Travel insolvency specialists International Passenger Protection Ltd (IPP), have warned that many companies are operating outside of the 1992 Package Travel Regulations and risk large penalties if caught acting outside of the consumer law.

The warning comes as companies look to increase their product range and offer more than one component part of a trip per transaction. Under the Regulation the booking becomes a packaged trip even if just an overnight stay.

‘Take for example a hotel who are offering a hotel room plus theatre or concert ticket deal, they are now offering a package and need to comply with the Travel Package Regulations’, warned Michelle Irvine, Underwriter at IPP. ‘To comply with the Regulation the organiser needs to provide security against their own financial failure for payments up to the completion of each packaged trip.’

‘These Companies may not realise that they are doing anything wrong but they face severe penalties if caught acting outside of the legislation, so they should look at their product range and speak to an expert to see if parts fall within the Regulation.

IPP have negotiated an exclusive contract with major international insurers to provide insurance cover to comply with the Legislation with minimal administration involved.

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When it comes to travelling, preparation is part of the whole process. Nobody wants their holiday spirits dampened by something that can be avoided, in particular forgetting to budget for those all important holiday extras.

And with so many things to think about other than simply your flights and accommodation, it is easy to see how booking your airport parking gets overlooked. However, arriving at the airport without a pre-booked space can be costly and time consuming, eating into time and money that could be better spent whilst on your travels.

Specialist airport parking provider, Airparks, advises customers to book their parking online to avoid being caught out on the day. It is always frustrating to find out you could have saved money in any case and advanced booking is a quick, easy and hassle free way to cut costs when you arrive at the airport.

The company Airparks, established in 1991, offers a comprehensive range of airport parking options with the ultimate goal of offering the lowest prices available for both on and off site car parking spaces. Airparks pride themselves on covering all products with a ‘Best Price Guarantee’ policy to ensure they won’t be beaten on price.

Take Luton airport parking for example. Booking a space in advance through Airparks can save you up to £13.00 per day with a charge from as little as £5.00 per day, a saving of over two thirds of the price charged at the gate. Of course, prices vary according to location, time of the year and the duration of your stay so it is recommended to take this into consideration whilst trying to find the best money-saving options.

With the choice of on or offsite parking for a number of airport locations across the UK, be sure to choose the option most suitable for your needs. This will not only be more cost effective, but reduce the stress factor too. For example if you are travelling with young children and do not wish to wait for a transfer bus, then on-airport parking may be the right option for you. A range of services are available for Gatwick, Birmingham, Luton and Cardiff airport parking to name a few, so make sure you do your research before confirming your final booking.

Regardless of how much of a great deal you managed to get on your holiday this year, don’t be stung by the additional costs of your trip that can leave you kicking yourself for not preparing in advance. Book your airport parking online, before you travel so you can arrive at the airport stress-free and enjoy your holiday from the onset.

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Make sure you purchase a tailored insurance policy to financially protect against airline failure.

International Passenger Protection Limited, the worldwide leader in travel financial failure, advise that the collapse of Globespan demonstrates the necessity for all travellers to check their travel insurance policy to ensure that they have adequate cover for such financial failures.

This follows a warning last month from ProtectMyHoliday.com, the specialist travel protection website, that there would be airline failures over the festive period.

As a budget airline an estimated three quarters of Globespan customers booked their ticket directly via their website. These tickets fall outside of the government’s ATOL scheme which protects travel arrangements sold as packages as opposed to an individual component booking.

The success of websites such as tripadvisor.com demonstrates the popularity of independent travel which provides the freedom for consumers to design their travel arrangements to meet their desires. Estimates are now that over 50% of overseas travel from the UK is not sold as part of a package.

The millions of trips which are not ATOL protection are increasingly being covered by travel insurance providers who provide Financial Failure cover on their retail travel insurance policies with sections such as Scheduled Airline Failure and End Supplier Failure.

The cover provides a refund if the loss occurs prior to the trip, which can be put towards making alternative arrangements. If an airline collapses during the trip then the cost of replacement tickets is covered, which are usually several times more than the original ticket value.

For those who do not have cover in their travel insurance policy then stand alone policies are available from protectmyholiday.com, where travellers can purchase a tailored policy to financially protect their trip.

With over 60 airlines collapsing since the start of the recession, the airline industry expected to lose €11 billion during 2009 and stabilisation not expected for several years it is important that travellers understand what protection is in place for and what options are available to them.

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Finding the right information is so important when thinking about buying a new car. For savvy consumers this has caused a big headache in the past.

Carpress.co.uk offers a trustworthy guide to all the latest motoring news and information. The comprehensive car database includes vehicle data on all cars sold in the UK and their car search facility offers the opportunity to search not only car data but also view the manufactures latest offers and discounts.

Carpress also provides instant car leasing and car insurance quotations as well as a car finder and dealer quote facility. Through their network of franchised dealers Carpress can help you find the car you want quicker. This avoids long lead times, along with the opportunity to have UK franchised dealers contact you with their best prices on any car that you are interested in buying.

