Travel agenst put the boot in

Hairy Homer

It's been a good week for travel agents, that august body of people that were supposed to have been 'disintermediated' by the dot.com boom and now get to see within the space of two days, a billion euro wiped off the share price of Ryan Air - the company that cut them out of its operations by using direct bookings and then seeing Jet Magic, another low cost airline go bang.

Truly they now know the meaning of the word Schadenfreude.

By way of evidence, here's a gloating press release that one agency has fired off as Jet Magic's obituary.

Disclaimer: I'm not a travel agent nor do I work in the travel industry





Jet Magic Collapse

Why are low-cost airlines not bonded?

January 29th, 2004, Dublin, Ireland - Stein Travel, Ireland's largest independent tour operator, have been highlighting the problems that can arise when an airline like jet magic collapses.

Stein Travel are a fully Government licensed and bonded tour operator which means that customers can be 100% sure that their money is protected when they book with Stein Travel. Bryanna O'Higgins, CEO says "The tour operators bond is there to protect the consumer and guarantees that their money will be protected and that they will not be left stranded abroad"

O'Higgins continues " However we are concerned that the same protection is not there when passengers book with an airline, particularly a low-cost airline that sets up overnight. We have continually written to the relevant bodies to highlight this issue and in fact we warned the Director of Consumer Affairs about the imminent collapse of Jetmagic as far back as 10th November, and the problems that could arise for consumers as a result."

"We have been writing to the Director of Consumer Affairs, Carmel Foley, since last August on this issue. However, we have yet to receive a written response on the matter. We advised the Director of Consumer Affairs office this morning that we were going to possibly mention this lack of response on the radio - at mid-day they replied that their position was that they felt that it was a matter for the Department of Transport. We cannot accept that financial protection for travelling consumers is not an issue of interest to the Director of Consumer Affairs."

O Higgins continues "We have of course, also raised this matter with the Minister for Transport, Seamus Brennan. We were delighted to be afforded a meeting with the Minister in December, and we felt that he really took on board our concerns. We are following up this issue with his department."

"Stein Travel believe that all travellers should be protected- not just those that travel with a Tour Operator. Consumers money and welfare should be protected equally - whether they book with a low cost airline, or a Tour Operator. UK research has shown that consumers are, however, confused as to what protection they are afforded when they book a flight or holiday - and many think that they are in fact already protected if, for example, an airline fails. This is not the case and consumers should be aware of it."

As O'Higgins concludes "…we have been highlighting this issue for some time now. It is unfortunate that it takes the collapse of Jetmagic to make people aware of it. Stein Travel's customers can however rest assured that we are a fully bonded and government licensed Tour Operator and that all aspects of their holiday are protected when they book with us."


Barbara Wallace, Stein Travel, Tel: 01-408-6346, Mob: 086-601-8654


About Stein Travel

Stein Travel is the largest Irish-owned independent tour operator, and employs over 65 people with revenues of €60 million. Stein Travel began with a vision to provide exciting holiday options, with a wide choice of destinations at great value prices, and this vision is still at the core of the company today.

In 1991 Michael Stein established Flyaway Tours and which rapidly became Ireland's fourth largest tour operator. In April 2002, Stein Travel purchased Corona Holidays who specialised in holidays to the Canaries and were responsible for over 8,000 seats to the Canaries. In 2002, they consolidated their various travel brands under the Stein Travel brand and Bryanna O'Higgins was appointed CEO of the group.

Stein Travel has made a significant investment into their online presence with the launch of <http://www.steintravel.ie/>www.steintravel.ie. Set up in 2001 <http://www.steintravel.ie/>www.steintravel.ie was the first online booking facility launched by a tour operator in Ireland and has fast become the portal for package holidays bookings in Ireland, accounting for over 10% of the group's revenue. Today Stein Travel charters over 150,000 seats per annum, providing a direct service from Dublin, Cork and Knock airport. 2003 saw the launch of Stein Travel's service to Lanzarote, and Crete, Rhodes and Salou are new destinations being added to the Summer 2004 brochure.

drane2

Surely decent travel insurance will cover you if the airline goes belly up?

Hairy Homer

I'm sure it will,but how many Ryanair regulars bother to take out travel insurance?

Of course, by doing so, you would very often be pusing the price of travelling by Ryanair perilously close to that of travelling with the likes of Aer Fungus.

drane2

Well I (and pretty much everyone else I know) takes out travel insurance when they go abroad purely for medical purposes. The fact that it covers stuff like this aswell is a bonus.

also isn't there something about your credit card company covering youif you book the tickets using your credit card?