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Peak Retreats is a
full tour operator member of
ABTA
WHY BUY A PACKAGE TRAVEL THROUGH AN ABTA TRAVEL AGENT
OR TOUR OPERATOR?
ABTA, The Travel
Association, is the organisation which represents UK
travel agents and tour operators responsible for the
sale of around over 90% of package holidays and
approximately 45% of independent travel arrangements.
It’s ABTA’s role to ensure that you, the
customer, benefit from consistently high standards of
trading practice in the travel industry; that the
standards of service and business throughout the
membership are of the highest calibre. As such,
ABTA’s famous symbol has come to represent
choice and value.
BOOK WITH CONFIDENCE
ABTA Members operate under a strict Code of Conduct,
to promote your best interests. So, when you see the
ABTA symbol in an ABTA Member’s brochure or on
their website, you can be confident that the
descriptions of your travel arrangements have been
compiled under comprehensive guidelines set by ABTA
to ensure clarity and accuracy.
ABTA applies just the same amount of care when
checking its Members’ finances, too, reducing
the risk of anything going wrong.
BETTER SERVICE AT NO EXTRA COST
The Code of Conduct means that every one of its
travel agents and tour operators has to work to the
highest standards of service and quality. When you
deal with an ABTA travel agent, they are required to
give you comprehensive advice on things like
insurance, visas, passports, health requirements, and
any alterations to your travel arrangements.
ABTA also requires that each Member’s office
contains properly qualified staff.
It’s very reassuring to be able to book with
this kind of peace of mind.
PRICE
ABTA tour operators who sell package holidays
minimise the impact of fluctuating currency rates as
they buy currency and fuel a year in advance at fixed
rates and secure deals with their suppliers and
hotels.
Many tour operators like Peak Retreats have a
‘no surcharge guarantee’ in place. Those
companies that do allow for surcharges have to make
sure they meet certain criteria and request
permission from ABTA before implementation. By law,
an amount equivalent to two per cent of the
consumer’s original holiday price has to be
absorbed by the tour operator before the remainder is
passed on and, if a holiday incurs a 10 per cent
surcharge, customers have the right to cancel and get
a refund.
COMPLAINTS RESOLVED
Complaints about holidays are best dealt with on the
spot by the tour operator’s representative or
supplier. But, if you’re still not happy, raise
the problem with your travel agent or tour operator
when you get home. ABTA's Code ensures that ABTA
Members respond to any complaint within strict time
limits.
If you can’t resolve a dispute, ABTA offers a
low-cost independent arbitration service.
(Consumers travelling independently are exposed to
overbooking of hotels and may have no recourse other
than through the local courts in their destination.
Equally Consumers who “self-package” and
have a complaint often face lengthy battles through
regional courts in their holiday destinations)
FINANCIAL SECURITY
Many of the travel arrangements provided by ABTA
Members are protected in case of the financial
failure of the travel company. Ask your ABTA Member
if protection applies to your travel arrangements.
Where travel arrangements aren’t already
protected, most ABTA Members will be able to offer
suitable insurance to cover you.
Peak Retreats provides total financial protection for
all the monies that you pay for the holidays booked
from its website. This is provided by way of a bond
held by ABTA. Peak Retreats is fully bonded with ABTA
for ALL arrangements that it offers and therefore not
only for packages but also for each individual
component booked separately. This means that
accommodation only booked with us is protected for
instance (it is not with many operators in the same
way as flights only are almost never covered). This
goes well beyond our legal requirement derived from
the Package Travel Regulations and is the only total
guarantee.
Peak Retreats is fully bonded with ABTA but does not
require to hold an ATOL license run by the CAA as
these are only for operators who offer flight
inclusive packages that we don't offer.
(If you pay the airline, hotel or other supplier
direct, there is no legal requirement for them to
provide any security against insolvency and you could
lose your money. If you have bought the flights
direct from the airline, the airline has no legal
responsibility to repatriate you)
QUALITY THAT SHOWS
It’s not just ABTA's service standards and
strict Code of Conduct that make ABTA travel agents
and tour operators stand out from the crowd. The fact
is, the Association is highly visible too, because
all ABTA Members display the ABTA sign in their
windows, on their letterheads, on their brochures and
websites, and on their advertising too. So it’s
easy to pick out the right people to deal with when
you want to arrange your holiday.
The following
companies are also members of ABTA so if you are
interested in travelling anywhere else other than the
French Alps please check their websites*:
Corona Holidays, Canary Island
Holidays. The best luxury hotels, villas &
apartments throughout the Canary Islands (ABTA Member
company No. 20432/V307X)
1st Western Air Travel (ski-flights.com),
Travel agent specialising in Charter and scheduled
flights to the Alps (ABTA Member company No. C4167)
* Important
note: Peak Retreats does not actually endorse nor
has links (other than common ABTA membership) to any
of the companies listed above.
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