A prominent Australian travel agent has used last week’s collapse of yet another budget airline, with passengers stranded, to stress the need to ensure clients are adequately protected in the event of a travel intermediary or end-supplier going bust.
Iceland’s WOW Air is the latest budget airline casualty. It halted operations at the end of last week and cancelled all future flights, leaving about 2700 travellers stranded.
WOW, the world’s most purple airline, focused on low-cost travel across the Atlantic – with fares sometimes less than USD 100 for transatlantic flights from the US. Taking bookings up to the time it ceased operating, WOW has now advised stranded travellers to find flights on other carriers.
MTA – Mobile Travel Agents’ co-managing director, Roy Merricks, said that while WOW Air was not an approved MTA supplier, its collapse served as a timely reminder that all travel agents need to ensure their clients are adequately protected against such eventualities.
The WOW Air collapse brings to five the number of European carriers forced into insolvency in the last 18 months.
Merricks said many of the 4000 or so passengers affected by the WOW Air collapse would now be looking towards their travel insurance for refunds.
“Travel insurance covers for a host of factors – be that a lost suitcase, damaged camera or overseas medical assistance – but when it comes to supplier insolvency protection that’s a whole different ball game,” he said.
“Sadly, while some of those passengers may see some return on ticket purchases, it is highly likely many of them won’t – with the airline having stated the chances of reimbursement are ‘narrow’ and already advising passengers to address claims to the airline’s bankruptcy trustee.
“And remember this doesn’t just happen to overseas companies – locally we only have to go back to December and the Bestjet Travel collapse.”
Merricks said while consumers may buy optional travel insurance products via their consultants or online, many of these either do not offer supplier insolvency protection and if they do, it is invariably limited to a very small number of suppliers and always at additional cost.
“The same applies if a consumer pays for their travel arrangements by credit card. There may be some insolvency protection provided under complimentary travel insurance but the emphasis is very much on the ‘may’.”
Merricks said the WOW collapse showed vividly why consumers needed to ensure that when they book their travel, they book via agents who are able to provide iron-clad, 100% money-back guarantees in the event of insolvency, such as MTA’s ground-breaking ‘Zero Flight Risk’.
Launched in 2014, shortly after the Travel Compensation Fund (TCF) was dismantled, ‘Zero Flight Risk’ is an MTA initiative whereby any client purchasing approved travel products and services through the company can rest assured their funds will be guaranteed in the event of any approved MTA travel intermediary or end supplier becoming insolvent and as a result, being unable to deliver the product or service.
Merricks stressed that MTA could provide its customers with peace of mind “in the full knowledge that this piece of protection comes with a 100% money-back guarantee – no ifs or buts – and at no extra cost whatsoever.”
Edited by Peter Needham
.jpg){kind=tracking}