with your tour op or travel agent to make sure you ask how much of your holiday is ATOL protected (if your holiday involves a flight) or covered by some other scheme. Most travel agents can offer insurance that will protect your money.

So who guarantees protection?

Contact the company and confirm the ATOL covers the whole booking

Contact the company and confirm the ATOL covers the whole booking. 

An important question to ask is ‘how much of my holiday is ATOL protected’?

Air packages sold by any company displaying an ATOL or Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) logo should be fully financially protected. However, still be cautious. An agent can sell non-ATOL flights as well as fully ATOL-protected packages.

Other schemes

There are a few other approved bonding schemes outside of ATOL:

Association of Independent Tour Operators

The Association of Independent Tour Operators (AiTO) is the trade association representing independent and specialist tour operators. As mentioned above, it runs its own bonding scheme for holidays sold by its members. 

Holidays with or without flights and accommodation-only bookings can be bonded by AiTO.

The Association of Independent Tour Operators can be contacted at 020 8744 9280.

Travel Trust Association

Members of the Travel Trust Association tend to be smaller tour operators. its members include travel agents, tour operators and travel organisers. 

Deposits for holiday bookings are paid into trust accounts and looked after by trustees. All money paid for holidays is insured and protected.

The Travel Trust Association can be contacted on 01483 545787.

The Passenger Shipping Association

The Passenger Shipping Association represents cruise holiday operators and ferry providers. One of its main aims is to promote travel by sea to the UK public.

Cruise holidays out of the UK or not booked with a flight may be bonded by the Passenger Shipping Association.

The Passenger Shipping Association can be contacted on 020 7436 2449.

Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust

The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust (ABTOT) is a recognised organisation that bonds holidays out of the UK. ABTOT specialises in protecting the money of passengers booking with small or start-up travel companies.

The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust can be contacted on 0845 4504 618.

If you are in any doubt about whether your holiday is protected by one of these schemes, ask before booking.

I prefer to arrange my own holidays online – is this safe?

The CAA reckons that almost half of DIY holidaymakers think financial protection is essential; yet one in five wrongly believe their holiday will be protected if their airline, hotel, car hire firm or holiday company goes bust. There are plenty of companies offering bonded services online, even those that let you build your own tailor-made trip – look for the logos above, then for peace of mind, contact the company and confirm that your money would be protected for the whole booking.

Am I covered for flights booked directly with an airline?

12,000 EUJet passengers were stranded abroad when the Irish-owned no-frills airline went bust in July 2005

Scheduled flights booked directly with an airline – including no-frills airlines – are not protected by ATOL. Also remember that you’re unlikely to be protected if you book hotels and car hire on what appears to be the airlines’ websites. You may actually have been given a link to another company’s website, so you are paying for these parts separately and so won't be covered.

Should I pay by credit card?

If you buy your holiday with a credit card, the card issuer is jointly liable for breaches of contract or ‘misrepresentations’ by the holiday company – particularly useful if the company goes out of business. How much you put on your card doesn’t matter; you are covered as long as the package costs more than £100, but less than £30,000. The same rules apply to all components you put on your card. Be warned though, American Express cards do not have the same protection.

Does my travel insurance cover holiday company and airline failure?

You’ll need a policy that covers specifically against insolvency. One in three DIY holidaymakers think their travel insurance will cover them if their bookings are affected by companies going bust. Nowadays more policies do include scheduled airline failure insurance (SAFI) as a standard term in a travel insurance contract, but coverage is not universal. If your policy does not include SAFI, you could purchase it separately from a company such as Protect My Holiday.