Buying Guides
Is My Retreat ATOL Protected? The Flight Decides It
By the Carefree Retreat team
Updated 2026
Is my retreat ATOL protected? Only if the organiser sold you flights as part of the booking. ATOL is the UK scheme for flight-inclusive holidays, and a retreat that is accommodation plus yoga, with you booking your own flights, will never carry an ATOL certificate. That does not mean your money is unprotected. Most residential retreats, in the UK or abroad, count as a “package” under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, and a package organiser has to protect your payments against its own insolvency whether flights are included or not.
This page explains how to tell which kind of booking you have, what each one gets you back if the organiser goes bust, and the questions to ask before you pay a deposit. It also covers the changes to the package rules that take effect on 6 April 2027.
Step 1: is your retreat a package at all?
A package is at least two different types of “travel service” for the same trip, sold together. The Regulations list four types:
- carriage of passengers (flights, coaches, trains, ferries)
- accommodation that is not for residential purposes
- car or motorbike rental
- any other tourist service, which is where yoga classes, Pilates, meditation sessions, guided walks and spa treatments sit
So a retreat that sells you a room plus a programme of classes is combining type 2 with type 4. The catch is a rule in regulation 2(6): a combination of one of the first three types with tourist services is not a package if the tourist services do not make up a significant proportion of the value and are not advertised as, or otherwise, an essential feature of the trip.
For a retreat, that test is usually easy. The yoga is the reason you are going, and the retreat is marketed on it. Government guidance also treats 25% or more of the total price as a rule of thumb for “significant”. A hotel that adds a single optional class to a room booking is not a package; a five-night yoga retreat with two classes a day, meals and a room almost always is.
What is not covered. The Regulations do not apply to trips of less than 24 hours without an overnight stay, so a day retreat is outside them. They also exempt packages offered “occasionally on a not-for-profit basis for a limited group of travellers”, which can catch a teacher running a one-off retreat at cost for their own students. And a booking where you arranged the accommodation and the classes separately, with different businesses, is not a package.
Step 2: flights in the booking, or not?
This is what decides ATOL.
The organiser sold you flights as well. Then the organiser needs an ATOL, a licence from the Civil Aviation Authority. You should receive an ATOL certificate when you pay anything, naming what is protected. The organiser pays a £2.50 per passenger contribution into the Air Travel Trust Fund for every booking; the CAA’s own explanation is that if the business fails, the CAA refunds money paid and arranges for people already abroad to fly home. That contribution must not appear as a separate charge on your bill.
You booked your own flights. Then the retreat will not have ATOL cover for you, and should not claim it. But if the retreat itself is a package (room plus classes, from step 1), the organiser must still have insolvency protection for your payments under regulation 19 of the 2018 Regulations. Organisers do this in one of three ways: a bond, usually through a trade body; an insurance policy; or holding your money in a trust account until the retreat has happened. Your flights are a separate contract, protected only by the airline’s own terms and, if you paid by card, your card provider.
What you get back if the organiser goes bust
| Your booking | Before the trip | During the trip |
|---|---|---|
| Retreat with flights, ATOL protected | Full refund of what you paid, via the CAA | Flight home arranged, or the chance to finish the holiday |
| Retreat package without flights, insolvency protected | Full refund of what you paid, via the bond, insurer or trust | Refund for the part you have not received; if transport was included, return travel too |
| Not a package (for example, room only, with classes paid on the day) | Only what your card provider or the business’s own terms give you | Same |
Two extra layers worth knowing. If you paid part of the cost on a credit card and the item cost between £100 and £30,000, section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 lets you claim from the card company. With a debit card, or a credit card below £100, you can ask your bank for a chargeback, which is a card-scheme rule rather than a legal right.
Questions to ask before you pay a deposit
- “Is this sold as a package?” A clear yes is what you want. From 6 April 2027 an organiser cannot escape the rules by declaring otherwise: the new regulation 30 says a statement that the organiser is acting only as an intermediary, or that a package “does not constitute a package”, does not remove its obligations.
- “How is my money protected, and by whom?” Ask for the name of the bonding body, the insurer or the trust company. Then check with that body that the organiser is a current member.
- “If flights are included, what is your ATOL number?” You can check it on the CAA’s ATOL holder search. No number, no ATOL protection.
- “Who is the organiser?” On a retreat run abroad by a UK teacher using a foreign venue, the organiser, and the business that owes you the protection, may be the teacher’s company rather than the venue.
What changes on 6 April 2027
Parliament approved the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements (Amendment) Regulations 2026 in April 2026. They apply to bookings made on or after 6 April 2027:
- “Linked travel arrangements” disappear. Some combinations that used to be linked arrangements, with weaker protection, now become full packages. The key one: separate travel services chosen and paid for separately, but in a single visit to, or contact with, one business’s website, shop or phone line. A retreat site that lets you pick a room and then book add-on transfers or excursions in the same session is likely to be selling a package from April 2027.
- A 14-day refund duty between businesses. Where a hotel, airline or other supplier cancels a service that is part of a package, it must refund the organiser within 14 days. The organiser’s duty to refund you is unchanged, but this makes it easier for small organisers to afford it.
- What did not change. The government decided against exempting UK-only packages without transport, so a residential retreat in the Cotswolds needs the same insolvency protection as one in Portugal. It also left the “significant proportion” and “essential feature” tests for tourist services as they are.
If you are booking a retreat for next spring, check the booking date: a contract made before 6 April 2027 stays under the current rules for its whole life.
For picking the retreat itself, our UK yoga retreats guide covers what to look for, and if you are heading abroad, check our note on passport rules for EU retreats before you pay.
Frequently asked questions
Is my yoga retreat ATOL protected? Only if the organiser sold you flights as part of the booking, in which case you should get an ATOL certificate. A retreat without flights cannot be ATOL protected, but if it is a package of accommodation and classes, the organiser still has to protect your money another way.
Does a UK yoga retreat need financial protection? Usually, yes. A residential retreat that combines accommodation with yoga or other activities that are an essential part of the trip is a package, and the organiser must protect your payments against its insolvency. The government confirmed in 2025 that UK-only packages would not be exempted.
How do I check if a retreat is ATOL protected? Ask for the ATOL number and check it on the Civil Aviation Authority’s ATOL holder search. You should also receive an ATOL certificate as soon as you pay for a flight-inclusive booking.
What happens if my retreat company goes bust before I travel? If the booking was a protected package, you get a full refund of what you paid through the ATOL scheme, the bond, the insurer or the trust account. If it was not a package, you rely on section 75 or chargeback through your card provider.
Is a day retreat covered by the Package Travel Regulations? No. The Regulations do not apply to trips of less than 24 hours unless overnight accommodation is included.
Are my flights protected if I book them separately? Not by the retreat organiser. Separately booked flights are covered only by the airline’s own terms, passenger rights law if the flight is cancelled, and your card provider if the airline fails.
Sources
The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 (regulations 2, 3 and 19) and the Amendment Regulations 2026, on legislation.gov.uk; the government response to the 2025 package travel consultation on GOV.UK; the CAA’s ATOL protection contribution guidance. Checked 30 September 2026, the last day of the ATOL year.
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