Travel with Katie Butler: ​Tips to avoid holiday booking fraud

Katie Butler writes: Last week flights were forced to divert away from their scheduled destinations after strong winds rocked planes as they attempted to land.

On Tuesday April 11, two Jet2 flights from the Canary Islands to Manchester were forced to change course. The airline confirmed both flights were diverted because of the weather conditions.

Jet2 flight LS892 from Lanzarote was diverted to Birmingham after aborting the landing in Manchester and also a flight from Gran Canaria was forced to abort its landing and divert to Newcastle.

Of course in the event of this happening your airline is responsible to ensure you get back to your original airport, usually by means of coach transfer.

It was refreshing last week to hear TV presenter Christine Lampard saying that Brits should use 'old school' travel agents to reduce the risk of being scammed, not so refreshing to hear how much holiday booking fraud seems to be doing the rounds.

Holiday booking fraud is when people hand over money only to discover the holiday, accommodation or flight they have paid for does not exist and quite often this does not come to light until you try to check in for your flight or accommodation.

Christine was speaking to consumer affairs journalist Felicity Hannah on ITV's Lorraine show on Wednesday April 12. Highlighting the dangers of scammers, Felicity said there were cases of holidaymakers turning up at airports and hotels only to discover that their booking did not exist or had not been paid for.

Christine said it was an awful situation for anyone to discover their booking does not exist. She said: “It just makes you think that you need to go back to the old school travel agent when you speak to someone in the office, maybe that will come back again? Because online can be so risky for so many people.”

Here are our top tips to avoid holiday booking fraud:

Do your research – don't rely on just one review, do a thorough search to ensure the company is credible.

Pay safe – never pay directly into a private bank account. If booking online use a credit card if you are able to.

Check your paperwork – look at receipts and invoices and be wary if you don't receive anything at all.

Use your instincts – if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Or even better – book with your local independent travel agent. We have some fantastic independent travel agents in our area, many of whom will come with word of mouth recommendations. Book local and support a local business at the same time.

Bookings remained strong throughout the holidays and it’s not every week you get a round the world cruise booking to the value of 43K! Our travel advisor Kath couldn't wait to tell me what she had just booked for some lovely customers venturing on the trip of a lifetime.

Majorca and Tenerife remained our top selling destinations last week.