Financial protection for customer’s holidays is a minefield. Not only has the travel industry fudged the issue for years, most people find the subject as dull as dishwater. It’s a recipe for trouble.
Financial protection for travel – or bonding as it is known – sounds boring. But it’s not boring to anyone who’s stranded abroad or who stands to lose a holiday they’ve paid for.
If you book a scheduled airfare, you are usually not covered by a bond. This means you lose your money if the airline ceases to trade. Not only are scheduled flights not covered by bonding, neither are holiday purchases such as car rental and accommodation - unless you buy them as part of a package.
The travel industry has previously tried – and failed - to force the government to bring in a £1 levy to cover every flight whether scheduled or charter.
We were one of the few travel companies to oppose the scheme, because it still failed to cover the customer for every kind of failure. A £1 levy won’t protect you should your accommodation provider or your car hire company stop trading. And why should you pay extra to guarantee you get the holiday you have already paid for?
At Travel Counsellors we have sufficient financial reserves to have been able to set up a Trust. The Trust means that if any company stops trading – hotel, airline, car hire etc - we can refund your money. We do not charge our customers for this financial protection.
Many travel companies either won’t or can’t do the same thing, because they need the cash flow to run their business.
I am proud that our financial protection is better than the provision the government currently demands we offer now and in the future. But don’t worry, that won’t stop me arguing for a better deal for all consumers – even if you all do think bonding is a boring subject.
Some of the content of the magazine refers to flights or prices from the UK. At Travel Counsellors Ireland we can source flights from Ireland and provide full quotes in Euros. Please call me for latest availability and prices.
