Protection against travel companies going bust?

Hi, we are going on honeymoon in August 2010, value will be approx €6k. As we are booking everything through our travel agent as a package:

(1) what are the risks,
(2) what happens if the travel company goes bust and
(3) how do we protect ourselves (insurance or other means) as we would stand to loose hugely.
(4) we have asked for one specific hotel which is not covered by a tour operator. The agent is seeking prices direct from them. Does this leave us any more exposed than if all our accommodation was contracted by the tour operator?

I was only going to pay the minimum up front and only make payments as and when required i.e. no advance payments. One can never be sure these days with so many going belly up.

Ask advice from, or have a read through their site www.consumerconnect.ie

Would payments made through credit card help?

You might also get advice from www.itaa.ie

Going through a travel agent is more expensive than just booking things yourself. This is normally a bad thing but it has its upsides as well. One of these is that travel agents are bonded. That is, if a travel agent goes belly-up, the state will jump in and cover the loss. You should ask your travel agent about the details of what is covered. If I remember right, booking e.g. just flights through a travel agent would not give you bond protection.

I would not be surprised if oldnick replied to this thread soon. He is a travel agent and has pointed out the advantages of travel agent bonding many times before.

Gosh, that was almost a sympathetic view of agents from undo !
Another advantage of dealing with (good) travel agents is trying to help clients who are stuck at airports in ireland trying to get out -and those stuck abroad trying to get home- that is, getting hotels, speaking to airlines about missed connections and trying to get the next one, arranging funds etc -and listening to angry clients who think the snow is our fault...

Sorry -bad day doing all this at no profit instead of actually selling holidays...

..Yes, if travel agency is licensed you are covered if he goes broke - but only if you have nbought transport ex-Ireland from it. That is, if you book just a hotel and do your own flight then, if agent goes bust, that's your bad luck.

Also, if you book a whole package out of,say, U.K. (but make your own way to UK) and agent goes bust then that's also your bad luck.

As long as the travel starts in island of Ireland then anything part of the paid travel -hotels etc - is covered. You get your money back -eventually-can take months but it comes back

oldnick said:

Gosh, that was almost a sympathetic view of agents from undo !

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I always try to be fair. Going through a travel agent solves the OP's main concern - no reason for me to discourage it.

You get your money back -eventually-can take months but it comes back

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Unless they pull a Slattery's / Club Travel again... let's hope that remains a one-time screw-up by the Aviation Regulator.

oldnick said:

..Yes, if travel agency is licensed you are covered if he goes broke - but only if you have nbought transport ex-Ireland from it. That is, if you book just a hotel and do your own flight then, if agent goes bust, that's your bad luck.

Click to expand...

Hi
Are travel agents obliged to show proof of their licencing and that their package travel services are bond protected? Can they provide this proof conveniently to a prospective Client? Also, maybe there is a registry body you can check to their verify their licencing is in date, valid etc.??

Maybe someone (oldnick?) could advise on another point; if you book your package holiday with a travel agent in the north of ireland (we have a southern address) are you still bond protected? Does it affect your rights in any way to a full refund of your money if the agent goes belly up?

Has anybody been able to get refunded any additional monies paid to Club Travel (over and above paid to Slattery's and covered by the bond) for the holiday they booked through Slattery's?

re dkiernan question....

I doubt it.
The bonding/licensing scheme covers you only for the amount you spent with the licensed agent for travel ex-Ireland -not for any extra amount that you spent procuring a subsitute holiday.
If a company goes bust and you subsequently book elsewhere to get a similar holiday then that's your own decision - as long as you get the original amount back from the Commision then you have no right to expect more.

The following is my personal opinion about the Slattery/Club affair.

In the case of the Slattery collapse affected clients were advised by the Commission for Aviation Regulation website that Club Travel were taking over the bookings and that clients had to apply to Club. Indeed, even the normal claims forms issued in such circumstances were not immediately made available to the public.

It was wrong-bizarre- of the Commsson to direct clients to Club Travel ,no matter how good a travel agency Club Travel is, because the Commission did not immediately offer clients a refund as is their statutory duty. They just told clients to deal with Club.

