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**UNITED STATES OF AMERICA**

**DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION**

**OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY**

**WASHINGTON, D.C.**

**Issued by the Department of Transportation**

**on the twentieth day of December 2007**

Vantage Travel Service, Inc., d/b/a Vantage Deluxe World Travel

**Docket OST 2007-26781*\
*\
Violations of 49 U.S.C. § 41712 and**

**14 CFR 399.84 Served December 20, 2007**

**CONSENT ORDER**

This consent order concerns advertisements by Vantage Travel Service,
Inc., d/b/a Vantage Deluxe World Travel ("Vantage Deluxe"), that violate
the Department's advertising requirements specified in section 399.84 of
the Department's regulations (14 CFR  399.84), and constitute unfair and
deceptive trade practices and unfair methods of competition in violation
of 49 U.S.C. § 41712. This order directs Vantage Deluxe to cease and
desist from future violations and assesses the company compromise civil
penalties of \$65,000.

Vantage Deluxe, as a seller of air travel, is subject to the advertising
requirements of Part 399 of the Department's rules. Under 14 CFR 399.84,
any advertising that states a price for air transportation or an air
tour is considered to be an unfair or deceptive practice in violation of
49 U.S.C. § 41712 unless the price stated is the entire price to be paid
by the customer to the air carrier or ticket agent for such air
transportation, tour or tour component. However, as a matter of
enforcement policy, the Department has permitted air carriers and agents
to state separately from the advertised price taxes and fees imposed by
a government on a per-passenger basis, such as passenger facility
charges, so long as their amounts appear or are indicated clearly in the
advertisement so that the consumer can determine the full price to be
paid.[^1] Ticket agents must provide similar notice where airfares are
held out as "free," but government-imposed taxes and fees must by paid
by a passenger in order to utilize the "free" fare. Taxes and fees
imposed on an ad valorem basis, however, must be included in the
advertised price, lest consumers be seriously confused about the total
amount that must be paid. Carrier- or agent-imposed surcharges, e.g.,
fuel, insurance, and service charges, or other such costs, must be
included in the advertised price. With respect to airfares and air tours
advertised on the Internet, taxes and fees that are permitted to be
excluded from the advertised price may be noted in a prominent link,
placed proximately to the stated price, that takes the viewer to the
bottom of the screen, or to a separate screen, where the nature and
amount of such fees are displayed. (See, e.g., JetBlue Airways, Inc.,
Order 2004-2-4, Trafalgar Tours West, Order 2007-8-24, Grand Circle
Travel Corp, Order 2006-7-23, and orders cited therein, and the notice
entitled: Disclosure of Additional Fees, Charges and Restrictions on Air
Fares in Advertisements, Including "Free" Airfares, which is dated
September 4, 2003, as well as guidance letters to the industry which can
be found at: <http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/> rules/guidance.htm.).

Vantage Deluxe has specialized for over 20 years in offering
comprehensive travel packages that include airfare, hotel, river
cruises, guided tours and related amenities, particularly to Russia,
other countries in Europe, and the Far East. During 2005, 2006 and
virtually all of 2007, Vantage Deluxe promoted air fares and air travel
packages through printed brochures and mailers, by means of
advertisements that were published on its web site,
www.vantagetravel.com, and through direct e-mail advertising campaigns.

The airfares and air tours promoted in Vantage Deluxe's brochures,
e-mails and mailers and on its web site, including those touting "free"
airfares, did not comply with Department requirements. More
specifically, the listed prices for the complete air, land and cruise
packages lacked an appropriate notice or hyperlink prominent and
proximate to the price that disclosed to the viewer that taxes and fees
that *are* permitted to be listed separately from the advertised price
were not included. For example, the site included the words "From Only"
appended to the tour price on the first page that announced the tour
"*Aboard the East Queen*," with a statement of the "features" of the
"Tibet, Shangri-la and China's Yangtze River" tour, e.g., "From Only US
\$3299." It was not, however, until the reader reached the 2007
Departure Dates and Prices page that there was any notice that certain
taxes and fees were not in fact included. Moreover, fuel surcharges,
which must be included in the advertised price, were not included, nor
were "port charges" or "other surcharges." [^2]

Not including fuel surcharges, port charges, or other surcharges
collected by Vantage Deluxe in the advertised price of an air tour
package when it is first listed violates the Department's regulations
and enforcement case precedent. Likewise, the failure to provide
appropriate notice of, and a link to, a description of the taxes and
government fees assessed and their amount, or a range in amounts, also
violates the Department's full-fare advertising rule and related case
precedent. In addition to violating the requirements of section 399.84
and related Department precedent and enforcement policies, such
practices constitute an unfair and deceptive trade practice in violation
of 49 U.S.C. § 41712.

