With a number of travel providers warning that some smaller ski holiday companies and airlines are under financial pressure due primarily to the weak value of the pound squeezing their margins it's worth being extra cautious when booking holidays and flights to check your provider is bonded so that if the worst happen, you'll get your money back, even though that may be scant consolation for losing your holiday.
Booking flights is particularly problematic and if you book flights with the airline directly yourself, you'll typically have less protection than if you book your flights through a third party such as a tour operator, as part of a package.
But it's a grey area.
One point to note is that if an airline ceases trading due to financial problems most travel insurance policies won't compensate you. Apparently company failure is a common 'exclusion' in the small print, so that's worth checking if you can.
The top advice is to book with a credit card, as this provides you with protection under consumer credit law – so long as your airline ticket costs at least £100 anyway.
Your credit card company is as equally liable (as the airline) under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act if the airline goes bust so you can get your money back from it.
This is a legal protection that credit card companies have no choice about, as when you spend on a credit card, you're entering into an arrangement to borrow from them (even if in fact you pay off the balance in full each month), so you get these rights.
You don't get them if you pay with a debit card direct from your bank account.
In addition, if a travel company is ATOL licensed you should have protection and get your money back if there's a problem. But there are, inevitably, exclusions to the rule.
By law, every UK travel company which sells air holidays and flights is required to hold an ATOL, which stands for Air Travel Organiser's Licence. They pay in £2.50 to the scheme for every passenger they carry.
As a result of changes to holiday booking patterns – particularly more people booking elements of their holidays separately and direct with the provider rather than through a travel agent or tour operator – changes were made to the ATOL scheme in April 2012 so that it now covers all overseas air holidays where a flight and accommodation have been booked together.
It also covers some, but crucially not all, flights booked separately. It's also important to keep in mind that the airline you book with increasingly may not be registered in the UK, so probably won't be covered by ATOL.
So if you do have concerns the things to check are whether your airline or travel company are registered in the UK and have an ATOL license, whether your travel insurance policy covers failure of the airline or travel company and for the full belt and braces approach, ensure you book with a credit card.