The short version
Trip Tides is a booking agent. We arrange holidays that are provided by other travel companies, and your contract is with whichever company is providing your holiday — not with us.
ATOL protection comes from the supplier providing your holiday. Where that supplier holds an ATOL, your package is ATOL protected and they issue your certificate. We tell you which supplier is providing your holiday, and what protection applies, in writing before you pay anything.
What that means in practice
Most of the holidays we arrange are packages put together by a tour operator who does hold an ATOL. Where that is the case, the package is ATOL protected, and that operator issues you an ATOL certificate in their name. Keep it — it is the document that matters if they fail.
Some arrangements are not packages. A flight booked with one company and a hotel booked with another is two separate contracts, and neither may be ATOL protected. That does not make it a bad booking, but it is a different risk, and you are entitled to know before you commit.
Where a supplier operates its own protection — an ATOL, an ABTA bond, or a trust account — that protection applies to what that supplier provides. Where a supplier operates none, those arrangements are not protected against that supplier going out of business.
What we do with your money
We hold what you pay as agent for the supplier and pass it on under their conditions. We do not hold your money in a protected trust of our own, and we do not use it for anything else.
Card payments are taken by the supplier or through a regulated payment provider. We never see or store your full card number.
Paying by credit card
If you pay by credit card and the transaction is over £100, you may have rights under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act against your card issuer if the supplier fails to provide what you paid for. This is separate from anything above, it costs nothing, and it is worth knowing about. Debit card payments may be covered by chargeback, which is a scheme rather than a legal right.
Travel insurance is a condition of booking
Because protection varies by supplier and cannot be guaranteed, every traveller must hold suitable travel insurance, in force from the day you book — not the day you fly.
We strongly recommend a policy that includes end supplier failure and, if you are flying, scheduled airline failure cover. Those are the clauses that pay out if a company stops trading. They are often not included as standard and usually cost very little to add.
What we will always tell you
- Which company is providing your holiday, by name
- Whether it is a package or separate arrangements
- What financial protection applies, and what does not
- Whether you will receive an ATOL certificate, and from whom
- The full cost, including anything payable locally
All of that goes in writing before you pay a deposit. If we cannot tell you what protection applies, we will say so rather than guess.
If a supplier fails
Tell us as soon as you hear. What happens next depends on the protection that applies:
- ATOL protected package — the CAA handles it. If you have not travelled you claim a refund; if you are abroad, you finish your holiday and are repatriated. Your certificate tells you how.
- ABTA bonded supplier — ABTA's scheme applies. We will help you claim.
- Neither — your travel insurance and, where applicable, section 75 or chargeback are your routes. We will give you everything we hold to support the claim.
Questions
If anything here is unclear, ask before you book rather than after. Email contactus@triptides.co.uk or call 07415 279368.
Our full terms and conditions set out the rest of the booking relationship.