Federal Trade Commission ! Bureau of Consumer Protection ! Office of Consumer and Business Education

FTC Consumer Alert

Produced by the Federal Trade Commission and the American Society of Travel Agents.

Avoid a School Break Bust

Washington, D.C. ó Planning a school break trip? A sunny beach? A foreign country? Skiing? If

youíre using a special tour package, you may think everythingís taken care of. How sure are you?

Before you show up at the airport with your boogie board, passport, or skis, review the tour

package carefully and investigate the operator. Lots of students donít get the trip they expect; others

lose out completely. They didnít take the time to carefully read the fine print, evaluate the promotion

and make sure itís not run by a fly-by-night company peddling a first-class scam.

Flights for many school break trips are by public charter, which have different rules than

commercial flights. Before you dot the ìiîs and cross the ìtîs on your contract, do some homework

and take a good look at the package. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the American Society

of Travel Agents (ASTA) offer the following tips and information to help you avoid a school break

bust.

ï Check out the operator. Avoid high-pressure sales pitches for a school break package. Ask the

operator to send you information about the business, and the names of satisfied customers. Ask

friends who have used the operator about their experience. Check with local travel agents to see

if they know if the operator is legitimate, or call ASTAís Consumer Affairs Department (703-

739-8739).

ï If the trip involves a charter flight, call the Department of Transportation (DOT) Public Charter

Licensing Division (202-366-2396) to make sure the charter operator has properly filed to operate

charter flights from your departure city to your destination. Charter packages cannot be sold until

the charter filing is approved by the DOT.

ï Read the fine print. Get a copy of the operator/participant contract. This will tell you the conditions

under which the operator can change flight schedules (usually charters can be canceled for any

reason by the operator up until 10 days before the trip), hotel accommodations (operators may put

you up in an alternate hotel listed in the operator contract that is not as nice as the hotel advertised

in the package materials), and the rules and penalties for cancellation. Ask about cancellation

insurance. Rules state that an operator cannot ask for or accept your payment until you have signed

and returned the contract.

ï Understand your rights. According to DOT rules, you have a right to cancel a charter package

without penalty if the operator makes a ìmajor change.î Major changes include a change of departure or return date or city, a hotel substitution to a property not named in the charter operator/

participant contract, or a package price increase of more than 10 percent.
ï Pay by credit card. It gives you more protection than cash or a check. If you pay by check for a

charter package, make sure it is payable to an escrow account (as required by federal law for

charters) and call the bank handling the escrow account to verify its validity. Be wary of charter

operators who are reluctant to provide escrow bank information ó they may be selling another

firmís space ó or who tell you theyíll send a courier to pick up your money.

ï Expect flight delays. Theyíre common on charter flights. DOT rules allow for a charter flight to be

delayed up to 48 hours if mechanical difficulties occur. And the operator is not obligated to provide

alternate transportation or compensate you for your expenses if such a delay occurs. Check the

contract to see if the operator will cover any costs (lodging, car rental, etc.) associated with flight

delays not related to mechanical difficulties.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in

the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a

complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-

FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity

theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to

hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

July 1999

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION FOR THE CONSUMER

WWW.FTC.GOV TOLL-FREE 1-877-FTC-HELP