Will my money be protected using travel agencies abroad?

Q I am planning a trip that would involve using an in-country local travel agency. Before sending any money ahead, I need to be sure, of course, that the company is trustworthy and reliable. Clearly they won’t have UK protections. Can you suggest anything better than simply reading online reviews?

Muthe

A The optimum legal status for any overseas trip is a package holiday by air that begins in the UK. That means a flight plus one or more other services: usually accommodation, but sometimes a full organised tour, whether of cultural sights or Himalayan heights. Booking through a British company means your money is protected. And if anything goes awry with the arrangements, the firm that organises the trip must sort out the problem for you.

In other words: if possible, you should arrange a trip comprising flights and “ground arrangements” (ie, a tour with a local operator) through a single UK company.

There are, though, plenty of circumstances in which organising a trip like that may be either impractical or wildly expensive. In practical terms, it may simply be because the local operator does not have a UK partner. Regarding cost: if there is a British partner, often the margin added may run to hundreds or thousands of pounds – partly because of the high cost of providing those guarantees on financial and operational protection.

As a result of either or both of these factors, I have booked a fair number of trips through in-country travel agencies. In no case have I looked at online reviews. Ideally, it is word of mouth from other travellers I know and trust. Otherwise, knowing that the agency acts as a ground operator for international tour operators is a positive sign. Failing that, arrange a call to the boss or other high-up at the agency and ask lots of questions about the details of your proposed trip. Your intuition should help you decide whether this is someone to whom you can entrust your trip, your money and your safety.

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Q Please could you tell us if you think Faro airport will get its act together in time for the summer holidays, when thousands of us Brits will be heading there? I am quite worried about the situation.

Edie R

A For many non-EU passengers flying in and out of Faro airport in southern Portugal, it has been a miserable weekend. Queues for passport checks for “third-country nationals” have regularly exceeded an hour – while citizens of member states of the European Union (and wider Schengen area, including Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) are given a fast track. As with many other airports around Europe, the vast majority of third-country nationals are from the UK.

In one sense, we are getting exactly what we signed up for. The “oven-ready” deal to leave the EU included British travellers surrendering the opportunity to cross into the Schengen area with minimum fuss. We demanded the right to wait in line while officials scrutinised the passports of all arrivals for evidence of overstaying. Also, on the way out of an EU country, we secured agreement to have our passports stamped, regardless of the risk of missing transfers and flights due to post-Brexit red tape.

Yet long waits on arrival constitute a bad way to start a holiday, and on departure, it can be extremely disruptive, expensive and upsetting to miss a flight because of the impossibility of clearing passport control before departure.

The Schengen area border code says: “Member States should ensure that control procedures at external borders do not constitute a major barrier to trade and social and cultural interchange. To that end, they should deploy appropriate numbers of staff and resources.”

Staff and resources are the big problems at Faro airport. But I am sure airlines and the large holiday companies such as Jet2 and Tui are speaking robustly to the Portuguese authorities about processing times at the Algarve gateway. If Faro gets a reputation for poor service, many holidaymakers will happily switch elsewhere next time. I am sure the Portuguese tourism organisation is also on the case.

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Q We are going to Zante for the first time with our three children (age range 11 to 17). What highlights do you recommend? We weren’t planning to rent a car.

Katie H

A Zante, in the Ionian Sea south of Kefalonia and Corfu, is an excellent island for a family holiday. The beaches in the southeast around the main resort of Laganas and strung along the northeast coast are decent. Fresh, tasty food and drinks at reasonable prices are guaranteed.

After spending a week in Zante (also known as Zakynthos) last year, I have three highlights. I hope you can tempt your children away from the beach for at least one of them.

First, the island’s capital, Zakynthos (also known as Zante Town), is most agreeable. Wherever you are staying, there will be regular inexpensive buses to and from. Watch the comings and goings at the port. Wander through the pedestrianised areas. And visit the reasonably interesting archaeological museum (good luck dragging the kids around this one).

Next, in the interior of the island, the church of St Nicholas is well worth the long and winding drive to the village of Gerakari. The church itself is atmospheric, but the panorama – with views across the island and beyond to neighbouring Kefalonia – is superb. You can either rent a car for the day (€50 or less, ask locally) or get a taxi to take you there and wait (likely to be in the region of €80).

Renting a car will be handy for my third treat: the Keri Lighthouse restaurant in the southwest of the island. The meals are not the best on the island, but the location certainly is: high on a cliff above the most intensely blue Mediterranean water I have ever seen.

Just in case you get the urge to explore further afield, you can take a ferry across to Kefalonia in the morning and return in the evening. But I think Zante will have plenty to keep everyone happy.

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