The Big Kahuna The California Sellers of Travel Law The OSSN Agent The Official Newspaper of the Outside Sales Support NetworkSeptember / October 2001 By Al AnolikARTA General Counsel The California Sellers of Travel Law was enacted in September 1994. “Sellers of travel” who are located in California, or located outside of California but selling […]
"The Truth About Travel Agent Unions" Unlike death and taxes-the only things in life that are supposed to be certain-the law can prove to be exceedingly gray and indefinite. That’s the case with issues like the formation of a labor union for travel agency owners, front-line employees, and independent contractor agents. Last year, several travel agency […]
TCRC head aims to open up Calif. fund meetings Originally Published here: http://www.travelweekly.com/articles.aspx?articleid=31326 By Laura Del Rosso SAN DIEGO — Antoine Georges wants to let a little sunshine in on the inner workings of the Travel Consumer Restitution Corp. (TCRC), the entity in charge of doling out refunds to California residents financially hurt by […]
Symposium to feature Web firms’ attorneys WASHINGTON — Attorneys for Cruise.com, Travelocity and Worldspan — representing a spectrum of Web-focused businesses — will be panelists during the fifth annual National Travel Law Symposium set for Jan. 15 here. Taking the theme Travel, Technology and the Law, the event is set for the Washington Marriott. The speakers […]
State Regulations: Enforcement is key For details from the 10 most significant travel agent laws, see State Regulations: Who requires what By Nadine Godwin Originally Published here: http://www.travelweekly.com/articles.aspx?articleid=31691 A number of state governments regulate travel agents, or try to, but often the level of enforcement activity is not high. As a result, some agents find […]
State Regulations: Cross-border issuesPrevious articles in the State Regulations series: -Disclosure by the book -Laws seen as fundraisers -Enforcement is key -Who requires what The following is part of a series of articles that provides an in-depth look at state laws governing travel agents and the impact of those laws on the trade. See a sidebar story below on […]
State Regulations: Contractor complicationsPrevious articles in the State Regulations series: o Cross-border issueso Disclosure by the booko Laws seen as fundraiserso Enforcement is keyo Who requires what The following is part of a series of articles that provides an in-depth look at state laws governing travel agents and the impact of those laws on the trade. […]
State Regulations: Disclosure by the book Previous articles in the State Regulations series: • Laws seen as fundraisers• Enforcement is key• Who requires what Originally Published here: http://www.travelweekly.com The following is part of a series of articles that provides an in-depth look at state laws governing travel agents and the impact of those laws on the trade. […]
Society wins latest ruling in California lawsuitBy Laura Del Rosso Originally Published on www.travelweekly.com SACRAMENTO, Calif. — ASTA has won another ruling from the California Superior Court here in its fight against the Consumer Action League, which this spring sued more than 200 travel agencies because, the league claimed, they failed to post their California […]
Seminar to train agents to mediate disputes By Laura Del Rosso Originally published on www.travelweekly.com SAN FRANCISCO — A long-time travel agent and an industry attorney are looking to mediation to fill what they believe is a need in the industry: a less-expensive alternative to litigation to resolve disputes. Couples going through divorce, businesses and […]
Seller law may outlast sunset clause By Laura Del Rosso article from http://www.travelweekly.com/articles.aspx?articleid=34829 SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Seller of Travel law would become permanent under proposed legislation that recently passed the state’s Senate Business and Professions Committee. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo), eliminates the Jan. 1, 2006, "sunset" clause of […]
Pleasant, agency resolve discounting flapBy Nadine GodwinOriginally Posted on www.travelweekly.com NEW YORK — After severing the link between its Web site and that of a Chicago-based agency in a discounting dispute, Pleasant Holidays called the dustup a "misunderstanding" and welcomed the retailer back in its good graces. The agency, Foremost Travel & Tours, now is […]