Write a review about your car and earn £2.00

Carpress want your opinion so they can look for ways to give users genuine quality information by visiting one website rather than having to traul the Internet search engines.

If you write a review they will pay you £2 straight into you PayPal account once your review is approved. Make sure you enter the correct e-mail address so they can send your payment.

As the best reviews always come from people who have owned the car itself, it is an essential requirement that you own or have owned this vehicle in order to write a review.

They also have a Green Car buying advice section including information on why it’s important to go green and tips on how to be green. If you read the Carpress Green Car Guide you can learn more about the latest green technology and find out which cars is the greenest to buy.

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This year has been very tough on not just Britain but really the entire world. The recession took a firm hold of wallets, purses and handbags and stopped people from spending money on the things they really wanted but didn’t think they needed.

The Motor industry seems to have taken a huge hit from all of this and has really started to drop many prices across the board. Many of the major companies have had to axe thousands of jobs as people are seemingly just not interested in purchasing a brand new car this year.

However people are choosing to scrap the main car dealers to go out and find lease contracts from smaller companies. In many cases, paying monthly via a lease contract actually turns out to be much cheaper than paying one of the top manufacturer’s directly.

nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk are one of the cheapest car leasing company in the United Kingdom and this Christmas they know that pockets are still going to be a bit on the empty side as people are still feeling the effects of the recession.
This is why they are currently offering £100 off all of their lease contracts when you enter the code XMAS2009.
On top of this it has to be stated that when you are looking for a quote on this site you do not have to enter any of your personal details so there is no need to worry about annoying salesmen ringing you constantly. They are one of the few (only?) car and van leasing site to actually do this.

That new Audi has surely got to be up for grabs now?

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ProtectMyHoliday, the world’s leading direct sell travel failure specialist, is warning travellers to be cautious with their festive travel this Christmas as the travel industry continues to be hit with large losses.

IATA (International Air Transport Association), recently predicted the airline industry will make a cumulative loss of £11 billion this year, a steep increase from the anticipated £9 billion estimated earlier in the year. The full impact of these losses is yet to be felt despite over 60 airlines failing over the last 12 months.

For airlines the festive period is important on two counts:

1)     Traditionally Airlines sell huge volume of tickets over this period and will have budgeted accordingly. If these fail to materialise then this compounds losses from a slow summer-time.

2)     The Summer-time results have been realised and airlines can assess if mid-term strategies to reverse last year’s poor results are working. If not the forecast trade deficit will allow evaluation of what action needs to be taken, if any options are left.

Examples of the variance of strategic success come from two extremes of the aviation industry, Ryanair and British Airways who both posted losses in 2009.

In July, BA posted its worst-ever financial performance with a £401m loss resulting in a massive cost cutting exercise which could shortly result in industrial action by staff. Despite these cuts analysts are predicting further losses of up to £250m at first-half results to be posted on Friday.

On the other hand, Ryanair’s profits ballooned by 80 per cent in the first half of 2009-2010, and passenger numbers are rising so fast that the low-cost carrier expects to pip British Airways to the UK’s number one spot this winter.  Despite this Ryanair acknowledge the profit is mainly due to a drop in oil prices and are preparing for a rough ride over the next six months.

Over the last two Christmas’s a number of airlines collapsed and IPP are expecting a similar impact this year, with the knock on effect to other parts of the travel industry being severe, as those linked to all areas of travel are affected.

ProtectMyHoliday Sales and Marketing Manager, Michael Ward, explained the effect of the government’s ATOL (Air Travel Organisers Licence) scheme administrated by the Civil Aviation Authority. ‘We predict well over half of travellers leaving the UK will be without financial protection over the festive period. People are visiting friends and relatives and not booking accommodation or other component parts of their trip which means no protection under the government scheme.’

‘Fares also increase over this period and people seem oblivious to the risk they are taking. Travellers see logos for ATOL, ABTA and IATA and assume they are safe, however if you are independently booking this is not the case ‘, warned Ward.

Travel companies are also taking advantage of an affiliate scheme through ProtectMyHoliday and warning their customers about the gap in consumer protection.

To ensure you are protected this period please follow the following steps:

1.  Air Travel Organisers Licence – If a trip is ATOL protected the holiday company being booked with must either hold an ATOL or be an agent of a company that does, in which case it must tell the customer when they book which ATOL they are protected by, and as soon as money is exchanged, issue an ATOL Receipt to the customer.

2. Check your travel insurance policy. Quality policies are now including cover for Financial Protection under sections like Scheduled Airline Failure (airline only) and End Supplier Failure (airline plus all other suppliers, e.g. hotels, car hire, etc).

3. Take a dedicated policy from an on-line protection website such as ProtectMyHoliday.com. With no excess, this tailor made policy will capture the details of the airline and other suppliers of the trip and produce a unique policy on-line in minutes.

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With the rise in petrol duty already in place and VAT set up to return to its’ pre-economic meltdown level of 17.5% the current climate is a particular difficult one for businesses; especially haulage firms and those which use commercial vehicles.  One area that has seen a particular change in both business and consumer habits is van insurance.

