Travel agent going bust on flight-only only booking?

dzug1

jpsartre wrote: »

Get travel insurance, that's the sort of situations it's for.

It's far from normal for travel insurance to cover this risk. The only one I can quickly find is a 'gold' one though there must be more.

simonschus

Thanks Tamiami - ah yes, that news story is what instigated my interest in writing this post in this instance, though the issue I'm raising is slightly wider then any specific travel agent (if I lose the flight then so be it). It is more that I couldn't find any guidance anywhere which raises a more general issue. Instead, the guidance tends to focus entirely on either

- airline insolvency (doubtful with the airlines I mentioned)
- travel agency going insolvent with ATOL-protected package holidays (again, not relevant to my issue as I purchased flights only).

There seems to be little guidance - or at least none that I am finding - which discusses what happens when an individual has purchased flight tickets only from a travel agency, receives the tickets (and where the ticket has been confirmed as being 'ticketed' by the airline)... which then a few months down the line, but still prior to the flight, goes insolvent.

Thank you to everybody who has added their thoughts in so far - hopefully I'm not ruining your evening

Simon.

tamiami

Did you get ATOL certificates with your flight bookings, if so then you will be covered. Airfasttickets do claim to be atol protected.


Whether the flights were paid for by the travel agent is hard to know, they may have an account with the supplier, or they may have to pay on purchase. The only way to know is by calling them or the airline I would think.

simonschus

Hi tamiami,

My flight wouldn't be protected unto the ATOL scheme as they were flight only (I'm under the impression that ATOL only covers flight plus entertainment, hotel, car hire, etc). So although those travel agents are ATOL protected, it is irrelevant to my bookings.

More generally, to everybody:

I have telephoned the airlines and they said that they have received the money (in their words they confirmed this because "otherwise it would not have been ticketed"). They also said that the only way that it would be cancelled is if somebody cancelled the ticket - the airline used the term 'physically cancelled the ticket' which made me wryly smile somewhat and I'm not sure why. Regardless, assuming that the tickets are paid for as the airline states... I think the only remaining problematic issue would be if one of the travel agents cancelled the ticket prior to or in the event of becoming insolvent. In that instance, I would consider the travel agent to be in breach of contract.

Obviously, I could be completely wrong hence why I wanted to espouse my understanding for others to pick me up if I am incorrect.

Simon

Alan_Bowen

What a choice of agents to use. You can get 'flight only' protected by an ATOL Certificate, some agents cover everything under their ATOL but agents who hold IATA accreditation can issue tickets straight away do not need to protect under the ATOL scheme if they issue the ticket immediately.

On the basis that the agent hasn't protected the sale under their ATOL licence then so long as a valid ticket has been issued the airline will carry you even if the agent stops trading. However one trick which is coming out of the woodwork in respect of one of the agents you mentioned is the fact that they seem in recent months to have been issuing valid e tickets and emailing them out and then almost immediately cancelling them, so they don't have to pay for them. Customers may find out if they are checking their booking on line, it seems the agent has not been pro actively telling some customers that the booking has been cancelled and they then promise a refund, which never comes.

In this case you have no valid ticket at all, if the agent disappears you may have a claim under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act against your card issuer but that is it. The chances of finding a flight at the same price weeks or maybe only days later will be slim, particularly if you bought during a 'sale' one of the named agents offered £50 off tickets costing £120 or more, a sure sign of complete desperation to get money in as the profit on a ticket only sale is miniscule.

alanrowell

1) Ring the airline
2) If you have lost the flight rebook and make a claim on your CC (you did use a CC) for the lost booking
3) If not then there's nothing to worry about