Northwest, Ex-Sales Rep Battle Over Waiver Codes TravelAge West Originally published at: http://www.travelagewest.com/newsarticle.asp?articleid=343 Northwest Airlines charged in a lawsuit that Howard Yang, a former account executive, and five San Francisco travel agents conspired to defraud the airline by using waiver codes to evade advance-purchase and minimum-stay requirements. The airline claims that it suffered at […]
NWA sues agents, ex-rep for waiver code fraudBy Laura Del Rosso http://www.travelweekly.com/articles.aspx?articleid=25851 SAN FRANCISCO — Northwest Airlines is charging in a lawsuit that a former account executive and five local travel agents who specialize in ethnic markets conspired to defraud the airline by using waiver codes to evade advance-purchase and minimum-stay requirements. The airline […]
Lufthansa settles in Hall commission suitOriginally Published on www.travelweekly.com EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — Lufthansa and travel agency representatives reached a settlement in the Sarah Hall commission class-action suit, with Lufthansa creating a performance-based incentive program and making all of its Web fares available online for agent bookings. The settlement is subject to court approval. This […]
Hall attorneys seek ‘members of the class’By Michael Milligan Originally Posted on www.travelweekly.com WASHINGTON — Attorneys handling the Sarah Hall class-action suit against the major airlines are reviewing ARC data and other information to identify the travel agents who were in business as of October 1997, the boundary set by the courts for defining the […]
Groups may merge airline antitrust suitsBy Laura Del Rosso Originally Posted On: TravelWeekly.com SAN FRANCISCO — Two grassroots agent groups hoping to launch antitrust lawsuits against the airlines are talking about a possible merger. The two groups are Cleveland-based United Travel Agencies of America (UTAA) and Reno, Nev.-based AntiTrust Travel Agent Compensation (Attac). In the […]
Firm charges major operators with price-fixingBy David CogswellOriginally Posted on: www.travelweekly.com SAN FRANCISCO — A Chicago-based tour operator is charging that some big-name suppliers are trying to get consumers to book direct on their Web sites under the guise of "leveling the playing field" by restricting price discounting. According to Tom Stelter, chief financial officer […]
Debit memos coming hot, heavy and ‘stupid’By Nadine GodwinOriginally Published at: www.travelweekly.com NEW YORK — Travel lawyers, from their unique vantage point in the industry, report an increase this year in the number of airline debit memos, the dollars demanded in the debit memos and illogical justifications for debit memos. As travel attorney Mark Pestronk put […]
Crackdown: Bad publicity for retailersBy Laura Del Rosso Originally Published on: TravelWeekly.com SAN FRANCISCO — The attorney general’s press release listing travel agencies that violated California’s Seller of Travel law disturbed ARTA legal counsel Alexander Anolik here because it listed agents who failed to register along with those who were charged with much more serious wrongdoing. The […]
ASTA set to sue defunct line’s estateBy Rebecca Tobin Originally Published at: Travelweekly.com ALEXANDRIA, Va. — ASTA is going to court to stop the estate of Renaissance Cruises from suing travel agents for commissions paid on cruises that never sailed.The Society this week intends to file a class-action suit in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern […]
Anolik: Ease agent penalty for stolen ticketsComplete presentations:Barry Roberts, Roberts & HundertmarkDoug Crozier, Heifetz, Crozier, LawMark Pestronk, Law Offices of Mark PestronkTerry F. Lazar,Global Reservation SystemKathleen O. Argiropoulos, Airlines Reporting Corp.Bruce Bishins, U.S. Travel Agent RegistryOriginally Published at: TravelWeely.com By Fran Durbin WASHINGTON — San Francisco attorney Alexander Anolik said he believes he has come […]
Agent wins pay claim against Princess By Rebecca Tobin Originally Published on: www.travelweekly.com BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — A small claims court awarded a Los Angeles travel agent $2,363 after the agent sued Princess Cruises for unpaid commissions. Cecilia Pedroza of Pedroza Travel Center said Princess denied her commission because the line canceled the Grand Princess’ […]
Agents File Federal Court Petitions to Force SunTrips Into Bankruptcy From: Travel Trade By John Stone Four travel agencies seeking a combined $49,000 worth of unpaid sales commissions have filed involuntary petitions in a California federal court to force the tour operator SunTrips into a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy, if declared by the […]
