Archive for the '144' Category
The collapse of Britains third largest tour operator XL Airways has left up to 100,000 Britons stranded overseas. Another 200,000 holidaymakers with advanced bookings have lost their holidays and will have to try and re-book. Up to 10,000 stranded passengers face having to pay for their own flights home as they did not have adequate insurance cover. Some passengers flying home from Tenerife have had to pay £700 for a flight which should normally cost £200 as some unscrupulous airlines are cashing in on the demand.
Another 30 airlines are expected to collapse over the next three or four months and this is mainly due to high fuel charges and the global credit crunch.
With the threat of more airlines going under in the near future, a wise move would be to make sure that your holiday insurance covers you for Scheduled Airline Failure or SAFI.
Not many travel insurance policies will cover airline failure so it is well worth spending time searching around for companies that include it. The Post Office is one company that offers a travel insurance that includes SAFI for both single and Multi trip policies. My wife and I have booked a Budget flight to Crete with Jet2.Com and we have taken out a policy with the Post office just in case the Airline goes into administration while we are away.
Probably the best way to protect yourself against failing airlines is to book your flight as part of a package holiday, which should be covered by the Civil Aviation Authority and Air Travel Organisers Licensing (ATOL). Make sure that you are fully covered for SAFI when booking with your travel agent, as the rules can be quite complex, and the ATOL terms and conditions may vary.
If you pay for your trip with a credit card and you spend over £100 then your booking should be protected under the terms of the Consumer Credit Act but make sure you claim in a reasonable time.
No one can predict who will be the next Airline to fail, but a little bit of planning before your trip could save you a lot of heartache if things do go wrong while you are away.
Source: capybara