How can I tell if a flight or air holiday package should be ATOL Protected?
The simple rule is “Ticket or ATOL”. If you pay any money – even a deposit – to a holiday company in the UK for a flight or an air holiday package, the sale legally has to be ATOL protected. The holiday company you’re booking with must either have an ATOL or be an agent of a company that does, in which case it must tell you when you book which ATOL you’re protected by, and as soon as you pay any money, issue an ATOL Receipt to you. If you’re just buying a scheduled airline ticket and you get your ticket or airline confirmation straight after you’ve paid, you won’t usually be covered. However we include what is known as “Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance (SAFI) to financially protect all scheduled / low cost flights. ATOL also doesn’t apply if you book direct with an airline.
