Call for ‘all-encompassing’ consumer protection
Sunday, 07 Sep, 2009
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The founder of Travel Counsellors has called for ‘all-ecncompassing’ protection for travellers against company failures.
David Speakman, chairman of the home working agency group, made the call in the wake of the collapse of budget airline SkyEurope (see previous TravelMole stories).
“The succession of airline failures highlights the need for the travel industry to take the next logical step on the issue of financial protection for customers and that is to bring in protection for anything the customer may want to book, with no strings attached,” he said.
“SkyEurope’s collapse follows a series of other failures within the industry such as Freedom Direct, XL Leisure Group and Zoom Airlines at the end of last year, which saw thousands of passengers lose their money due to lack of financial protection.”
He added that while the Civil Aviation Authority’s ATOL scheme “provides excellent protection” but was limited to only covering ATOL-protected holidays.
“There are many customers who think that what they have booked is covered, only to discover that certain elements are not financially protected or who have belatedly discovered that because they have not paid by credit card they are unable to claim money back,” said Speakman.
“ATOL is not all-encompassing as it only covers charter flights, air package holidays and scheduled flights booked through a consolidator.
“Many customers require tailor made travel arrangements which may not be covered by ATOL protection.
“I believe that customers should receive all-encompassing travel protection for any arrangements they want to make, not just ATOL protection for package holidays. ABTA also no longer guarantees financial protection.”
Travel Counsellors offers customer protection through its own trust fund covering all bookings irrespective of when they were made, departure date or value.
Speakman added: “Having designed something four years ago to ensure our customers receive flawless financial protection we encourage other travel companies to put their customers first and do the same.
“The industry also needs to bring clarification to the customer, as so many seem unclear as to whether or not they are covered when they book their holidays.”
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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