There are many ways that your holiday booking can be protected: financially, legally, and in the case of unexpected events. Whether it’s a staycation and you’re trundling up to Snowdonia, or you’re going abroad for a beachy getaway in Benidorm.
When we discuss how your holiday is protected, however, we’re usually talking in the broadest span. Including all the ways your holiday is protected focuses most of all on going abroad. But if you’re keen on mapping out the beauty inside the UK, or you’re planning a rare holiday closer to home, what types of protection your booking will receive will be slightly different.
Ensuring your holiday is well protected is key to complete peace of mind, no matter where you’re going. Even if you’re staying only a few hours from home, your holiday still deserves great protection.
So, what protection can you expect when you book a staycation? How can you ensure your holiday is ready for excitement and free of stress?
Book a Package Holiday
One of the most important ways your holiday can be protected is via the Package Travel Regulations. This is the UK government legislation that protects all package holidays booked with UK based travel businesses. Financial and legal protection are provided under this legislation, whether your holiday is a staycation or set abroad.
In saying this, ensuring you’re booking a package when you’re booking a staycation may be something you want to check. A package holiday, in short, is a holiday that includes more than one element and is booked under one price. Elements can include:
- Flights
- Car Hire
- Accommodation
- Activities
- Transport
When you book a holiday abroad, it is most likely that in booking a flight and accommodation through your travel agent and trusted Protected Trust Services (PTS) member, you have already secured this type of protection. If you want to check, you only need to ask your travel agent and they will be able to tell you what kind of booking you have.
But when you’re booking a staycation, there are a few key factors that you may want to keep in mind. Though flights are not necessary to make a package holiday, the following things could affect the status of your booking:
- Package holidays must be over 24 hours or include overnight stay to be protected by the Package Travel Regulations.
- If your booking is a business trip or is offered on a not-for-profit basis, it will not be protected by the Package Travel Regulations.
If you’re calling it a staycation (and not a holistay, for some reason) then it’s most likely a business trip, but if it is offered on a not-for-profit basis, such as a sports club trip, then it’s important to ensure other forms of holiday protection.
What could have a big impact on this protection for a staycation is the requirement for a package holiday to be over 24 hours or include overnight stay. If you’re going on a day trip, for example, that includes coach travel and a tourism activity, but no overnight stay, this will not be protected by the Package Travel Regulations.
In this case, there are a few other ways that your holiday can still be financially protected, but it is important to keep note that it will not come under the Package Travel Regulations.
Staycations will also not be protected by ATOL, which only protects packages including flights, but this is only important if you’re booking a flight.
Get Travel Insurance
It may not seem like travel insurance is as necessary when you’re booking a staycation, but having good travel insurance is equally important whatever kind of holiday you’re booking (you can find out more about choosing good travel insurance for your needs in our article).
Travel insurance will provide financial protection and support in the case of medical concerns, cancellations, and accidents connected to your holiday. The specifics under these will vary based on the travel insurance you get, such as Covid protection on holiday and extreme sports. You can ask your travel agent when you book if they think there is anything specific you should look for in your chosen travel insurance since this will vary based on your holiday.
Travel insurance protection doesn’t have to be expensive, but it is worth spending just a little extra if you need protection for precious luggage, thrill-seeking activities, or specific medical concerns. We also highly recommend booking your travel insurance as soon after you book your holiday as possible as this protection doesn’t just cover the holiday, but the period between booking and travelling too.
Book with a Credit Card
It’s not the biggest form of financial protection, but booking with a debit or credit card, through merchant services, ensures that if anything goes wrong and it can’t be fixed with your travel business or travel insurance, then you can still get your money back.
Often this service is not the easiest to acquire for travel businesses, but when you book with a PTS member this service is readily available, so you can secure that extra financial protection for your peace of mind.
This can also apply to all bookings, so if your staycation doesn’t fall under the Package Travel Regulations, you can still get an extra layer of protection through your card service. This is also an easy form of protection to ensure, with credit card payments protected under the Credit Protection Act
Book with a Protected Trust Services (PTS) Member
When it comes to financial protection on holiday, Protected Trust Services (PTS) are focused on providing the best of the best for UK travellers. No matter what kind of holiday you’re taking, booking with a PTS members means that you will have some of the best financial protection in UK travel.
PTS members are ensured to be 100% Package Travel Regulations compliant and are approved and trusted by the expert PTS team, this means that you can rest assured that you’re booking a holiday with a trusted expert in travel that is dedicated to providing you with a fantastic holiday and great protection to match.
PTS members also work under the PTS travel trust account system. When you book a holiday with a PTS member, your monies go directly into the PTS trust account where no involved parties have direct access. Your monies are only released from the trust account to pay for your holiday or provide you with a refund if necessary.
With an expertly designed system, PTS reconcile daily, so if you ever need to know exactly where your money is, your PTS member is only a phone call away and we can find out where your money is down to the penny. If anything should happen, that money can be transferred by the independent trustees in a matter of hours, so you can book with the knowledge that your holiday is going to be fantastic.
So, if you’re looking forward to your next holiday, don’t wait, book now with a travel business registered with PTS for 100% financial protection through trust. Or, if you’d like assistance choosing one of the lovely PTS members to book with, you can contact PTS directly at 0207 190 9988.
And if you’d like to learn more about your financial protection with PTS or how the Package Travel Regulations protect your holiday booking, check out our pages and Travel Advice.
