ATOL protection is something you hear banded about a lot.
Watch any advert on TV for a holiday company or listen to one on the radio, and they nearly always mention ATOL protection.
But what is it? And is G Adventures ATOL protected?
Let’s find out…
Is G Adventures ATOL Protected?
Yes G Adventures is ATOL protected. Its ATOL number is 10808. All companies that provide package holidays that come with UK domestic flights must be ATOL protected. This guarantees that if the company ceases to trade any money you have paid will be protected, or if you are already on your holiday you will be brought home.
What is ATOL Protection?
ATOL stands for Air Travel Organisers Licensing and ATOL regulations were created by the Civil Aviation Act of 1971.
The regulations came into effect in 1973 and decreed that all tour operators who sell package holidays that include UK domestic flights must hold an ATOL Licence.
The regulations did not (and still do not) apply to flights booked directly with airlines themselves.
Why is ATOL Protection Important?
The long and short of it is, ATOL protects you and your money if you book a holiday with an ATOL-protected company and it goes bust.
If the company goes bust before you travel, your money is protected. If the company goes bust while you are on holiday, ATOL protection guarantees you will be brought home.
Note that in the previous section we said the regulations were for tour operators who sell package holidays that include UK domestic flights.
A package holiday is when you book more than one part of your holiday through the same travel agent or website.
So this could be any combination of flights, accommodation and car hire for instance.
So is G Adventures ATOL Protected?
Yes it is. If you visit its Package Travel Information page, the last point of Part 2 notes G Adventures’ ATOL Protection.
Also if you visit the G Adventures website, you will see that the ATOL logo is visible in the footer.
Hover over it and text pops up saying ATOL Member (10808)
That number is G Adventures ATOL Protection number.
Note in relation to the screenshot above you can find here details of clause 11 of G Adventures Booking Conditions.
How Can I Check If a Company is ATOL Protected?
As demonstrated above, any ATOL-protected company should display the ATOL logo on its website.
You can also visit the Civil Aviation Authority website which has an ATOL checking section.
If you don’t know the ATOL number, enter the company name and any results will be returned.
In the instance of G Adventures, we know its ATOL number is 10808, so we can enter this to double check they are ATOL protected.
So there we go, that confirms that G Adventures are ATOL protected.
Also as soon as you pay any money towards an ATOL-protected trip, even if it is just a deposit, you should be issued an ATOL certificate (digital or paper copy).
It is important to easily be able to access this because if the company stops trading, the certificate tells you exactly what you need to do.
So What Will Happen if G Adventures Goes Bust?
Well first of all it isn’t likely that G Adventures will go bust, as I outline in my blog post, so don’t overly worry yourself.
But let’s look at my old employer STA Travel as an example.
STA went into administration in August 2020 as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
At the time STA said:
People will have used STA Travel to book package holidays as well as individual air tickets.
The majority of holidays sold were flight-inclusive packages, which are protected by Atol, and scheduled airline tickets only, which should proceed as normal. Non-flight based packages will be protected by Abta.”
“If customers booked a package holiday through STA Travel, and the holiday is provided by another tour operator, they will need to contact the tour operator, who should be able to confirm that their booking will go ahead as normal.
Like G Adventures, STA Travel was also a member of the Association of British Travel Agents, better known as ABTA.
ABTA has is its own reimbursement scheme, which covered STA Travel customers who had bought packages that didn’t include flights.
So in essence that meant that STA customers who had:
- Booked a package with a flight: were covered by ATOL and could get a full refund.
- Booked a package not including a flight: were able to claim back via ABTA’s own protection scheme.
So in relation to a similar scenario evolving with G Adventures, I would say not to worry because:
- It is very unlikely G Adventures will go bust.
- If this unlikely scenario does come to fruition G Adventures is a member of ABTA and ATOL-protected so you are pretty well covered!
Hopefully this reassures you somewhat.
Final Thoughts
G Adventures is ATOL protected, its ATOL number is 10808.
It is also a member of ABTA, which means one way or the other if the worse happens and the company goes bust, it is likely you will be totally reimbursed.
All companies that sell holiday packages that come with flights must hold an ATOL Licence.
As soon as you pay any money towards an ATOL-protected trip you should be given an ATOL certificate.
If you have any doubts at all about what you are covered for, just ask a G Adventures member of staff and they will be able to explain.