Hunt the missing travel firm

A travel company which lied about being licensed has disappeared, leaving customers in the lurch. TravelHunt.co.uk claimed to be registered with air travel regulator ATOL, using a number belonging to a different company.

One victim told me how eight friends and family members paid £50 each as deposits for tickets from Gatwick to Jamaica. Thankfully he discovered that Virgin Airlines had no record of the booking before paying the balance. His bank was unable to refund the money because payment was made by bank transfer.

“We can confirm that at no point did TravelHunt hold ATOL,” the regulator has said. “We urge all travellers to check the veracity of websites’ claims to hold an ATOL by using our Check an ATOL tool on the CAA website.”