travel agent atol certificate worth £800?

Caz3121

If you choose to book your own flights rather than with the package then I would factor in going out a day or two earlier than your tour/cruise starts. I have two friends that have on separate occasions missed cruises due to flight delays on independent flights. (big loss of £) I had a package once for a flight/cruise (booked with cruise line) and the flight was delayed - they delayed the departure of the ship to wait for us (there were 5 of us on the same flight)...if not booked as a package we would have turned up to an empty dock.

CKhalvashi

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

Flight only doesn't have ATOL protection in any event, so there's no benefit there.

BA are a strong airline according to their most recent financial reports. BA will likely do a much better job than dealing with a third party who then need to deal with BA in terms of re-routing.

BA also have their own holiday division which can offer better value than flight only in some circumstances.

mdann52

CKhalvashi said:

BA also have their own holiday division which can offer better value than flight only in some circumstances.

Especially for customers loyal to BA who are looking to build status, or who have points to burn now!