Monday 25th July 2011 - Published by Kelly Jackson - Communications Executive
Holidaymakers’ Champion Urges Government to Address Industry Problems
The Consumer Alliance in Travel [CAT] is urging the government to clamp down on misleading holiday products, which offer consumers little holiday protection.
Travel risk expert, John Fosbery, CEO and founder of CAT, is calling on the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills (BIS) to improve the policing of holiday websites across the board.
Although online deals can easily look like tour operator products, these deals are often in bits and not package protected; thus avoiding the ATOL regulations as well.
Consequently, CAT is calling for improved trading standards, that require airlines and travel retailers to specify whether a sale is consumer protected or not.
Mr Fosbery has a great understanding of passenger rights, the legal system, and the loopholes that compromise passenger rights, following his previous experience protecting customers of the Global Travel Group:
“The current industry system is totally misleading to the consumer, retailers can be a bit-seller, and not provide any packaging rights. CAT wants to make people aware of their rights, and help them make informed decisions when booking travel. In my opinion, all the big name online travel agents have unclear T & C’s that allow holidays to be bought like a package, but don’t offer the same protection.”
“The Department for Transport (DfT) and CAA are alive to the problem but their new ATOL proposal, Flight Plus, can make life more complicated by not focusing on packages. A new strand of ATOL Flight Plus looks OK on paper but gives little if they not in packages,” explained Mr Fosbery.
“There needs to be proper dialogue between the two Government Departments – BIS and DfT, and BIS should take the lead as the main body for consumer affairs. We want better and wider consumer clarity than the government is advocating,” he added.
CAT is a body that makes consumers aware of their rights, as well as the complexities and risks of booking a holiday. Crucially, CAT provides all-holiday problem solving for disgruntled members; as well as developing other help services.
For information, visit: www.trustcat.com
CAT trade - a pr2go story
