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YOU may not have the urge to travel and explore the world and prefer to see the world through travel shows on television. But travel agencies will have none of it. And they are weaving dreams of exotic holiday locations and packages to coincide with your children’s summer vacation. From your passport and visas to hotel bookings and local transport, they promise to take care of everything. For those who are loathe to try different cuisines, they even promise the desi roti and dal. All you need to do is to shell out the money. Or if you don’t have it, they even offer ‘travel now and pay later’ schemes. Travel by all means and enjoy a good holiday but you need to exercise some caution. First and foremost, choose the travel agency carefully. If you have any friends or relatives who have hired the services of an agency, check with them about their experiences. Then call up the different agencies and check out their offers. Ask for the name and designation of the person you are talking to and write it down. Many times you may not see in print the promises that are made verbally on the telephone. Write down the details and compare the services and the prices. After hiring the services of a travel agent, whether for a package tour abroad or for hotel and airline bookings, be sure to work out every detail and put down everything in writing. Get the travel agency to be specific about all details — the airline, the travel class, accommodation (including the bathroom), travel from the airport to the hotel, food, and sightseeing offers. On foreign trips, tickets for boat rides, art galleries, visiting historic places, are expensive. Check out if you have to pay for them or will the travel agency meet those expenses. Do not go by verbal assurances and check out the entire cost, including the service tax. Another factor to be considered is the terms and conditions that the travel agency might want you to sign. Read it carefully. Is it fair to you? What happens if the travel agency fails to stick to the promised itinerary? You must also check the refund rules if in case of an unforeseen circumstance you are forced to cancel or postpone the trip. Even when the travel agency gives you your ticket and passport with the relevant visas stamped, check them out carefully. There have been cases of travel agents forgetting to secure transit visas for countries that you are passing through. There have been instances where the passengers have missed their scheduled flights only because the travel agent gave them the wrong departure time. There have also been cases of passengers being stranded in foreign countries, thanks to the mistake in ticketing committed by the travel agent. There are also complaints of travel agents showing wait-listed tickets as confirmed, resulting in considerable harassment to the passenger. Countries in the European Union have specific laws to protect travellers from negligent service providers and unfair terms in contracts. The travel industry itself provides an independent ombudsman to redress tourist complaints quickly. It’s time the travel industry in India too came up with such measures. We also need to have a specific law to protect consumers from unfair terms in contracts. The Consumer Protection
Act of 1986 upholds the rights of consumers vis-`E0-vis travel and tour
industry. So make your enquiries, choose the best deal and have a great
holiday. If something were to go wrong despite that, you have the
consumer court to fall back on. |
