Independent travel company Travel Counsellors has offered help, advice and alternative travel arrangements to those holidaymakers affected by the news that yet another tour operator has gone bust this summer.

The collapse of London-based travel company Flight Options Limited, trading principally as Kiss Flights, which specialised in holidays to the Mediterranean, has left approximately 13,000 holiday makers stranded abroad and a further 60,000 left without the holiday they had planned. It follows the failure of British tour operators Sun4u and Goldtrail, which left thousands of holidaymakers stranded in Spain, Greece and Turkey over recent weeks.

As soon as the news broke, the award-winning Bolton-based travel company, which prides itself on offering the best possible levels of personal service to its customers, was notified of the situation and was able to offer advice and reassurance to any travellers affected by the collapse.

Company Chairman David Speakman comments; “Although we don’t have any customers affected by this supplier failure, we want to let people know that we are willing to help in any way we can, from helping those stranded to get home to advice on how to claim a refund on holidays booked, and we can also offer alternative travel arrangements for those now left without a holiday.”

The company will be offering support services to the people affected such as expert travel advice and even help filling out their claim forms when seeking refunds for their holidays.

“This unfortunate situation highlights the importance of knowing your money is completely protected” says Mr. Speakman. “Travel Counsellors is one of the few travel companies in the industry to operate a financial trust, a unique financial guarantee that covers absolutely everything the customer books via their Travel Counsellor including hotels, low cost airlines, scheduled flights and car rental. It means that my customers can be sure when they hear news about a travel failure, such as that of Kiss Flights, Sun4u or Goldtrail, that they can be 100% sure that they have not lost their money.”

Since 2006, ABTA has ceased to guarantee payments to consumers in the event that its retail members go bust.

“Scanning the news for profit warnings is unlikely to be many people’s idea of planning for a holiday”, says Mr. Speakman. “Customers are now realising the value in booking with agents who can offer complete financial protection.”

With over 1,100 Travel Counsellors in six countries and over 700 in the UK alone, working from home and using award winning technology, the company’s agents are always available at a time to suit their customers – meaning unlike high street agencies they can be contacted during the evenings and at weekends.