ATOL, TTA & your money

ATOL stands for Air Travel Organiser's Licence, a scheme run by the Civil Aviation Authority. If the company that organised your flight-inclusive holiday fails, the scheme makes sure you are not left out of pocket: if you have not travelled yet you get your money back, and if you are already abroad you are brought home. We hold our own licence, ATOL 12956. It is the single most important thing to check before you pay anyone for a holiday that includes a flight. Read more

It is the document that proves your protection. You receive it as soon as you pay for an ATOL protected flight or flight-inclusive holiday, and it lists exactly what is protected and who to contact if things go wrong. Keep it with your travel documents. If a company selling you a flight-inclusive holiday does not give you an ATOL Certificate when you pay, ask why. Read more

The TTA is a network of travel businesses whose members hold every client payment in an independently administered trust account. We are member X6411. In practice it means your money does not sit in our ordinary business account: it sits in a trust account, and it is only released to pay the suppliers on your booking or to refund you. Read more

Yes, and you do not have to take our word for it, because the protection is structural. Every payment goes into the TTA trust account, whatever you book. On top of that, flight-inclusive packages we organise are protected under ATOL 12956, and where we book you a package from an operator such as Jet2holidays, their ATOL covers it from the moment we take your payment. Ask us which protection applies to your booking and we will show you, in writing. Read more

It depends what you booked, which is exactly why we put it in writing on every confirmation. If the failed company is the ATOL holder for your package, the ATOL scheme refunds you or brings you home. If an airline fails and your flight was part of an ATOL protected package, the same applies. A flight bought on its own directly with an airline is the weak spot: it is not ATOL protected, which is one of the reasons we tell you the protection status of every element before you book, and why travel insurance with airline failure cover is worth having. Read more

A fair question to ask any travel business. Your money would still be in the TTA trust account, which we cannot touch except to pay your suppliers or refund you, and flight-inclusive packages we organised would be covered by the ATOL scheme. The protections exist precisely so that your holiday does not depend on our balance sheet. Read more

No, and anyone who tells you everything is protected is glossing. ATOL only covers flights and flight-inclusive packages. A hotel booked without a flight, a transfer, car hire or an excursion is not ATOL protected, and neither is a flight-only ticket issued immediately by the airline. Everything you pay us is still held in the TTA trust account whatever you book, and we tell you before you pay exactly which protection applies. Read more

No, and the difference matters. ATOL and the trust account protect your money if a travel company fails. They do nothing if you fall ill before departure, break a leg in resort, lose a bag or miss a connection. That is what travel insurance is for. You need both, which is why insurance is a condition of booking with us. Read more

Yes. It is a condition of booking with us, and not for our benefit: the cancellation charges on package holidays are real, and insurance is what turns a family emergency three weeks before departure from a financial loss into a claim. Buy it when you book, not the week before you fly, because cancellation cover only works if you hold the policy when the thing goes wrong. For a cruise, check the policy covers cruising specifically; many standard policies do not. Read more

Your ATOL Certificate names the holder, and that is the answer to look at rather than any logo on a website. If we organised your package, it names WheatleyWorldwide Ltd under ATOL 12956. If we booked you a Jet2holidays, easyJet holidays or TUI package as agent, it names them, because your contract is with them. Either way you are protected; the certificate just tells you by whom. Read more