By Nadine Godwin OAKLAND, Calif. — A small claims court here ruled in favor of a travel agent who was sued by a German client who claimed the agent should have warned her to carry her passport when traveling from the U.S. to Mexico.The agent, Peggy Jensen, sold a SunTrips Cancun package to a group […]
By Fran Durbin http://www.travelweekly.com/articles.aspx?articleid=16210 AIRFAX, Va. — Pedroza Travel Agency of Los Angeles defeated ARC in a stolen-ticket-liability case — and escaped liability of an estimated $1.8 million — by citing an ambiguity in ARC’s ticket-security rules. The rules allow agents to keep one spare box of tickets on the premises for each printer "maintained" […]
’We never had any problems. There were no bells or whistles from American.’ Karen Meyer co-owner Tour World Travel Wichita Falls, Texas By Laura Del Rosso SAN FRANCISCO — A Texas travel agency facing a $400,000 debit memo for misuse of government fares filed suit here against American Airlines for "acts of interstate extortion," claiming […]
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 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 […]
By Jerry Chandler www.travelagewest.com/newsarticle.asp?articleid=471 A key plaintiff’s attorney, in an action alleging nine major airlines conspired to cut commissions, said the lawsuit is still on track – this despite a counterclaim by one of the carriers. San Francisco attorney Al Anolik, general counsel for ARTA, said he expects a suit filed by Sarah Hall, owner […]
TRAVEL Q&A Job 1: Goof-proof your trip Travel agents make mistakes too, so it pays to double-check their work. By: Laurie Berger Originally posted on: www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-travelqa7may07,1,2082455,print.column May 7, 2006 WHAT options do travelers have when a travel agent makes a mistake but denies it? Travel Q&A tackles an expensive mishap that could […]
Suntrips Trip Refund That Never Came CBS 13/UPN 31 Originally posted: http://cbs13.com/consumer/local_story_096005707.html April 5, 2006 Dulcey Rood loves the sun, especially the Mexican Sun. She and her husband Robert were married in Mexico. They’ve been back seven times. There would’ve been an eighth trip this past Christmas, but they had to cancel because Robert […]
LA TIMES: TRAVEL Q&ABundled fees, a hornet’s nestBy: Laurie BergerMarch 6, 2005 Originally Posted on http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-qa6mar06,1,1428902.column?ctrack=1&cset=true Question: I recently booked a stay at the Westin Resort & Spa in Whistler, British Columbia, through Orbitz and was charged 20% in taxes and fees. After the trip, I wrote to Orbitz for a refund of the 7% […]
By Kevin Brass www.travelagewest.com/newsarticle.asp?articleid=2493 10/6/2003 A federal judge has approved the first settlement in the Sarah Futch Hall antitrust case against the major airlines, prompting speculation that more settlement agreements may soon follow. The deal with Lufthansa has been considered a bellwether for future negotiations in the class-action lawsuit, which charges 17 major airlines with […]
By Margot Carmichael Lester TravelAge West 10/6/2003 Originally posted at: www.travelagewest.com/newsarticle.asp?articleid=2499 It’s every agent’s nightmare: You recommend a certain hotel in Budapest that recently changed hands. When the client returns, he says it was a dump. The situation is bad enough, but could you also be sued? The short answer is “yes.” In today’s litigious […]
Far & Wide Bankruptcy Rocks Industry – 9/29/2003 By Lisa Jennings and R. Scott Macintosh TravelAgeWestOriginally published at: http://www.travelagewest.com/newsarticle.asp?articleid=2479 Far&Wide Travel Corp.’s bankruptcy filing marked the largest failure of a tour operator in recent history and sent economic effects rippling across the tourism industry. Many questions remained unanswered immediately after the Wednesday filing, which […]
By Kevin Brass 9/15/2003 http://www.travelagewest.com/newsarticle.asp?articleid=2459 Mysterious documents slated for shredding seven years ago may play a key role in travel agents’ current antitrust lawsuits against the major airlines. The airlines turned over the documents, which included e-mails, memos and phone logs, during the discovery process for the industry’s lawsuit against the airlines in the mid-’90s, […]
With an increase in bankruptcies, travel insurers’ business booming By Barry EstabrookNew York Times Posted Sept. 4, 2003 For those aboard the ship World Discoverer, an Around the Ring of Fire cruise proved memorable — perhaps too much so. The small luxury ship sailed last spring from the Japanese island of Hokkaido with a full […]