Moreover, once a firm quotes through its advertising a specific price
for a flight, tour or tour component, the firm must charge that price to
the consumer. When a firm advertises a specific price for a flight, tour
or tour component, it must have available a reasonable inventory at the
advertised price for a reasonable time period. To preclude there being a
deceptive practice issue for brochures, a firm can state in its
brochures that the prices it is advertising are good "as of" or "until"
a date certain, and advise the consumer that availability of the
advertised fares may be limited and current fares may be higher with
notice as to where current prices can be obtained. For example, the
following language would suffice if conspicuous to a reader: "Prices in
this brochure were effective on \[date\] and their availability is
limited. At the time you purchase your tour, prices may be higher. For
current prices, please see our website." Fares held out on the Internet
or in newspapers, or orally, however, must be current and available.

In addition, Vantage Deluxe failed properly to identify the September
11^th^ Security Fee as among the taxes and fees it omitted from the base
fare. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) promulgated a
regulation at 49 CFR Part 1510 that requires all direct air carriers to
identify the security service fees set by the regulation as the
"September 11^th^ Security Fee" in advertisements and solicitations for
air transportation. The Enforcement Office considers the failure of an
airline or its agent to identify the September 11^th^ Security Fee as
required by section 1510.7, or state the amount of the fee, to be an
unfair and deceptive trade practice in violation of 49 U.S.C. §41712.

In mitigation and explanation, Vantage Deluxe states that it has always
strived to conduct its business in strict compliance with all applicable
rules and regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportation and those
of other relevant government agencies, both state and federal. When
Vantage Deluxe learned of the Enforcement Office's concerns about its
advertising, the company declares that it acted promptly to revise and
update its web site,
[www.vantagetravel.com](http://www.vantagetravel.com/), to include all
airline fuel surcharges in its base tour prices and to highlight and
detail the taxes and other fees that are not required by the Department
to be included in the base tour prices. With respect to the latter
issue, Vantage Deluxe states that it has included on the "sell" page,
immediately after the base tour price, a hyperlink entitled "(*plus
government taxes and fees*)" that takes the customer to a web page that
details the amount and type of government taxes and fees. The company
adds that its web site also contains in large bold-faced print the
statement that "**Prices now include fuel surcharges!"** Vantage Deluxe
points out that the reservations page provides an additional opportunity
for the customer to obtain a detailed statement of the applicable
government taxes and fees, as well the applicable port charges.

Vantage Deluxe also notes that starting in April 2006, it effected a
policy of reimbursing any fuel surcharge that was the subject of a
customer complaint. These reimbursements have amounted to \$39,750 for
2006 departures and \$33,938 for 2007 departures, a total of \$73,688.
In addition, the firm explains that it made other reimbursements in the
form of travel certificates and accommodations as good will gestures.
Moreover, Vantage Deluxe instituted and maintains a policy under which
once a customer pays the initial deposit, the cost of the trip is
guaranteed.

In addition, Vantage Deluxe states that it has prepared new training
materials that enable its Telesales and Customer Service departments to
explain fully to the customer the differences between the base tour
prices on the updated web site and those stated in the firm's catalogs.
The company further avers that supervisors, directors and agents of the
Telesales and Customer Service departments have received training
covering the reasons for the changes, the issues involved, directions as
to how prices are to be quoted in the future, and the components of the
revised script. To ensure that all customers' questions regarding the
changes are addressed effectively, the company states that supervisors
and directors, along with the company's corporate trainer, will brief
new agents and will oversee the monitoring of telephone calls with
customers.

Vantage Deluxe reports that beginning with 2008 trips, the firm will be
utilizing a new invoicing system that permits a breakdown of all
government fees and taxes and the inclusion of fuel surcharges in the
base tour prices. Vantage Deluxe also recounts that its revised catalogs
now indicate that the base tour prices are valid as of the date of
publication, and current prices can be found on its web site. The
company declares that it has made these changes as quickly as feasible
to reach the largest number of members of the public.

