atol/abta protected

[babalicious]

we have booked a holiday through first choice to disneyland paris next march and got travel insurance with them as well. The flights however we have not got yet! we went on easyjet website and got a price that we were happy with but when i went back to first choice they wanted over �100 more for booking the exact same flights. so i said i'll book myself over the internet with easyjet, she said just make sure they are atol protected?? they are not atol protected! what does this mean and should i not book over the internet or wil i be ok. please advise!!

[Buenchico]

The Air Tour Operator's Licensing (ATOL) scheme requires tour operators and travel organisers to participate in a compensation scheme so that customers will get their money back if the company goes bust. The scheme is administered by the Civil Aviation Authority, which will also arrange for any customers, stranded abroad by the collapse of an ATOL company, to get back to the UK.

Flights purchased directly with airlines are never covered by the ATOL scheme, since they're excluded from participating in it. (The only exception is where an airline actually runs its own tour operator's business, selling charter flights on its own aircraft).

So booking your flights directly with an airline always carries a slightly greater (theoretical) risk than buying through an ATOL operator. However while there are a few airlines which are probably struggling to survive, easyJet certainly isn't one of them. Like its big rival, Ryanair, easyJet is one of the world's most financially secure airlines. So you can safely ignore the advice of First Choice, and go for the cheaper option.

http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1080&p agetype=90

Chris

[babalicious]

thank you chris that all makes sense!
so the next question is should i wait and book the flights closer to the time (we go next march) or should i book em now?

[Buenchico]

Er, how long is a piece of string? ;-)

I'm not really familiar with easyJet's pricing methods but, if they're anything like Ryanair's, it might be best to register for their emails which tell you when special offers are available. Unless you're travelling to a particularly popular destination, where there is little or no competition on the route, fares are unlikely to rise much (if at all) until much later in the year. (That, of course, assumes that they're not already on special offer). During the interim period there might well be some new offers made available.

Chris

PS: On Sunday evening I was trying to decide whether to book a trip to Germany next month, with Ryanair, for a fiver each way . I'd had a good day in Germany on Saturday, so I thought I might go back. I eventually decided against it even though I knew that the offer would expire at midnight. I'm glad I did because there's now a better offer on, at �1 each way, so I think I might go after all ;-)

[MissMitzi]

BTW, my best piece of advice is never by travel insurance through the company you book with! You can get comprehensive and MUCH cheaper travel insurance through internet companies, such as 24DrTravel. Mine was �60 for a family of 4 for an entire year, worldwide (including the US!)

[coccinelle]

You might find that your credit card you're paying with already covers you for insurance. I never take out extra insurance as my Gold Mastercard covers me for everything even cancellation.

[Seb97]

Some Travel Insurance policies do have Financial Failure Insurance which includes non-bonded Airlines going bust.

Alternatively there are specialist Financial Failure Insurance for all travel end suppliers (hotel, car hire, theme parks etc). There are a few but I used www.protectmyholiday.com which was quick, cheap and had A rated Insurers backing it.

Hope useful
Seb