Atol or Abta – which one offers the best protection?

Simon Calder answers your questions on accreditation, Christmas trains, and staying safe on holiday

Got you covered: both accreditations have potential benefits for travellers (Getty)

Q Which is the better accreditation to look for: Atol or Abta?

“Docker 1978”

A A fair question, to which I am afraid the answer is: it all depends. Broadly, each of these accreditations has potential benefits for the traveller – but conversely many trips which are covered by neither marque work out just fine.

Atol stands for the Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing scheme. It is basically an insurance scheme for the value of your package holiday, should the travel firm go out of business ahead of you completing the trip. The scheme also helps travellers who are away when the travel company fails: they can generally finish the holiday before flying home more or less as normal. Atol cover is mandatory for packages abroad from the UK involving a flight and another element (usually accommodation). The premium paid by each traveller is a flat £2.50, which goes into a fund that occasionally has to pay out – most notably in 2019 when the travel giant Thomas Cook collapsed.

Should the holiday firm go out of business, though, you will be directed to your credit card provider if that was how you paid for the trip. (Incidentally, it strikes me as unfair that people who pay for a package holiday using a credit card should have to pay the £2.50 per person contribution, since it is certain they will not be claiming from the fund.) Arguably the main benefit of Atol is that it provides confirmation that you are on a package holiday, which in turn means you are protected by the benevolent Package Travel Regulations. Basically, this law insists you must get the holiday you booked, or the travel firm must make amends.

Now for Abta. This is the UK travel trade body formerly known as the Association of British Travel Agents. It offers a modicum of financial protection in the event of failure – but only for package holidays or similar arrangements that do not involve a flight, and again credit-card protection prevails in most cases. The chief benefit of booking through an Abta member: the association has a code of conduct for members and does not hesitate to upbraid those who break it.

The only way to reduce the scourge of crooks is to make the authorities aware of every theft (iStock)

Q I went to Porto last week for a three-night break with my husband. However, while travelling on the metro from the airport to our station we encountered an over-friendly local man who tried to assist us with directions. In hindsight, we were sitting ducks. My leather purse was in my shoulder bag, which in no time left my person. But on arrival at our hotel when I needed to produce my credit card, I realised it wasn’t there. Obviously, I was very distressed and immediately contacted my credit card companies to cancel the cards. One of the cards had already had the maximum £100 spent on it. We didn’t report it to the police as we were tired and hungry. Today when I contacted the insurance company they informed me that, in order to process the claim, they require a police report. Do you have any advice?

Linda J

A It’s awful to have a trip to a wonderful city ruined with an upsetting experience like that. Thank you, though, for the opportunity to remind everyone of the need to assume, on any airport-city journey, that a villain has you in his sights. I have not heard of this happening in Porto before, but have fallen victim to it in Barcelona; I also hear lots of stories about the Schiphol airport to Amsterdam train, as well as the Paris CDG rail link. Tired travellers who have not yet tuned into the new setting are easy prey for these contemptible thieves.

Reporting crimes to the police is the last thing you ever want to do abroad, particularly after a difficult journey, but I recommend getting through it if you can. Partly because the subsequent insurance claim is made easier – and also because the only way to reduce the scourge of such crooks is to make the authorities aware of every theft.

You may, even at this stage, be able to file an online report to the police in Porto. If that does not work, I suggest you approach the insurers again and explain why you felt unable to report the crime. If that doesn’t persuade them to budge, you could always appeal to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The adjudicators often decide in favour of travellers.

The absence of even a skeleton train service on Christmas Day, around big cities and on key long-distance routes, is one of the many deficiencies of rail in the UK (EPA)

Q I am not a regular rail traveller but I am planning to visit some friends at Christmas. It seems no trains are running anywhere on 25 December itself, and very few on 26 December. Has this always been the case? I used to live in Germany and don’t recall anything similar there.

James L

A The absence of even a skeleton train service on Christmas Day, around big cities and on key long-distance routes, is one of the many deficiencies of rail in the UK. In the late 20th century, 25 December saw scheduled services at least in Scotland (where 1 January was the no-go day). There have also been very limited attempts at running trains from central London to Heathrow and Gatwick airports. I imagine that Britain let Christmas Day trains go as a concept while car ownership increased, and ridership slipped to an unviable low.

“No demand” is largely the justification for continuing the shutdown. Yet the upsurge in 25 December coach services, both intercity and airport links, shows that people do want to use public transport: in recent years (pandemic times excepted), National Express and Megabus have hugely enhanced their Christmas Day offering. As you suggest, railways in continental Europe generally keep going 365 days a year, though with a reduced service on Christmas Day.

So is there any hope of restoring 25 December as a rail travel day? I believe so – with Boxing Day showing the way forward. This 26 December, ScotRail will be running its biggest service for three decades. The London Victoria-Gatwick Airport-Brighton corridor will be served, reflecting strong demand on what is a dismal road journey, and Merseyrail will be connecting people in and around Liverpool.

I predict these are the best candidates for reintroducing 25 December trains, possibly in the next few years, and I will continue to lobby for connectivity for those of us who do not have access to a car – with rail staff who work on Christmas Day properly rewarded.

Manchester airport has an impressive range of direct trains from its railway station (Simon Calder)

Q You wrote that Gatwick is the best UK airport for ground transportation. But Manchester airport has a combined bus, tram, and train station five minutes from the terminals. There are trains every 10-15 minutes, trams every 12 minutes, and regular buses too. So how could Gatwick be better than that?

“N”

A You make a fair point. Manchester airport (the third in the UK, after London Heathrow and Gatwick) has an impressive range of direct trains from its railway station.

The tram to the airport is an asset, but having taken it once from the city centre I wouldn’t do so again: the trip takes almost an hour, compared with 13 minutes for a nonstop train to Manchester Piccadilly. So I consider it a local service, which when added to the bus network puts Manchester roughly on a par with Gatwick. So I shall focus on the trains.

The departure boards are very different. In a typical hour, Manchester has trains to Crewe, Blackpool, Llandudno, Windermere, Liverpool and Saltburn (via Leeds and York). All except the Crewe services stop at Manchester. Depending on the hour, there are also direct links to Edinburgh and Barrow-in-Furness.

Gatwick’s northbound list comprises various London stations, with some services continuing to Cambridge, Peterborough and Bedford. Direct southbound trains serve Brighton, the rest of the south Coast and Southampton. In addition, a link to Reading provides easy connections to the West of England.

Where Manchester cannot compete, though, is on frequency and capacity. Manchester airport station is a terminus, generally with eight or nine arrivals each hour, and the same number of departures. Trains range between two and six coaches in length. In contrast, Gatwick has 30 through trains each hour, mostly of eight or 12 coaches. So I stand by my assertion: “Gatwick has the biggest range of rail options among UK airports, with Manchester second.”

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