The Enforcement Office has carefully considered all of the information
available to it, including that provided by Vantage Deluxe, but
continues to believe that enforcement action is warranted. In this
connection and in order to avoid litigation, the Enforcement Office and
Vantage Deluxe have reached a settlement in this matter. While neither
admitting nor denying the above allegations, Vantage Deluxe accepts the
findings and conclusions stated herein in order to avoid potential
litigation. Under this order, Vantage Deluxe is assessed \$65,000 in
compromise of potential penalties otherwise assessable under the
provisions of 49 U.S.C. § 46301. Of this penalty amount, \$32,500 shall
be due and payable within 15 days of the date of issuance of this order.
The remaining \$32,5000 shall be suspended for one year from the date of
issuance of this order, and then forgiven unless Vantage Deluxe violates
this order's cease and desist provisions or otherwise fails to comply
with the order's provisions, in which case the unpaid portion of the
penalty shall become due and payable immediately. The Enforcement Office
believes that the assessment of a civil penalty of \$65,000 is
appropriate in light of the nature and extent of the violations in
question and will provide an effective deterrent to unlawful conduct in
the future by Vantage Deluxe and other sellers of air transportation.

This order is issued under the authority contained in 49 CFR 1.57a and
14 CFR 385.15.

**ACCORDINGLY,**

> 1\. Based on the above discussion, we approve this settlement and the
> provisions of this order as being in the public interest;
>
> 2\. We find that Vantage Travel Service, Inc., d/b/a Vantage Deluxe
> World Travel violated 14 CFR 399.84, as described above, by causing to
> be published advertisements that failed to state the entire price to
> be paid by the passenger to the firm for certain air transportation;
>
> 3\. We find that by engaging in the conduct described in paragraph 2,
> above, Vantage Travel Service, Inc., d/b/a Vantage Deluxe World Travel
> engaged in an unfair and deceptive practice and an unfair method of
> competition in violation of 49 U.S.C. § 41712;
>
> 4\. Vantage Travel Service, Inc., d/b/a Vantage Deluxe World Travel
> and all other entities owned and controlled by, or under common
> ownership and control with Vantage Travel Service, Inc., d/b/a Vantage
> Deluxe World Travel and their successors and assignees, are ordered to
> cease and desist from future violations of 14 CFR 399.84 and 49 U.S.C.
> § 41712;
>
> 5\. We order Vantage Travel Service, Inc., d/b/a Vantage Deluxe World
> Travel to submit to the Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings
> copies of (a) all advertisements of air tours it plans to publish in
> printed format or circulate as current during the last 60 days of the
> one-year period following the issuance of this order; and (b)
> printouts of screen displays advertising air tour prices on its
> internet site for the 15^th^ day of each month during the first ten
> months of the one year period following issuance of this order. This
> material shall be submitted no later than 45 days prior to the
> conclusion of the referenced one-year period;

6\. Vantage Travel Service, Inc., d/b/a Vantage Deluxe World Travel is
assessed \$65,000 in compromise of civil penalties that might otherwise
be assessed for the violations found in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this
order. Of this penalty amount, \$32,500 shall be due and payable within
15 days of the date of issuance of this order. The remaining \$32,500
shall be suspended for one year from the date of issuance of this order,
and then forgiven unless Vantage Travel Service, Inc., d/b/a Vantage
Deluxe World Travel violates this order's cease and desist provisions or
otherwise fails to comply with the order's provisions, in which case the
unpaid portion of the penalty shall become due and payable immediately.
Failure to pay the compromise assessment as ordered will subject Vantage
Travel Service, Inc., d/b/a Vantage Deluxe World Travel to the
assessment of interest, penalty, and collection charges under the Debt
Collection Act, and possible enforcement action for failure to comply
with this order; and

> 7\. Payment shall be made by wire transfer through the Federal Reserve
> Communications System, commonly known as "Fed Wire," to the account of
> the U.S. Treasury. The wire transfer shall be executed in accordance
> with the instructions contained in the Attachment to this order.

This order will become a final order of the Department 10 days after its
service unless a timely petition for review is filed or the Department
takes review on its own motion.

**BY:**

ROSALIND A. KNAPP

Deputy General Counsel

**(SEAL)**

An electronic version of this document is available

on the World Wide Web at

http://dms.dot.gov/reports/reports_aviation.asp

[^1]: See, e.g*.*, Order 97-11-14.

[^2]: These omissions are critical because certain web pages listed the
    advertised air price as "Free."