Licences Bonding & Membership

Advantage - The UK's Largest Independent Travel Consortium

Advantage, Specialists in Travel, is the UK's largest group of independent travel agents with a network of over 800 outlets across the country with an annual combined group turnover in excess of £3 billion.

This means that Medway Travel, as a member,  can offer the best value holiday arrangements whilst in addition:

• Being part of the largest UK Independent Travel Agency group means that we work with hundreds of tour operators and travel suppliers and because we are so big, we can negotiate better deals which we can pass on to our clients.
• We are independent - so we sell you a holiday or a flight or a hotel which matches your requirements exactly, without facing contrary "guidelines" from a remote head office with an alternative agenda. But it doesn't stop there, we canoffer you; concert tickets, airport parking, travel money, excursions, private transfers and more, because we are genuinely interested in our clients' getting best value.
• We have extensive travel experience and expertise. Our staff have visited many parts of the world and bring back their experiences so you can go to the right place on your holiday. Speaking to someone who has such knowledge of hotel, tours, culture and people at the destination, can really make the difference and means you get more out of your holiday.
• We can often be just as competitive as booking online and in fact we can sometimes give you the same holiday, but cheaper. If your agent has the benefit of £3 billion a year purchasing power, booking through a good, owner managed travel agent doesn't mean it is more expensive!
• With us your holiday will be financially protected against a possible supplier failure - unlike many unfortunate people's experience when they book on line.

In addition, to benefit our corporate clients, MTL is a member of the Advantage Focus Partnership

The Focus Partnership was launched in 1999 and has become widely recognised as an award winning,forward thinking network of 90 independent Travel Management Companies within Advantage. Together, we have a combined turnover of over £750 million pounds per year, which creates enormous collective buying power and a valuable pool of business acumen from we which Partners can provide benefit to our clients.

Whilst Advantage membership is restricted to fully licensed and bonded independent travel agencies, Focus Partners also have to hold ISO 9001/2008 Quality Assurance and/or IIP (Investors in People) accreditation.

As a Partner in the Focus Partnership (which is the largest independent TMC organisation in the UK), we have worldwide links through the further partnership with our Worldwide International Network in over 10 countries.

Thus, we offer:

• A full range of very competitive fares, rates and services, normally associated only with the largest international Travel Management Companies.
• Professional meetings, planning and booking services
• Concept-to-completion conference and incentive services
• Comprehensive support services such as travel insurance, passport and visa processing, foreign exchange, airport car parking, meet-and-greet, and chauffeur-drive transfers
• Travel policy monitoring, supplier negotiation support, and full management information provision.

When combined with the independent personal service we provide as an owner-managed independent company, all this makes us unique in the Corporate Travel market.

In other words, why any look further for a great travel partner? Contact us for further details and a discussion with our sales team.

Medway Travel was one of the first ten travel companies in the UK to install a sophisticated fares research and ticketing facility covering all the ATOC rail companies services and fare types, including concessions.
This facility gives speedy access to all the best fares and enables our consultants to advise clients of the optimum times to travel and the best routing and connections for the more complex journeys. It also allows ticket on departure facilities to be used where stations are appropriately equipped.

The through tickets and fares can include any London Underground legs of your trip, if these are necessary.
We produce the normal ”smart” (credit card sized) tickets that are recognised by the ticket barriers used in over-ground and London Underground stations.

One of business’s hidden costs is the time wasted by non-experts trying to do expert’s work. For example, would you really put a complex legal case in the hands of an amateur solicitor?

Our staff are qualified by ATOC to sell UK rail tickets and through employing only the highest calibre staff with years of experience, extensive training and using the very best technology, Medway Travel Management has consistently shown it is totally committed to provide business travel services that save its clients' time, money and stress.

"ATOL" (Air Travel Organisers Licence), is granted by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Firms selling consolidated air travel packaged travel arrangements in the UK are required by law to hold an ATOL. An ATOL provides consumer protection in the event of failure of that supplier and will protect you from losing money, or being stranded abroad. Before a firm is granted an ATOL, it has to lodge guarantees with the CAA; in the event of a business failure, the CAA refunds those people whose arrangements can no longer be honoured, and ensures that people already abroad are able to complete their arrangements and fly home. This protection is included in the price of any arrangements booked with an ATOL-holder.

The flights and holidays shown are ATOL Protected by the Civil Aviation Authority, and we act as agents for licensed tour operators; the relevant ATOL number is displayed with each holiday shown. The flight bookings we make are also ATOL Protected, except when tickets for scheduled flights are sent to you within 24 hours of payment being accepted, or where your payment is made direct to airlines. ATOL Protection extends primarily to customers who book and pay in the United Kingdom. Medway Travel hold ATOL number 4774 and you can find out more about ATOL from their web site at http://www.atol.org.uk/ and you can review Medway Travels ATOL by typing in our ATOL number, which is 4774.

"IATA" stands for the International Air Transport Association. IATA regulate airfares and acts as a bonding agency allowing agents displaying their symbol to sell tickets legitimately. A customer who books air tickets with an IATA bonded agency can be sure that the airline has trust in the agency to sell at legitimate and fair prices. You can find out more about IATA from their web site at http://www.iata.org/

We are a Member of ABTA which means you have the benefit of ABTA's assistance and Code of Conduct. Many of the travel arrangements that we sell are protected in case of the financial failure of the travel company. Please ask us about the protection that applies to your booking.

ABTA regulated travel agents and tour operators must comply with strict financial rules. These rules are to protect your money and allow ABTA to make sure that claims are paid in the event of a company failure. You can book your holiday knowing that if an ABTA regulated tour operator or travel agent goes bust while you’re on holiday, you should be able to continue as originally planned, and, in any event, ABTA will ensure you get back home. If you haven’t already started your holiday, you’ll get your money back or be given help to make alternative arrangements for the holiday to proceed. Many ABTA tour operators also provide bonds to the Civil Aviation Authority under the ATOL scheme. Medway Travel hold ABTA number D823X and you can find out more about ABTA from their web site at http://www.abta.com/

Medway Travel is proud to be one of only a small number of British travel agents to  have earned the coveted ABTA GOLD accolade, in recognition of the extent and effectiveness of our on-going staff training.

Investors in People is a national quality standard which sets a level of good practice for improving an organisation's performance through its people. Since 1991 tens of thousands of UK employers, employing millions of people, have become involved with the Standard and know the benefits of being an 'Investor in People'. With the continued growth and uptake of the Standard in the UK, international interest has been stimulated and continues to grow. You can find out more about IIP from their web site at http://www.iipuk.co.uk/

ACE (formally PSARA) is the training and education body of the UK Cruise industry supported by 24 of the world's leading cruise lines, and ACE Agents are trained in selling cruising and matching the right customer to the right ship.

The Accreditation Scheme is for agents such as Medway Travel, to demonstrate that they have cruise experts offering unbiased advice on choosing cruise holidays. It involves extensive cruise product training, ship inspections and cruises as well as covering a distance learning programme.

You can therefore be confident when you ask us for advice, that we will carefully and expertly match our recommendations to your requirements.

The ISO 9001 family is primarily concerned with "quality management". External audits check what the organization does to fulfil:

• the customer's quality requirements, and
• applicable regulatory requirements, while aiming to
• enhance customer satisfaction, and
• achieve continual improvement of its performance in pursuit of these objectives.

Medway Travel is accredited to ISO9001/2008, which means that we routinely do our utmost to provide total customer satisfaction through our quality management systems.