Having been inundated with questions regarding the recent volcanic crisis, I thought I would pen my own thoughts on the way forward for travelers wanting a safe and secure way of, not only protecting their money invested in their travel arrangements, but also, the best protection in the case of another Act of God type event.
Let’s take a look at the various options and their pros and cons.
I should now really highlight the differences between each type of product you can buy but as there are so many and space is limited, for the sake of simplicity I shall compare generally:
I do not want to state the obvious but generally speaking you have a choice of booking directly with an Airline, Tour Operator, or Cruise line or through an online travel agent (e.g. Expedia), or through a Travel Agent, or through myself. I am of course a travel agent too, but I make a distinction because the service I offer my customers is I think different to that of the high street and in making the distinctions you will be able to judge for yourself.
Booking direct or through an online third party:
Pros:
You can book at your own convenience.
You can compare the prices at the time yourself.
It can be fun to do.
Reservations open 24/7.
Cons:
You have to be computer literate these days
It is very time consuming
Prices change and so research has to be repeated
There is little or no contact with a human being if things go wrong.
You need a credit or debit card to pay online.
Cancelling, rectifying mistakes, and making changes are difficult, and often expensive.
If you do get to speak to someone and have to refer back, you will be unlikely to talk to the same voice again.
Can be frustrating.
Your money could be at risk
Using a High Street Travel Agent.
Pros:
They do the work for you.
They will be more expert with technology, contracts etc, depending on who serves you
You have personal contact
They can assist with changes and other matters arising.
Cons:
Not open 24/7 - business hours only
Expertise varies
Subject to queuing and long waits
They will usually charge a fee for low cost and scheduled flights. £20 -£50 or more per ticket.
They are often associated with pressure or directional selling, by directional I mean they may prefer to sell a certain product rather than he one you want to buy. The staff are also targeted to make sales of a specific product.
Your money may be at risk depending on what it is you are buying from them. Safer than going online for sure but there could still be risk involved.
Travel Counsellors – PaultheTravel
Pros:
I do the research and the make the reservations
I have 35 years Travel Agency experience and knowledge of the industry, the destinations, the companies etc.
You have personal contact 24/7 –in emergency.
If things go wrong you will always speak to me directly.
As an independent self employed agent I will only recommend what is right for you.
No queues or waiting time.
Home visits where required on appointment
Your money is NOT at risk at all. Our own financial trust takes care of that for you.
Cons:
Before writing this I thought long and hard genuinely. You know what, I cannot think of any against.
OK. You are financially secure booking with me and that is great, but what about acts of God?
I had 4 groups of passengers away on holidays the day the skies closed. In so far as how the different methods of booking compared, that is a difficult one for me to answer honestly as I can only write about my own experiences. Maybe you have experience or knowledge of someone who booked by one of the alternatives above. Did they have the same experience as my own passengers?
As soon as was humanly possible I made personal contact with all my stranded passengers, offering them reassurance and valuable advice on how they should proceed to secure themselves and their families. For those in Europe this was not so bad, but many of my own clients were in far away places with many hours time difference between us. I maintained a vigil until late at night and from early morning to make sure all were safe, well and in several cases made urgent and necessary arrangements for alternatives to be booked. I maintained that personal contact until they returned to the UK.
To be honest I could not do much else all the time the sky was closed and often felt helpless in resolving their concerns, but I did make every effort to follow up on these concerns, obtaining information as it became available so they all felt more secure. They have all fed back positive messages regarding this to me since their return.
The law governing passengers booked on EU member airlines is fairly clear on the matter of subsistence in the event of delay and it is the airlines responsibility to make sure its passengers are accommodated and fed at their expense. The reality at the time was very different with each airline taking a different view on its responsibilities. The law relating to this type of issue was never meant to cover this type of eventuality, but more to cover instances of fog or technical failure. There was reluctance from many airlines to administer this help to passengers at first until pressures were put on them. This reluctance was not just about profits though, it was about the long term financial implications of an industry hard hit by recession and competition. In many cases I believe they were genuinely concerned if they did repay all the expenses then they themselves would have been put at risk of survival. This outcome would have benefited no one to be fair, least of all the passengers of the future.
The jury is still very much out on this issue, but it has far from gone away. It may be playing second fiddle to the election news currently, but work is going on in the background to find ways of solving the situation for all concerned.
Personally I was amazed that travel insurance in the UK makes no provision for this type of event in general. I know my own company is working hard now to negotiate a new insurance package for our own customers in future, to give them this element of security but no deal at the time of writing has been agreed.
Pressure too is being levied at the government to compensate airlines that make these payments to travelers in the same way as they bailed out the banks. This was no small time problem, let us face it, but one where thousands of passengers were displaced for many days and in some cases weeks; an event of humanitarian disaster proportions.
No pun intended but the dust is not yet settled on this matter.
So, who do you book with in the future, to give you the best level of financial security and peace of mind? Which is easier, faster and cheaper for you to do?
You must make up your own mind on this one.
As and when I have any more news on this issue I will keep you informed. If you would like to read more about Travel Counsellors and the way we have assisted stranded clients, go to my web page and click on blogs (right hand side of the page).
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