travel agent atol certificate worth £800?

Cathygh

An agent has quoted me almost £1800 for flights including an Atol Certificate, but I can book the flight myself for £1000. 

Is it worth using the agent to get the Atol protection? Thanks

eskbanker

You don't say who the airline is, which could make a significant difference to the risk, but it should be possible to add airline failure coverage to your travel insurance for substantially less than £800, and/or if you purchase directly from the airline by credit card then that also provides cost-effective protection, via section 75 or chargeback (the latter also available via debit card).

Cathygh

eskbanker said:

You don't say who the airline is, which could make a significant difference to the risk, but it should be possible to add airline failure coverage to your travel insurance for substantially less than £800, and/or if you purchase directly from the airline by credit card then that also provides cost-effective protection, via section 75 or chargeback (the latter also available via debit card).

Thank you. The airline is BA, flying to South America for a tour and cruise in 2025, so fly out to LIma and back from Rio. The agent said
" The benefit of booking through us is you get ATOL protection, so if a flight was delayed/cancelled, we'd get you sorted out in order for you to be able to carry on with your journey or get you back home etc."

I will investigate your other suggestions

MattMattMattUK

Cathygh said:

eskbanker said:

You don't say who the airline is, which could make a significant difference to the risk, but it should be possible to add airline failure coverage to your travel insurance for substantially less than £800, and/or if you purchase directly from the airline by credit card then that also provides cost-effective protection, via section 75 or chargeback (the latter also available via debit card).

Thank you. The airline is BA, flying to South America for a tour and cruise in 2025, so fly out to LIma and back from Rio. The agent said
" The benefit of booking through us is you get ATOL protection, so if a flight was delayed/cancelled, we'd get you sorted out in order for you to be able to carry on with your journey or get you back home etc."

I will investigate your other suggestions

BA is ATOL registered, there is zero benefit to using this travel agent. 
https://www.britishairways.com/travel/dp_atolcertificate/public/en_gb

SW17

Although possible, it's not common for flight-only bookings to be covered by ATOL, it's something that covers packages in most cases. The great majority of flight-only bookings would not be covered. Does the agent have something else included in the price, and are they the ATOL holder or selling on behalf of another ATOL holder.

Feels like there is not enough information here, though if it is like-for-like, the probable answer is avoid the agent in this case. The only thing that ATOL (if it's real) would offer that insurance/S75 doesn't is repatriation/rebooking service in the event of the airline or ATOL holder becoming insolvent and ceasing trading.

amanda1024

Is the tour and cruise part of the same package with the flights? In which case I think there might be extra protection in case of any knock on effects from flight delays. But you could just book flights to get there a couple of days before as a buffer

Cathygh

SW17 said:

Although possible, it's not common for flight-only bookings to be covered by ATOL, it's something that covers packages in most cases. The great majority of flight-only bookings would not be covered. Does the agent have something else included in the price, and are they the ATOL holder or selling on behalf of another ATOL holder.

Feels like there is not enough information here, though if it is like-for-like, the probable answer is avoid the agent in this case. The only thing that ATOL (if it's real) would offer that insurance/S75 doesn't is repatriation/rebooking service in the event of the airline or ATOL holder becoming insolvent and ceasing trading.

I know the agent and have used them before, but not for this type of holiday. I am just shocked by the difference in price

eskbanker

Cathygh said:
The airline is BA, flying to South America for a tour and cruise in 2025, so fly out to LIma and back from Rio. The agent said

" The benefit of booking through us is you get ATOL protection, so if a flight was delayed/cancelled, we'd get you sorted out in order for you to be able to carry on with your journey or get you back home etc."

If your BA flight to or from the UK was delayed or cancelled then BA itself is already directly on the hook to take the necessary steps to resolve, including rebooking on another flight if necessary, plus accommodation, meals, etc (and sometimes compensation), by virtue of its obligations under the UK261 flight delay/cancellation regulations, so you don't need to pay an agent to double up on that.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-delay-compensation/
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-cancellation-compensation/

ATOL protection only offers assistance when an airline collapses....

SW17

Cathygh said:

eskbanker said:

You don't say who the airline is, which could make a significant difference to the risk, but it should be possible to add airline failure coverage to your travel insurance for substantially less than £800, and/or if you purchase directly from the airline by credit card then that also provides cost-effective protection, via section 75 or chargeback (the latter also available via debit card).

Thank you. The airline is BA, flying to South America for a tour and cruise in 2025, so fly out to LIma and back from Rio. The agent said
" The benefit of booking through us is you get ATOL protection, so if a flight was delayed/cancelled, we'd get you sorted out in order for you to be able to carry on with your journey or get you back home etc."

I will investigate your other suggestions

ATOL protection has nothing to do with flight delays or cancellations, except where the cancellation is due to the airline becoming insolvent as an ATOL holder (mostly for flights sold within a package) and ceasing flights. They might be selling you an ATOL protected package with flights and other components, and the agent might assist you as part of its service in the event of delays and cancellations, but ATOL itself only offers protection against insolvency.

If this is more than a year away (actually more than 355 days from your planned return date), the agency or the ATOL holder it represents is possibly estimating airfares anyway. BA doesn't release flights for sale until 355 days before date of flight (except for a few packages sold by BA Holidays).

MattMattMattUK said:

Cathygh said:

eskbanker said: 

You don't say who the airline is, which could make a significant difference to the risk, but it should be possible to add airline failure coverage to your travel insurance for substantially less than £800, and/or if you purchase directly from the airline by credit card then that also provides cost-effective protection, via section 75 or chargeback (the latter also available via debit card).

Thank you. The airline is BA, flying to South America for a tour and cruise in 2025, so fly out to LIma and back from Rio. The agent said
" The benefit of booking through us is you get ATOL protection, so if a flight was delayed/cancelled, we'd get you sorted out in order for you to be able to carry on with your journey or get you back home etc."

I will investigate your other suggestions

BA is ATOL registered, there is zero benefit to using this travel agent. 
https://www.britishairways.com/travel/dp_atolcertificate/public/en_gb

To be clear, BA bookings are only ATOL-protected when sold as part of a package by BA Holidays. BA flight-only bookings are not ATOL-protected, though this is only an issue if you believe BA is likely to become insolvent and cease trading.

Cathygh

amanda1024 said:

Is the tour and cruise part of the same package with the flights? In which case I think there might be extra protection in case of any knock on effects from flight delays. But you could just book flights to get there a couple of days before as a buffer

 Yes it is part of a package, but I am using the same flights as the agent and there will be other people on the flight doing the same holiday so we will all be in the same position. I am trying to negotiate with the agent to see if we can come to an arrangement

bagand96

Cathygh said:

amanda1024 said:

Is the tour and cruise part of the same package with the flights? In which case I think there might be extra protection in case of any knock on effects from flight delays. But you could just book flights to get there a couple of days before as a buffer

 Yes it is part of a package, but I am using the same flights as the agent and there will be other people on the flight doing the same holiday so we will all be in the same position. I am trying to negotiate with the agent to see if we can come to an arrangement

If you book the flights and the tour together with the agent then that will be a package and you'd be protected under the Package Travel Regulations.

This means that, for example if the tour/cruise was cancelled for any reason you'd be entitled to a full refund of everything booked with the agent, including flights.

If you book your flight separately then BA wouldn't refund you in that circumstance so you might be left with £1000 worth of flights you don't need or want.

One example, there's many other circumstances where it being a package can be beneficial. 

But it's whether that's worth £800 to you. There's nothing wrong with booking your own flights.