Travel agents give ‘contradictory’ advice about ATOL, Which? discovers

 Holidaymakers may be losing out because travel agents are giving incorrect advice about consumer protections, a consumer group found.

A mystery shop by Which? found that staff at some of Britain’s biggest travel agents did not understand when ATOL (Air Travel Organiser’s Licence) protection applied to flights and holidays.

ATOL is a scheme run by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) into which travel companies must pay £2.50 for each person they book on a holiday. This money creates a fund that is used by the CAA to ensure holidaymakers will get their money back if the airline, the hotel or the agent itself goes bust. It also ensures that passengers would be repatriated from abroad in the event of a collapse.

However, a Which? investigation, involving questions about a range of scenarios, discovered many of the UK’S largest holiday firms have little idea of when ATOL applies and what it means.

Thomas Cook staff answered 45 per cent of questions correctly, while BA staff gave a right answer 58 per cent of the time. Overall, firms gave “exaggerated and contradictory” advice. According to the CAA, if consumers are yet to depart when an airline collapses then travel agents must find suitable alternative flights to replace the failed flights. If suitable alternative flights cannot be sourced, the ATOL holder must make a refund of all money paid to them.

A Thomson spokesman said: “We have tried where possible to find suitable alternative holidays for our customers who have future holiday bookings which have unfortunately been impacted by the Monarch situation.” A Thomas Cook spokesman said: “Our booking systems automatically include the correct ATOL cover on all of the products that we sell,

A BA spokesman said: “Booking with a global brand such as BA gives customers additional reassurance.”