Benefits and risks of a DIY holiday

If you don’t know what a DIY holiday is, its where you book the flights and the accommodation separately as opposed to a traditonal package deal, this is generally a far cheaper option. But this can cause protection issues, which we will come to later.

Diy holiday example.

Self catering for say 3 adults Spain, based on a 1 bed apartment.

Accommodation cost £120 for the week or £40 pp plus flights at say £90 each.

So for £130 pp you have a week in Spain at a resort destination and Accommodation of your choice..

So for you the travel consumer, the benefits of a DIY holiday are 2 fold -

1. One is the flexibility of the duration, the accommodation and the board basis, anything from a city break to a huge choice of flexible durations abroad.
2. Secondly you have the cost saving over a traditional package holiday.

These are the major benefits of a DIY holiday, the cost savings and the flexibility plus the choice of accommodation but of course you do have to add transfers and or car hire, but that just adds to the flexibility.

Now the Risks.

If you book with a non ATOL bonded low cost carrier and most are not atol bonded and they go bust – it could be expensive.

Its important that you book flights together with other holiday arrangements with a travel company that holds an ATOL (Air Travel Organiser’s Licence), and you receive an invoice for these from this company, it is responsible for arranging alternative flights for you so that your holiday can continue. If you are abroad, it should make arrangements to bring you home at the end of your trip.

If you have bought just flights, from a non ATOL travel provider..

• If you book your flights with say low cost carrier easyjets and they happen to go bust whilst your abroad, you would have to pay for new flights to get home.
• If they go bust before you fly, you will still have paid for your accommodation, outcome ruined holiday..

Airlines are not included within the ATOL Scheme, so if you booked direct with an airline you will not be covered. If you paid directly to the airline by credit card you might be protected by Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. For a Chargeback..

You should check with your card issuer for further advice. If you booked airline ticket through a travel agent you should speak to the agent. Some travel insurance covers airline insolvency, so if you took out a policy you should check whether this provides cover.

Paying by credit card — even if it is only the deposit — offers some protection. The card company will pay up if your airline collapses or cancels your flight.

But the ticket must cost between £100 and £30,000. The same applies if your hotel or car hire company goes bust or bookings are cancelled.

This protection applies both to purchases in the UK and overseas.
However, with the tickets of many low-cost airlines selling for under £100, you could still lose out.

Even if you bought several tickets at the same time, pushing the amount over £100, the limit applies to each item’s price.
You can also claim back the cost if you paid by a Visa debit card, through the charge-back system.