if your card is a visa debit card you should be ok
well thats what lloyds tsb told me
i would check with your bank

first,
pay at least £100 on your credit card regardless of anything else and this will protect at least the part of your holiday you still have to pay for.
secondly,
alpharooms have probably not sold you a "traditional" package holiday, but a flight and separate accommodation - it will say this in the t&cs. this is a very grey area at the moment and it is possible that you would not be covered by your cc for the whole holiday.
double check with them what you are actually paying for this time round, is it all specifically for accommodation? get them to spell it out for you.

thankyou for your replys yes i think when you book with alpharooms i dont think it is classed as a package because when i booked over the phone he asked me if i wanted to book the cheap flight or the atol protected flight but it worked out too expensive to have the atol one.i only booked in the first place because it was a good price. but it may turn out to be very expensive if i loose it all. i booked it on my visa debit lloyds card.but i will take the gamble and pay the rest on my credit card.please monarch dont go bump six weeks to go. thanks again

You're missing an obvious alternative. If you haven't got your insurance yet make sure it covers airline failure (most don't but it is available if you look, earlier this year M&S did as standard and AXA did as an option). If you've already bought insurance have a look and see if it mentions it, you might be covered.

thanks i havent got my insurance yet i will take a look at the mns one i didnt realise you could be covered for that thanks again

Little bit of confusion here. Yes if you have paid at least £100 by CC then you are covered - BUT - this applies to a package as defined in the relevant act. If you book flight and accommodation as two separate elements then you need to ensure that you use your CC for each transaction.

Use the CC to pay £100 minimum and the balance by debit card if you wish to reduce the surcharge applied.

There have been several complaints here on HT this last few months where people have found themselves out of pocket. Some agents are putting together "a package" and then claimed they are not covered under Package Tour Regulations. The interpretation here on HT is that if the agent books you onto a holiday that contains transport (flight) and accommodation then it is a package.

We are still awaiting people to post how they have gone on having sought advice.

fwh

i booked with alpharooms as flight and accomodation.i have paid the majority on a lloyds visa debit card.looking at my details the flight has been paid for first and only a little was paid towards the apartment.they have sent me the flight details and told me on the phone the apartment details will come when i pay the balance which is due 12th nov.so i dont think i will be covered.not really sure to pay the balance of 400.00 on my credit card this is really confusing thanks all

Madge

I've checked my notes from February and it was Swiftcover.com that offered cover (as an option). Sorry for confusion, Swiftcover and M&S are both done by Axa!

And from posts on other websites, AXA are not the best at paying out should you need to claim.........

luci

i booked with alpharooms as flight and accommodation

My interpretation - having looked at Alpharooms website is you have not booked a package holiday - you do in fact have two separate but linked transactions. In effect you have built YOUR OWN package and would not be covered by the Package Tour Regulations.

This is the area that is in dispute as I mentioned before. According to the website THEIR interpretation of a package is when a holiday is booked by them with one of the Tour Operators - The service they offer is you pick your own flight and accommodation and they will do the bookings with the airline and accommodation on your behalf.

Whilst they are a member of ABTA and a travel agent they also operate a booking agency. In my opinion your booking is with the agency side of the business. It would be up to a court to decide if this constituted a package in the event things should go wrong.

fwh

thankyou all for your advice i struggle to write things down so i dont sound very clear thanks again i just hope i get away ive been reading some reviews on alpharooms and they are very mixed so i am a bit worried also ive heard comments that monarch arnt the best oh well too late now.lol ive been with lowcost beds and travel republic before they were very good.

madmadge wrote:

ive heard comments that monarch arnt the best

Madge, my family and I love flying with Monarch and rate them well above
all the other cheap airlines. (Flew with them in Aug/Sept and had the most stress
free flights we have had in years!)

thanks all i will just be happy to get away i dont care if i have to sit on someones lap as long as i get there.im not a fussy person i go camping quite a lot im used to a bit of rough lol.ive emailed the apartments and they have told me they have a room for me so fingers crossed thanks again all

Madmadge, please please please think about getting your insurance sorted sooner than later. Insurance really should be booked at the same time as booking the holiday. If one of your party were ill or unable to travel due to a variety of circumstances, then you could lose all your monies paid. My parents came unstuck with this some years ago when my father needed an emergency operation and then was too ill to travel. They told me that they had planned to take the insurance out 'soon'! The tour operator wouldn't refund their money so they lost over £1200.

Anyone needs any confirmation of the perils - and expense - of no insurance then you only need to look at this topic http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=127666&start=20

fwh