The Ultimate Guide to Your Franchise ATOL

Whether you’re looking for a franchise ATOL specifically, or just want the ability to provide an ATOL certificate, it’s important to understand what you’re looking for.

If all you know so far is that an ATOL is a legal requirement to sell flights, it’s important to understand what this actually means beyond that. Equally, if you think a franchise ATOL specifically might be the right choice, it’s important to go over your options first. So, let’s start at the basics.

What is ATOL?

The Air Travel Organisers’ License (ATOL) is a financial protection scheme created by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). They established it in 1973 as a response to the number of consumers losing money or getting stuck abroad after travel businesses stopped selling. In accordance with the Package Travel Regulations, ATOL protects most package holidays that include flights.

ATOL comes in a few different forms depending on the business holding it, but in short, any travel business that wants to sell flights must have an ATOL and is also obliged to provide ATOL certificates as evidence of this to all consumers they sell a flight to.

The different forms ATOL can come in are: Standard, Small Business, Franchise, and Trade.

Standard ATOL

This is the ATOL you might choose when you plan to carry more than 500 passengers per year. More many just getting started selling flights, this will probably not be the right fit.

Small Business ATOL

Small Business ATOLs are usually a good starting place for an independent travel business when you plan to sell less than 500 flights or holidays per year. You can always expand from this point, but it is one of the more affordable places to start.

Franchise ATOL

Franchise ATOLs allow franchisees to sell up to 5000 flights or up to £5,000,000 in turnover. This can be a very affordable option if you’re already planning to join a consortium or a support system. This is also where PTS would come in. As we are an accredited body under the CAA, our trust account has already been approved as financial protection, and our members are able to sign up for an ATOL faster and with much less hassle when they go through PTS.

This does mean you would have to be a member of an accredited body. However, with a support system like PTS, our system also provides admin support that could make the whole process of sending out ATOL certificates and renewing your ATOL much more efficient as well.

PTS’ franchise ATOL is limited to 1,000 flights or £1,000,000 turnover per annum, but we do offer larger franchise ATOLs on a case by case basis.

Trade Sales ATOL

This is for a very specific use-case, when you plan to sell flights and packages to other ATOL holders. If you are a consumer-facing travel business, this most likely won’t be relevant to your needs.

How Does ATOL Protect My Travellers’ Holiday?

It’s important to also understand what having a franchise ATOL (or any consumer-facing ATOL) actually means for your travellers. That is almost definitely not going to make a difference in your choice, but when your travellers see that you are an ATOL holder, there is a level of trust that comes with that. For that reason, it’s vital to know what this actually means to your customers.

The ATOL will protect customers in the circumstance that your travel business stops trading after they’ve booked a package holiday that includes a flight. This could be resolved in a few different ways depending on if they are on holiday already, or they have booked but not travelled. Rebooking, refunding, reimbursing, and repatriations are what the Air Travel Trust puts the ATOL funds towards in these situations.

Generally, the holiday will only be protected by ATOL if it is a package holiday that includes a flight or multiple flights. There are a few rare situations in which a flight-only booking will be protected by ATOL. These most likely won’t apply to your customers if you’re selling package holidays.

The certificate is proof of protection, and the CAA highly advises that consumers keep this on hand when they go on holiday, whether in digital or physical form so that if something goes wrong abroad, they can make a claim and sort the situation out immediately.

Customers are also able to check if you are a legitimate ATOL holder by using the ATOL holder search on the CAA website. This is why it is important to be able to tell your customers what it actually means if they ask. Having an ATOL can be a great relief to the customer and your expertise will only back that up.

Should I Get a Franchise ATOL With PTS?

If you’re still certain that a franchise ATOL is the choice you would prefer, then your next decision is what accredited body will support your needs best. This is where PTS might be the right fit for you.

We have had businesses come to PTS in the past just looking for an ATOL. But it’s important to look at the bigger picture when you’re choosing. The accredited body you’re joining isn’t just an ATOL provider, it is most likely a consortium or support system. So, what support does your business need?

If you want to trade with your franchise ATOL independently, have the freedom to choose your own suppliers, keep your commission, reduce your admin time by 40%, and take advantage of cost-effective tools like currency hedging, card acquiry, and software…PTS is probably the right fit for you.

Equally, if you just want a franchise ATOL and the security of a properly run trust account to back it up and give your travellers confidence, PTS could also be the right fit for you. That’s because what PTS offers is entirely flexible. When you become a member of PTS, you have access to all these tools, but it is entirely up to you if and how you use them.

Most important for this conversation, if you need a franchise ATOL, PTS isn’t just a provider. We have dedicated in-house ATOL experts to help you, along with a software system that makes using that ATOL even more efficient.

If you’re unsure what ATOL might be the right fit for you, check out our article on types of ATOL, or if you’d like to learn more about acquiring a franchise ATOL with PTS, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our friendly team at hellopts@protectedtrustservices.com or call us on 0207 190 9988.