How safe is your money?

The world of air travel has changed unrecognisably over the last few years. Budget airlines, the internet, climate change and fuel prices have all played a part. One immediate effect of this is that there are no fixed fares – every fare is the best deal you can find on the day. Passenger numbers have not increased by much but fares have gone up as airlines have reduced the numbers of flights. Taxes and charges (which include fuel supplements, airport charges, UK taxes and destination taxes) have all increased so that they are often more than the basic fare. The ease with which tickets can be bought on the internet, and the deals available, mean that getting flight tickets through a travel agent is becoming uncommon.

At Footloose we now usually only sell flights as part of our packages. All these changes mean that there is much confusion amongst the public about whether their holidays are protected if their travel company fails. The whole area of holiday protection is very complicated, with different bodies covering different types of holidays. To add to the confusion, the Civil Aviation Authority (the main regulatory body) has introduced a new type of cover – Flight Plus, which “is designed to offer the consumer greater financial protection, as well as improve clarity on which elements of their booking are protected”.

Whether the public will understand this is a moot point, but the CAA is committed to a big educational programme to get the changes across to the consumer. The single biggest improvement is that travel companies will have to issue a certificate to their customers to show clearly how the protection works for each booking.

Improvement it may be, but there is still confusion. In their wisdom the CAA will not cover people who just buy a flight, so if the airline goes bust you lose your money. There is also no cover under this scheme for those who buy their own flight and then buy the tour or hotel from another company, which is a very common way of doing it these days.

Footloose covers all this with a combination of a trust account and insurance, so our clients are totally protected. If you are booking this sort of holiday remember to ask some very specific questions about this!