ASTA is telling agents to be observant of suppliers and tour companies who may not be unable to meet short-term financial obligations. ASTA also urges agents to review consumer travel insurance products to understand coverage in the event of supplier default.
“With today's economic challenges and particularly the reduced availability of credit, some suppliers and tour companies may be unable to meet short-term financial obligations," ASTA said "That includes making deposits and final payments to hotels and other travel suppliers. These difficulties may be only temporary if the supplier is otherwise healthy, but extra care is required to protect agency clients in these economic conditions.
This article also made me think of agencies themselves. With the above issues, economy and credit availability issues, you need to be aware of who you book with. I, thankfully, can tell you I have all my registration and licenses required to sell travel in California and Florida, along with several other States that require licensing. But there are many travel agencies that are not licensed and still selling to the public.It may not seem like such a big deal, but when you consider the fact that your deposits, fully paid trip or part paid, may not be covered, you could lose all your money, along with the trip you booked!!
Whether you book through us (I do hope so!), online or another agency, if you are booking a cruise for example, with one of the major companies (Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Princess, Crystal etc), you want to make sure your cruise portion (not any event fee as that is separate to the actual cruise booking) is paid directly to the cruise line via the booking agent, not direct to them! If you pay say $1500 and your credit card statement says "ABC Travel" not "Princess Cruise Line" for example, if that small agency goes under, you could very likely lose all that money. By making sure the agency pays your booking directly to the cruise line, you have a lot more security.
Also, if an agency is licensed, for example, we have a California license and pay into a security fund which is a protection fund for Californians, you are protected. If the agency is not licensed, you are on your own! License numbers are listed on websites and any marketing ads as a rule. So if you don't see any numbers such as CST #22085607-40, then that agency CANNOT sell to anyone located in California. This applies to other States such as Florida, Washington and several others, but California and Florida are the most strict on this licensing.
So do some homework before you throw away your hard earned money, it's hard enough to come by and you want to make sure you are protected.
Feel free to email me if you want more information.
