Book an ATOL protected trip wherever you can - essentially place the booking for as much of your trip as possible with one company where an invoice is issued to cover the entire cost of the trip with one total price for your holiday. The company should hold an ATOL (Air Tour Operator’s Licence) from the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) in order to sell on this basis. ATOL’s are usually held by Tour Operators and their holidays are sold either direct of via travel agents. Some travel agents also hold these licences to allow them to package up trips and offer the full financial cover.
The benefits of doing this are that the ATOL scheme ensures that if the company goes under you are entitled to a full refund under the scheme, or if you are already abroad you can continue on your holiday without any issues. Additionally, if a part of your trip goes wrong, the ATOL holder is responsible for sorting it out for you.

Pay for your holiday by credit card – when you are not able to book a trip covered by ATOL you must pay for your transaction by credit card, whether you book direct or through a travel agent. This gives you protection under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 section 10. However you may well face paying credit card charges on your booking which obviously add cost to your break. Visa debit cards also offering the purchaser protection when companies go under.
If you pay by cash, cheque, bank transfer, debit card or electron/pre paid cards then you do not receive cover under the consumer credit act should something go wrong. There is also no cover for transactions by credit card under £100 in value.