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.