One of the ways in which both businesses and people have looked to reduce their overheads is to change their insurance policies from ‘Fully Comprehensive’ cover to ‘Third Party, Fire and Theft’, however this short term gain could potentially end in long term pain.  A ‘Third Party, Fire and Theft’ policy won’t cover against damage to your vehicle, only other people and their property. So, if you are unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident you may well end up spending the money you thought you’d saved on changing your policy.

There are however a number of ways in which you can reduce the cost of your commercial vehicle insurance policy by checking to see whether or not you have a no claims discount: most insurers will offer a no claims discount saving providing you have not made any claims in the past and this will even extend to using a bonus that may have been earned on another vehicle (providing that it has not already been used).

Installing a tracker device on your vehicle, which enables it to be located if it has been lost or stolen and offering to pay a higher voluntary excess will both help to reduce the cost of your insurance policy. However, perhaps the most basic way to lower your insurance premium is to improve the security on your vehicle, such as; making sure your vehicle has secure doors, an alarm system in place and an ignition lock.

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Travel has become a lot cheaper these days thanks to the Internet.

Canny holiday makers use the latter to mix and match cheap flights, accommodation bargains and competitive travel insurance.

While on the subject of insurance – it’s worth remembering that is is now cheaper and easier to obtain it from websites such as cheaptravelinsurance.com. They don’t  have the high overheads of many insurance companies because they work online and therefore don’t have to embark on expensive advertising.

There are numerous benefits in having travel insurance – peace of mind that if you have an accident or become ill your medical bills will be paid and you can receive expert treatment quickly. The high cost of medical treatment abroad highlights the importance of taking out enough cover. Even minor surgery could cost over £10,000 in Europe and an overwhelming £30,000 in America.

When it comes to choosing a policy remember to make sure you have adequate cover. cheaptravelinsurance.com offers two levels, Standard with cover up to £5,000,000 & Super with cover up to £10,000,000

There are various considerations to take into account when picking a policy. If you are likely to take more than two trips a year, it is probably worthwhile investing in annual multi-trip insurance to cover you rather than a single-trip policy.

Annual Multi Trip cover allows travel of up to 183 days a year and a choice of 31, 45 or 60 days cover PER TRIP. cheaptravelinsurance.com actually have an exclusive product with consolidators allowing up to 91 days per trip but pre existing is excluded from this particular product and is available currently from MoneySupermarket.com and Confused.com.

cheaptravelinsurance.com were featured this summer in the Which Best Buys for their Over 65 Travel Insurance products, based on cover and price. They even cover up to age 80 years of age and are underwritten by Europ Assistance who are one of the UK’s largest travel insurance underwriters and the emergency call centre always have a doctor present and nurses so you can be talked through a situation while waiting for a helicopter etc to take you to hospital. Cruise Holidays are also covered as standard on all their policies at no extra cost.

For people planning a gap year or career break travelling the world, you can opt for a Backpacker’s Insurance Contract, which covers trips lasting for a year or 18 months. Their policy is unlike many others allowing you to return to the UK within the period because it doesn’t cancel the policy just pauses it until you fly back out of the UK.

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The internet age has made it easy for anyone to go online and find the cheapest air fares, the cheapest hotels, the cheapest car hire. We can now book all the services we need when we go on holiday without ever coming into contact with a travel agent.

But I’ve found that there are still some exceptionally competitive deals available from travel agents that you simply will not find online.

I recently took a 10 day skiing holiday to Val D’Isere. I initially researched the best prices I could find for air fare, hotels etc. online. But on the advice of a close friend I took the figures that I’d gathered along to a local travel agency just to see what they had on offer that might compare.

I was amazed when they came up with a package holiday deal that included the air fare and the hotel accommodation (at a very nice hotel) with breakfast every day. What’s more, they were able to get me an exceptionally good deal on essential ski insurance and the whole lot added up to significantly less than the the prices I’d gathered online.

So if you are looking for a travel bargain do your research online but then take your figures along to a travel agent and give them the opportunity to better the prices that you have found.

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I was at the Sussex Enterprise ‘The Really Useful Business Show’ at the Brighton Centre on Tuesday. It was a great event and I got talking to a number of people. One of those was Thomas Power of responsible travel company Pura-Aventura based in Brighton.

Pura-Aventura are a travel company with a difference, they specialise in ‘Active Holidays‘ and like to preserve local communities through introducing responsible tourism. It was an interesting chat, and I could see why people would choose a holiday such as this, especially as Thomas was informed of how a Pura holiday really benefits rural communities.

The guys from Pura specialise in responsible holidays to Spain and Latin America. Peru, Galapagos and Chile are all favoured destinations of the Pura team. I have to say not one of those destinations has every sprung to my mind as a holiday destination, but on listening to Thomas I was buying into the whole concept.

There is an opportunity with the site at this time to win a Holiday to Peru walking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu for what really is spectacular views as seen with the image below:

View from Peru near Machu Picchu

A holiday like this is truly ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity – and you can potentially win the trip simply be entering the competition at the Pura-Aventura site.

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