British tour operator Goldtrail collapses at start of holiday season
British tour operator, Goldtrail, has collapsed leaving thousands of holidaymakers abroad and many more facing the prospect of cancelled summer holidays. Goldtrail, trading as Goldtrail Travel and Sunmar, operated flights and holiday packages from many UK airports to Turkey and Greece. It sold mainly through travel agents.
The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that Goldtrail had gone into administration with an estimated 16,000 of its customers at overseas destinations. The CAA said it was making arrangements to fly customers home at the end of their holiday under its ATOL (Air Travel Organiser’s Licensing) scheme.
What is ATOL? This stands for Air Travel Organiser’s licensing and is a protection scheme for flights and air holidays, managed by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and protects the customer from losing money or being stranded abroad when a tour operator goes bust. All licensed firms have to lodge bonds with the CAA so that, if they go out of business, the CAA can give refunds to people who can’t travel and arrange for people abroad to finish their holidays and fly home.
Customers who have paid over £100 of the total invoice price by credit (i.e. not debit) card may be in a better position to recover some of monies paid to Goldtrail, otherwise customers will be subject to the administration process and could well wait some two years or more for a partial or full payment under travel industry bonding arrangements.
With the economic downturn likely to claim more victims, it is doubly important to get some protection. Some insurers offer Passenger Protection Insurance, often termed Dynamic Packaging Protection, sold separately or part of a travel insurance policy but always check the small print if this is offered as these are quite often restrictive in their cover.
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