What do Atol, ABTA and WRP mean? The logos you must know about before you book a holiday

Booking a holiday but confused by official-looking badges? Start here

From Atol protected to Abtot, IATA to Abta, holiday company and airline websites are plastered with an alphabet soup of logos and badges. Some tell you that your rights and money are protected by the holiday company or travel agent. Others tell you the company has won an award or some sort of recognition for good service. And some of them are completely useless. 

In fact, only a handful of these logos actually matter. Here’s what you need to know before you book.

Read more: What is a package holiday?

1. What does 'Atol protected' mean, and do I need this protection?

The best-protected holiday is one that comes with an Atol certificate. This government-backed, legal safeguard ensures you get all your money back if your travel provider goes bust, and covers any package holiday that includes a flight. If the holiday company fails before your trip, Atol guarantees a full refund. 

If you’re already away, the scheme will help you to continue your holiday at no extra cost or, in the worst case scenario, arrange for your repatriation. 

Holiday companies collapsing is more common than you might expect. Most remember Thomas Cook’s dramatic failure in 2019, when it went bust and left 150,000 British holidaymakers stranded abroad. But five firms went bust last year alone.

Look for the circular Atol logo on your travel company’s app or website or in their shop window – legally, they must display it. It will always include the company’s unique four or five digit Atol number; you can look this up on the Atol website.

The travel company must provide you with an Atol certificate when you pay anything towards your trip. Bring a copy of it when you travel – it explains everything you’re covered for, who’s covered and other important information you might need

Verdict: Essential

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2. What does WRP mean?

You’ll see our WRP (Which? Recommended Provider) badge on travel websites – from car hire firms to tour operators. These are companies rated better than their competitors by customers in our surveys, which we’ve statistically analysed and exhaustively scored. Our survey panels are independent and can’t be influenced by companies.

We make additional checks, too. A hotel chain with poor cleanliness ratings can’t be a WRP, for example. All WRPs are monitored to ensure they continue to meet our high standards, so you can trust that a WRP stands for quality.

Verdict: Useful

3. What does Abta mean? Do I need it?

Formerly the Association of British Travel Agents, Abta is a trade association that represents travel agents and tour operators. Many of those holiday companies display the Abta badge on their website. 

While Abta has a code of conduct for members and has previously ejected those that breach the code, an Abta badge isn’t an indication of better quality. Our holiday company survey, based on nearly 20,000 holidays, regularly rates Abta members at both the top and towards the bottom of the table. Abta offers an arbitration scheme to resolve disputes between customers and Abta members, although this isn’t cheap – the fee to apply is £150 for claims up to £25,000.

Many Abta members offer financial protection for non-flight package holidays, such as cruises and coach holidays, through Abta. But all holiday companies in the UK, whether Abta members or not, must have financial protections in place if they sell package holidays to ensure customers can be repatriated or refunded. 

In fact, Trailfinders, a Which? Recommended Provider, ringfences customer money until holidays are complete, which is the gold standard in protection. It’s not an Abta member.

Verdict: Useful

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4. What do Aito and Abtot mean?

You might see Aito or Abtot instead of Abta on some smaller holiday company websites. Both offer a financial protection scheme for package holidays without flights to ensure travellers aren’t left out of pocket if their holiday company fails. Members are otherwise covered by Atol.

If the company you’ve booked a holiday with is a member and fails before your trip, you’ll get your money back. If the company fails while you’re abroad, you’ll be repatriated. Aito members must also sign up to a code of conduct. In general, Aito members are rated highly in our holiday company survey.

Verdict: Useful

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5. What does IATA mean?

Many airlines stick the IATA logo on their website, but it doesn’t really mean a great deal for UK consumers when you’re flying from the UK or somewhere in Europe.

While this voluntary membership group for airlines does require all members to conduct an IOSA international safety audit, but that’s redundant given that UK and EU laws already ban unsafe airlines from flying here. 

However, if you are flying on airlines outside of the UK and Europe, perhaps you’re taking an onward flight on a regional or domestic airline it is worth looking for an IATA logo. That will mean it has been assessed by a safety auditor and passed. 

But IATA won't be able to help if you need to settle a dispute – for that, look at the Civil Aviation Authority’s advice on how to complain

Verdict: Useful, sometimes

6. What does BTA mean?

You see these gold, silver and bronze award logos almost everywhere, which is part of the problem. The British Travel Awards (BTAs) are a popularity contest, awarded on the basis of public votes alone. 

While companies are divided into categories by size for awards, the biggest company in each category has a better chance of winning simply because it has more customers. Companies are encouraged to directly lobby customers and incentivise them to vote through a prize draw. It’s even suggested that companies get staff to vote from their home address, so it’s not a very fair election. 

Being big (or good at lobbying) doesn’t mean being good. We approached the BTAs for comment, but it didn’t respond.

Verdict: Pointless

Your guide to holiday logos