DIY holidays are ‘a false economy’

Holidaymakers wishing to save money by purchasing their flights, accommodation and car hire themselves may find that they are not covered by travel insurance, the Association of Independent Tour Operators (Aito) has said.

Booking the different parts of a trip separately could be “a false economy”, since people may be putting themselves at financial risk in the event of something going wrong, according to the organisation.

As many as 20 million consumers on ‘do-it-yourself’ holidays could be risking their money this summer and could even be stranded abroad if a company goes out of business, the Civil Aviation Authority reported.

Consumers are advised to book with one operator because if something goes wrong, such as a plane being cancelled, this could also affect car hire and accommodation arrangements.

A spokesperson for the Aito commented: “Always book with a tour operator because you’re spending quite a considerable amount of money and rather than saving one or two hundred pounds, why risk it if something goes wrong.”

Tags: accommodation arrangements, operator, Human behavior, car hire, Association

Foreign ATMs gain in popularity

The number of ATMs which can deal in foreign currency will grow, it was claimed today.

According to UK cash machine operator Link, a big cause of this growth will be the convenience of holidaymakers who want to withdraw the relevant cash before they jet off.

Traditionally only found in airports, Link predicts that foreign ATMs will move closer to the mainstream of British life, and will be found on the high street more and more.

Head of planning and development at Link Graham Mott said: “The theory is at the moment that, rather than the person waiting until they get to the airport to get their foreign currency as many people do, they’ll get their foreign currency beforehand, in the weeks leading up to the holiday. Therefore, putting them in the high street or supermarket would do well, as that’s where people are going on a regular basis anyway.”

He added that customers seem to “like the idea” of the expansion, though the company does not receive the exact statistics for customer uptake.

Due to most only having four cash cassettes, it is likely that the high street ATMs will only have the capacity to stock euros and US dollars in future. To Mr Mott, this would not be a problem, as these are the two most popular currencies.

Link’s comments follows Tesco’s recent decision to expand its foreign ATMs from four to 20.

Tags: Link, theory, growth, stock euros, Commerce