Originally Posted on: KTVU.com 1. "You’ll get lost in cyberspace." Terrorism. SARS. Airline bankruptcies. War. They’re not making it easy to travel these days. Unfortunately, neither are many travel agents, both the human kind and the online kind. Complaints against agents, such as unexplained charges and crummy customer service, rose 23% last year, according to the […]
Travel LawBY ALEXANDER ANOLIK In countries the world over, travel and tourism is one of the largest service industries. In the United States, tourism is one of the three largest businesses in the nation, and the second largest employer. As leisure time and disposable income have increased, and with more corporate travelers servicing their businesses […]
By Barbara De Lollis, USA TODAY International travelers could have something new to worry about if terrorism alerts ever again force airlines to cancel specific flights as they did over the recent holidays. Who pays for hotel rooms, meals and other expenses incurred by travelers forced to wait a day or more for a flight […]
http://www.travelagewest.com/newsarticle.asp?articleid=1402 By Kevin Brass Jerry Vaclav says bankrupt Renaissance Cruises will have to go to court if it wants him to return a commission he believes he earned in good faith. "I would rather spend the money on attorney fees than return it," said Vaclav, owner of J&K Travel in Austin, Texas. Vaclav’s response […]
By Chris Woodyardand Barbara De Lollis, USA TODAY The airline industry is having a problem with wide bodies. Not big planes — rather, big passengers. As many Americans have grown wider around the middle, they are having an increasingly hard time fitting into economy-class seats. Now, airlines are taking action. Starting Wednesday, Southwest Airlines will […]
By Kevin Brass and R. Scott Macintosh http://www.travelagewest.com/newsarticle.asp?articleid=2483 A federal judge in travel agents’ landmark class-action suit against the major airlines has approved a controversial settlement agreement with Lufthansa Airlines. The proposed settlement was the first in the antitrust case filed under the name of travel agent Sarah Futch Hall and had been opposed by […]
On the Road with Bill McGee Most of us intend to prevent trouble before it even starts by making good travel planning decisions and straightening out problems as they arise. But every traveler knows that sooner or later they’ll take "The Trip from Hell." And then the trip turns into being all about filing a […]
http://www.travelagewest.com/newsarticle.asp?articleid=1170 TravelAgeWest By David Peterkofsky The ASTA Litigation Center, a nonprofit law firm affiliated with ASTA, will work with attorneys to help defend some 225 agencies named in a lawsuit filed by an entity called the Consumer Action League in California Supreme Court in Sacramento. The suit alleges that the agencies violated state law by […]
TravelAgeWest http://www.travelagewest.com/newsarticle.asp?articleid=491 ARTA’s Chairman Nancy Linares told her membership last week that the association would ask commission settlement company NPC to hold off implementing new fees for its Commission Express program or face retaliation. Linares said that in the past, NPC has sent checks (twice a week, in many cases) to participating agencies for commissions […]
http://www.travelagewest.com/newsarticle.asp?articleid=1206 By Robert Carlsen SAN DIEGO – ARTA said at its annual conference here last week that it has reached an agreement with the consortium Hickory Travel Systems for a super-agency program. The contract is currently under review by ARTA’s attorney, Al Anolik, and should be signed by press time, according to ARTA President John […]