It’s been a rough few weeks for the travel industry. At the end of August, the low-cost airline Zoom, which flew mainly from the UK to Canada, collapsed.
On the 10th of September, Cheshire-based low budget package holiday firm, Seguro Holidays, went into administration, claiming that its problems were largely as a result of the fact that Spanish airline Futura, which provided most of the firm’s flights, had started insolvency proceedings.
The collapse of the XL Leisure Group, the third largest tour operator in the UK, on Friday, left an estimated 90,000 people stranded abroad. On Sunday, London-based K & S travel (which also operates as Travel Turkey) suspended its operations and there are growing concerns about a number of other airlines and tour operators, including Italian airline Alitalia, which has been losing more than £1 million a day.
Many travellers have been shocked to find that their travel insurance policies don’t cover them if the airline that they are flying with goes bust, and industry experts have been advising prospective travellers that the best way of ensuring that they will be protected in such circumstances is to book a package holiday through a major operator and to pay by credit card.
It’s not just airlines collapsing that can give holiday makers a headache, however. There are many different things that can prevent you from travelling or wreak havoc with your holiday, so it’s vital to do everything that you can to make sure you won’t be paying a hefty bill in the event of a holiday nightmare.
In August 2005, I booked a dream holiday to New Orleans. My friend and I were going to spend Halloween there. Less than a week later, New Orleans was evacuated as Hurricane Katrina headed straight for The Big Easy. I sat glued to CNN and Fox News as history was made for all the wrong reasons. My thoughts were entirely with the people of New Orleans, but as the days went by, we also had to deal with the practical business of cancelling our bookings and transferring our flights.
As a result, I’m now extremely cautious to make sure that I know exactly what I can and can’t alter and what I can get refunds for when booking holidays. I also learnt a bit more about the US hurricane season and keep a much closer eye on developments at the National Hurricane Center.
Over the next few months, Smart Traveller will be featuring a series of hints and tips about what to look for and what to check when booking your holiday.
Image courtesy of www.freeimages.co.uk
Tags: airlines, travel advice, Travel News
