New Atol Flight-Plus Certificates could land agents in court defending compensation claims from disgruntled customers demanding the same rights as package clients, experts have warned.
Flight-Plus rules introduced in April allow agents to sell component holidays with Atol financial protection, but do not make them responsible for the product under Package Travel Regulations (PTRs) as tour operator principals.
The PTRs determine what is a package, but it is expected customers will assume the Atol badge gives them the full health and safety and product liability cover that a principal must provide.
Speaking at an Ace DIY cruise seminar last week, Joanna Kolatsis, a partner at law firm Gates and Partners, warned: “We are going to get some court cases soon.
You will end up seeing this decided by a judge. The public do not know the difference between a Flight-Plus and a package,” she said.
Guy Novik, chief executive of USAirtours, which launched Tailor Made Cruise Holidays five months ago, said he disagreed with the claims of online travel agents when they say they do not sell packages.
“The Civil Aviation Authority does not have any remit over the Package Travel Regulations – that’s the Department for Transport. Just because someone has issued a Flight-Plus Certificate does not mean, if challenged, it’s not a package,” he said.
“If anyone goes to court and waves a Flight-Plus Certificate as their defence, I’m afraid the judge is going to say, based on what realistically your consumer thought they bought, it’s a package.”
Despite his warning, Novik said the Atol Certificate was a huge opportunity for agents to promote the protection they offer. “It is a way of clearly adding value for the consumer.”