how do i pay for my holiday?

jayne18

i have booked a holiday for my family of 7 and have payed by debit card the first deposit. I do not have any credit cards but am thinking about getting one to pay for the remainder of what i owe. i understand that you are covered if the company goes bust or anything goes wrong in the holiday (financially) with a credit card but not with a bank debit card. Please can anyone advise me?

dzug

The credit provider (ie the card company) is equally liable with the tour operator for the satisfactory delivery if your holiday.

TomsMom

Don't forget that there's usually a charge of about 2% when paying by credit card. If the holiday company is a member of ABTA or ATOL you'd be covered if they went bust.

conradmum

It's generally a good idea to get travel insurance too, not just rely on the travel company or credit card company to cover you if something goes wrong. There may well be circumstances that neither of the other two cover you for.

laudan

So if you just pay £100 off you holiday with your CC will you still be covered?

LittleVoice

jayne18 wrote: »

i understand that you are covered if the company goes bust or anything goes wrong in the holiday (financially) with a credit card but not with a bank debit card. Please can anyone advise me?

I believe Visa (but not Maestro) debit cards also cover for default by a supplier.

TomsMom

laudan wrote: »

So if you just pay £100 off you holiday with your CC will you still be covered?

I would have thought that the credit card company would only cover you for the amount you had spent on your card not the whole amount

MarkyMarkD

No, they are responsible for the whole transaction as long as you pay at least £100.

Sam_Bee

TomsMom wrote: »

Don't forget that there's usually a charge of about 2% when paying by credit card. If the holiday company is a member of ABTA or ATOL you'd be covered if they went bust.

That's wrong. ABTA offers no financial protection at all.

Ensure they have an ATOL, and you are covered. If they are and whether you should then choose to pay an additional 2% to pay by credit card is a matter of debate, but all you are doing is getting double protection. I wouldn't.

seftonsun

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

No, they are responsible for the whole transaction as long as you pay at least £100.

Spot on. As long as the transaction is for a total of more than £100 and you pay at least £100 on your Credit Card the Consumer Credit Act provides that the Credit Card issuer is jointly liable with the service provider to deliver the goods/service. There is an upper limit on the total value of the transaction covered - I think that it's £30k, but not 100%.

So, if you bought a £3,500 holiday say and paid £101 on your credit card and the balance of £3,399 how you liked (cash, cheque, debit card, etc) then the Credit Card issuer is liable for the whole £3,500 if things go pear shaped. It's worth paying the extra £2 if there is a CC surcharge of 2% to get that extra peace of mind. After all £2 on £3,500 in my eaxample is peanuts (0.057%). And even on a £1,000 is only 0.2%.

So suggest you pay £101 of balance on a CC and the rest how you like. Good luck and enjoy.