What if the travel company goes out of business?
Your level of protection depends on whether you've booked a package holiday or made your own arrangements.
Package holiday: Tour operators selling package holidays by air must hold an Air Travel Organiser's Licence (ATOL) from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). It means that if you are abroad on a package holiday and any part of your holiday goes wrong - airline fails, hotel burns down, coach breaks down, then it is the tour operators responsibility to take care of you at no extra expense. If an airline fails before you travel, your tour operator must offer a replacement holiday.
Independently booked: If you have booked all the elements of your holiday yourself - for example booked flights directly with the airline, you will not be covered by ATOL. Simon recommends:
- Booking flights through an agent that offers ATOL protection, for example Flight Centre. They may also cover your hotel as well, but check with them before you book.
- Pay by credit card (for sums over £100) because if something goes wrong you will be covered by your credit card company.
- Buy alternative travel insurance and make sure you should get a policy which is protected by SAFI - 'Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance' (SAFI). This means you will be refunded if the airline goes bust.
Strikes: There have been a lot of strike action threatened this summer, here are some to look out for but Simon recommends always checking with your tour operator before you go if you're worried.
Italy - There will be a 24-hour nation-wide airport strike on Saturday 18 July involving general ground staff of all airlines as well as Alitalia air stewards. Passengers should expect long delays and cancellations. The airport strike is to be followed by a national train strike, currently scheduled from 21.00 on 21 July until 21.00 on 22 July. Cancelled trains will be listed on the Ferrovie dello Stato website (www.trenitalia.it) nearer the day.
Or visit www.commissionegaranziasciopero.it/lista_sciopnaz.jsp for more on the Comissioner of Strikes in Italy.
British Airways - On Wednesday British Airways called in mediators after failing to reach an agreement with unions over job losses and pay cuts. So it will be a "Watch This Space" to see whether the unions take damaging strike action this summer.
What are your rights if there is a strike?
- When a flight is cancelled, an airline is contractually obliged to provide alternative transport of a refund, but they are not obliged to compensate for any of the knock on effects. So if you no longer have a flight they won't compensate for your hotel rooms.
- If a flight is severely delayed, airlines may provide refreshments or pay the hotel bill for an overnight stay, but there is no guarantee of this and they are unlikely to pay compensation as well.