By R. Scott Macintosh and Judi Erickson TravelAgeWest Originally published at: http://www.travelagewest.com/newsarticle.asp?articleid=2448 The Department of Justice has found the proposed settlement with Lufthansa Airlines in agents’ landmark suit against the major carriers raises “serious concerns under antitrust laws.” In a letter filed with the court and sent to attorneys last week, the department asks Lufthansa […]
www.travelagewest.com/newsarticle.asp?articleid=2323 By Kevin Brass 7/7/2003 Within hours of signing a settlement agreement with Lufthansa Airlines, Jeanine Flaugher, one of the lead plaintiffs in the class-action agent suit against 17 airlines, changed her mind about the deal. “It stinks,” said Flaugher, who owns Flowers Travel in Belleville, Ill., with her husband, John. “Even though I signed, […]
By Jorge Sidron Travel Weekly June 23, 2003 San Francisco—Six major car rental companies have been slapped with a class-action lawsuit accusing them of “systematically and regularly” underreporting and underpaying travel agent commissions. The lawsuit, filed by four travel agencies and an individual agent in state superior court in San Diego, alleges that the […]
By Jerry Chandler www.travelagewest.com/newsarticle.asp?articleid=2101 3/10/2003 The California Attorney General’s office has asked at least one prominent San Francisco law firm for information on TQ3 Travel Solutions. The aim, according to travel attorney Alexander Anolik, is to help determine if one of the world’s largest providers of travel management services is in violation of the state’s […]
By Peter Splingaerd, All Travel, Phoenix http://www.travelagewest.com/newsarticle.asp?articleid=1743 I was delighted to receive notice from the law firm of Anderson, Daniel & Coxe that a federal judge has certified a class-action lawsuit against the major airlines for antitrust behavior in colluding to reduce and eliminate travel agency commissions. This is a major breakthrough in the defense […]
DECEMBER 03, 2001 — The Airlines Reporting Corp. today launched Compass, a faster, Web-based data storage and ticket record retrieval system that offers more flexible searching and sorting capabilities. Corporations with ARC-certified travel departments, as well as corporations supported by travel agencies that use ARC, will benefit from the new system, which proponents said cuts […]
By Laura Del Rosso Febuary 14, 2001 Originally published at: http://www.abovealltravel.com/california.html SAN FRANCISCO — California for the first time is putting on-line travel firms and Web site operators on notice that they must be registered under the state’s Seller of Travel Law before they can sell travel on line to California residents. Under the six-year-old […]
SEPTEMBER 20, 1999 — Last month, Travel Agent Arbiter William McGee ruled in favor of a small Los Angeles-based travel agency to relieve it of liability to the Airlines Reporting Corp. for tickets stolen in 1997. The decision came as the result of a request for reconsideration by Pedroza Travel after the arbiter first ruled […]
SEPTEMBER 20, 1999 — Last month, Travel Agent Arbiter William McGee ruled in favor of a small Los Angeles-based travel agency to relieve it of liability to the Airlines Reporting Corp. for tickets stolen in 1997. The decision came as the result of a request for reconsideration by Pedroza Travel after the arbiter first ruled […]
Tech Talk By MARY ANN MCNULTY, TECHNOLOGY EDITOR JANUARY 11, 1999 Applying some of the latest technology to the age-old problems of recruiting and data collection, two travel industry veterans have launched the TravelManagement.com Website. President and CEO Charles Brossman and CFO Steven Falk co-founded the site to provide resources specific to the needs of […]
Protecting The Independent Contractor Status by Alexander Anolik, Esq.,November 11, 1998 Too many agency owners are putting themselves and their independent contractors at legal and economic risk by not providing or demanding the basic requirements for their own protection. A precedent-setting California case we recently won reiterates the training you have received and should remind […]
Caribbean Agencies ‘Overlooked’ in Caps Payout"We were capped on February 1995, the same as the domestic agents." — Bernice Cordero, ASTA, Puerto Rico/U.S.V.I. chapterBy Michael MilliganOriginally Published on: TravelWeekly.com WASHINGTON — At least 600 travel agencies in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands did not get checks from the settlement of the 1995 commission […]