According to a poll recently conducted by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority), consumers are more aware of financial protection than ever before. Not only this, but on average the poll determined that 3 in 4 holidaymakers view financial protection in travel, such as ATOL, as an important part of booking in comparison to pre-covid.
Though this awareness of the importance of financial protection has come in part because of the start of the pandemic in early 2020, seeing statistical evidence that consumers are now more aware of financial protection is fantastic news. Not only is this a great thing for the consumers themselves, who are now more aware of how to book a protected and stress-free holiday, but it is also a point of celebration for great travel businesses that provide excellent financial protection for their consumers.
Consumers being more aware of financial protection could help genuine and hard-working travel businesses to provide the awesome holidays they love selling while reducing the amount of travel fraud that occurs. It also allows consumers to book with knowledge of greater flexibility, something that gives a huge boost to consumer confidence, even in less certain times like 2021 has been.
ATOL’s Financial Protection is ‘More Important Than Ever’
In 2021 the CAA interviewed 3502 holidaymakers about their perspective on financial protection in travel, specifically focusing on ATOL (Air Travel Organisers’ License) protection. Of the travellers interviewed, 74% of them stated that ATOL is more important since the pandemic, and 84% stated that ATOL is important.
Seeing this many travellers recognise the important financial protection that ATOL presents is fantastic. This shows a greater awareness from consumers of how their holidays and their monies are protected under the Package Travel Regulations and it shows that consumers are still paying attention to how they book their holidays, despite the pandemic.
Michael Budge, head of ATOL at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: “With many travellers considering ATOL protection more important since the pandemic, we want to make sure consumers are aware of the financial protection that ATOL provides.
“Whilst travel has not yet normalised, we’re asking holidaymakers to make smart decisions for their well-earned breaks by booking ATOL protected trips.”
ATOL is the scheme that protects consumer monies when they book a package holiday containing one or more flights as part of the package. If the travel business that the consumer books with should go bust, then the consumer can be refunded, reimbursed, or brought home under the protection of ATOL, so that the fall of the company doesn’t mean bad news for the consumer (if you’d like to learn more about ATOL protection, you can visit our ATOL consumer guide or the CAA website).
100% Financial Protection with Protected Trust Services (PTS)
With consumers more aware of the protection that ATOL provides, it means that now they will be looking even more for that ATOL badge on travel businesses pages, a simple check that can provide complete peace of mind. Alongside this, businesses that provide consumer protection under the PTS membership display their PTS company no. For consumers to check they have 100% financial protection.
When you book with a PTS member you are 100% financially protected in a few ways:
- Complete Package Travel Regulations Compliance
- ATOL Protection (non-applicable if the PTS member does not sell flights)
- Supplier Failure Insurance and Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance
- The PTS Trust Account Solution
- Experienced and Trusted Travel Businesses
All PTS members are experienced experts in travel that are supported and protected by us at PTS. Consumer protection is at the forefront of what we do, so we ensure that we can trust our lovely members and support them so that they can provide you with some of the best package holidays in the business.
This means that our members are all completely compliant with the Package Travel Regulations, have their ATOL if they need it, and are completely protected through our travel trust account solution.
Our trust account means that none of your money is leaving the trust account except to pay for your booking until your holiday is complete. And, since we reconcile daily down to each individual booking, you can always call up your PTS member or PTS and find out exactly where your money is for peace of mind.
Consumers being more aware of their financial protection in travel is incredibly exciting for PTS and our members, allowing our members’ consumers to check they’re protected and have confidence in the PTS member and PTS ourselves so that you can enjoy your awesome holiday while we take care of the rest.
So, if you’re excited to book your next great holiday, don’t forget to look out for the PTS logo and company number and get in touch with a travel business registered with PTS offering 100% financial protection through trust. Or, if you’d like some assistance choosing one of our fabulous PTS members to book with, you can contact PTS directly at 0207 190 9988.
And if you’d like to learn more about your consumer protection with PTS or how the Package Travel Regulations protect your holiday booking, check out our pages.