It was only after some days that the Commission amended thier advice and issued claims forms for clients to apply direct to the Commission -too late for many clients who paid extra sums to Club Travel in the mistaken belief that they had no option but to pay.
(This was not the fault of Club who were charging clients a going rate at the time for the holidays -but many clients could not afford the extra amount over and above what they paid Slattery, but felt either they pay a few hundred extra or lose a few grand on what were usually expensive long haul holidays)

Was this the case with you ? Were you given the impression that you had to deal with Club rather than just get a refund from the Commission? I'd love to know.
i confess I have a bee in my bonnet about this as I feel in the Slattery collapse the Commission sullied what is normally a good bonding/licensing scheme- and that many clients incurred exra costs that they did not know they could avoid.

That's exactly what happened, I was sent an e-mail from Commission stating 'all bookings have been transferred to Club Travel' at 10pm on the Wednesday that Slattery's ceased trading, we were due to fly out the following Monday and had no tickets etc.

The Slattery's website at the time also noted on their FAQ 'if I wish to cancel, I am subject to the original Slattery’s Travel cancellation fees’; i.e. 100% of the cost of the holiday is forfeited 7 days or less before departure.

After filling in the claim form to transfer the monies I paid to Slattery's, Club Travel informed me on the Friday (3 days before we were due to fly out on our honeymoon) that we had to pay €2k extra or we would not be issued our tickets.

It has left a bad taste and I have been hounding the Commission ever since, they just hide behind the bond, any additional monies not included etc. etc...

My solicitor has found two things that they thought may be of use, I would be interested in your opinion oldnick:

1. section 23 (a) of the Package Holidays and Travel Trade Act, 1995; Clause (f) of the Terms of Bond to be Secured by a Package Provider with an Insurance Company (as it appears in the First Schedule of Statutory Instrument 270/1995).

2. European Directive 90/314/EEC and in particular Articles 5.1 & 5.2 thereof.

We should all club together and fight the Commission, when you think how much of our hard earned money is going to pay for all those bankers / developers etc......

dkiernan - am off to Spain today and cant really advise for couple of weeks. Here is a summary of events and thoyughts -written in a hurry as I've a planE to catch !

At the time of Slattery collapse one of my employees who had booked a Slattery holiday for her honeymoon phoned Club as per Commission advice and was told, yes, she had to pay more -and (this is the bad part) if she ddid not pay more then she would lose her ticket but also some several hundreds of euros cancellation fee !
I immediately phoned the Commission and after a lot of being passed from one person to another I realised that most staff there were unhappy that the way the Slattery/Club business was being dealt with by their own Commission -and the next day issued a claims form which said clients could claim straight from the Commission rather than club. . But this was some days after the original advice to go to Club and many clients were unaware that they need not have booked with Club.

Now, I'm not blaming Club, a good travel company, - they were handed a mass of business by someone in the Commission. Crikey, i wish it had been me who had got that business. Fancy a government department that is supposed to be a neutral helper of clients actually pushing those clients towards a private travel agency whose staff would not have any idea,experience or skill in handling the claims of clients.

Why the Commission abrogated its role and let a private travel agency do it's work -and letting that agent make a great profit -and cause clients a great loss - is beyond me.

Seperate from the relevent laws you quoted there is ,in my opinion, a responsibility of the Commission to pay for the extra costs incurred because they gave the impression -nay, they definitely told clients that they had to deal with Club. Therefore I feel that any extra costs involved in dealing with Club must be borne by the Commision.
(I must repeat that Club Travel is a good company and did not cheat anyone . By the time the clients had to rebook with Club, prices had gone up from when the original booking had been made -and its up to Club to make a reasonable profit. My gripe is that clients felt they had no choice but to book with Club -due to wrong advice from the Commission).

Look - you're dealing with the civil service. They know that it was a bad decision to send affetced cliemnts to Club. I believe the present senior people there today were not there when this happneed - but nobody is going to admit to any wrongdoing of their colleagues.

If your lawyer wants to take ti further then I'm available to help !
tHE cOMMISSION ACTUALLY LICENSES ME -IT DOES NO GOOD FOR ME TO FIGHT THEM. bUT RIGHT IS RIGHT.

Thanks oldnick, enjoy your holidays.

I'll keep persuing the Commission, might even hassle the government (department of transport) and possibly go through small claims court, if it comes to that. I'll let you know if I'm successfull.

Do aviation reg.ie cover accomation.

If you book accomadation only through a tour operator (bonded) do aviation reg cover this in the event of the tour operator collapsing.

I since found the following information