Does ATOL ever cover a 'hotel only' booking?

miamoo

Because I have seen posts saying people should of been aware that lowcostholidays were not ATOL and they should only book with ATOL members.

But I've been just having a look online at Travel republic etc and even though they are ATOL and it states in the 'is my booking safe' section, it says your booking is protected and that for hotel only bookings you can transfer the money to a new hotel or have a refund. (I am assuming this means if there is a failure in the supplier Travel republic use).

In the next section, what if Travel republic became insolvent, it does not mention hotel only bookings at all. It says that flight plus bookings are protected.

miamoo

https://www.travelrepublic.co.uk/help/totalfinancialprotection.aspx

Alan_Bowen

ATOL stands for the Air Travel Organisers Licence, if you book accommodation only it is not protected because there is no air element. Some agents are members of trade associations such as ABTA, the Travel Trust Association or Travel Counsellors who do arrange protection for accommodation bookings but you need to check before you book.

leylandsunaddict

Accommodation only bookings are not Atol protected as they don't include air travel. That doesn't mean they're not protected by either Abta bonding, or GTG or the TTA if the agent is a member, and the agent ceases trading.

If the supplier a bonded agent books through ceases trading eg LowCost then the accommodation only booking won't be protected unless that supplier is also bonded by Abta etc.

miamoo

Ah right, ok thanks. I didn't even think to google what Atol stood for!

I don't know if its just me, but I'm really confused by all of this. Am I right in thinking now that if you book 'accomodation only' and any company in your booking chain goes bump, your pretty likely to lose all of your money.

richardw

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

...If the supplier a bonded agent books through ceases trading eg LowCost then the accommodation only booking won't be protected unless that supplier is also bonded by Abta etc.

How would you check if the supplier is bonded if the travel agent isn't clear with who they are?

Alan_Bowen

It is usually the agent that provides the protection if there is any. Travel Counsellers and TTA members guarantee that everything they sell is protected, simply because they only pay the supplier, dodgy or not, when you have travelled. If the supplier disappears they use the money to re-book new accommodation

miamoo

Is there any easy way to find out who is a member of the TTA?

I was going to ask the same question as Richardw, when you book with say Travel Republic or Alpha rooms etc you don't know who your end supplier is until after you pay and confirm.
So how can you know if they have abta protection.

SW17

miamoo wrote: »

Is there any easy way to find out who is a member of the TTA?

I was going to ask the same question as Richardw, when you book with say Travel Republic or Alpha rooms etc you don't know who your end supplier is until after you pay and confirm.
So how can you know if they have abta protection.

You can check if companies are members of the TTA here

http://www.traveltrust.co.uk/VerifyMember.aspx

The reality is that most of the accommodation suppliers used by those selling to the public in the UK are unlikely to be ABTA/TTA protected unless they themselves also sell to the public in the UK (and are UK-based).

miamoo

Thanks for that.
Its a minefield!

gemelli21

I'm having a similar issue, but with trips rather than accommodation ? I don't want to pay someone over €400 (there's a group of us!) only for nothing to appear when we get there. I don't suppose anyone knows if the TTA protect trips?