Choose Tour Operators With Lots of Caution

Choosing a good tour operator can be difficult, and the bankruptcies of several of them have made consumers and travel agents even more wary.

Even the fact that a company has been in business a long time is no guarantee of reliability.

“Consumers often don’t know who their money is going to, and how it is protected, if at all,” said Larry Pimental, president of San Jose-based Classic Hawaii. “Sometimes travel agents don’t know, either.”

Pimental suggests that consumers ask travel agents how familiar they are with tour operators suggested for trips, and a similar suggestion came from Albert Schmid, president of Far West Travel Corp. in Marina del Rey.

“Ask your travel agent to do some homework,” Schmid said, adding, however, that “there’s no guarantee. The ultimate responsibility is with the consumer.”

Consumers also can check a tour operator’s reputation with airlines and hotel chains with which the operator has done business. The names of these companies often are printed in the tour operator’s promotional brochure.

One good form of protection is to pay by credit card, if possible. Not all tours can be paid for by credit card.

“This way, you can ask the credit card company to void the sale if a service is not rendered,” Pimental said.

Assessing bargains also can pose problems, especially since many tour operators advertise packages using only their lowest prices.

“Lead prices mean limited choices,” Pimental said.

For example, reduced prices may mean the consumer gets a less convenient flight assignment or less time at his destination.

Tour operators, travel agents say, might provide the most convenient flight times to passengers who buy the more expensive packages.

It’s possible, for example, to be assigned an overnight flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu and an early morning return flight, rather than a morning departure and an afternoon or evening return. Arriving before the typical noon check in time in Honolulu can mean waiting for a hotel room. There’s also the possibility of lost sleep from a red-eye flight.

Because the number of days you pay for is based on the number of nights you spend, you may find that a seven-day, six-night package affords more vacation time than a six-day, six-night package.

Suppose you leave LAX at 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. instead of 9 a.m. The better part of a day is lost in Hawaii even though that day is legitimately considered a day of the tour.

Another thing to consider is when you get the flight assignment:

Is it after full payment or after a deposit is made? Does it depend on what type of tour you book?

Waiting until close to the departure date to find out when flight times are means that you will probably have entered the cancellation-penalty period. Thus, you can lose a substantial part of your money if you change your plans.

To protect yourself, ask your travel agent or the tour operator precisely when you will get your flight assignment. Will it be at the time of booking, payment of deposit or payment in full? Will you know in advance that you have entered the cancellation penalty period? Travel agents should be able to advise you.

“Agents should know or be able to find out the tour operator’s policy and advise their clients accordingly,” said Martha Scott, general manager of Glendale Travel.

Also, agents and tour operators should be able to tell the traveler approximately what his hotel room will be like.

Hotels used in lead-price packages may well be a bit removed from beaches and other alluring places pictured in ads.

Consumers should also ask what “all-inclusive” really includes. Some packages may be more inclusive than others.

For example, assuming that the package includes round-trip air fare, accommodations and all meals, does it also offer airport-hotel transfers and the use of hotel amenities such as golf, tennis and aquatic facilities?

Are all taxes and service charges included? Some all-inclusive packages include drinks, others don’t. Discovering the variations before booking can help avoid disappointment.

Modular packages, in which travelers buy two or three nights with maybe half a day of sightseeing, is a growing trend.

“These are mini-packages, which allow people to custom-make their own vacations,” Pimental said. “You can add extra nights at prices that are generally more than the cost of your room for the length of the package, but you still pay less than what you would ordinarily pay.” However, you may be charged for services in these packages, even if you don’t want them. Make sure that such a package fits your needs.

Yet “the general rule is that if you prepay for arrangements, you pay less,” Pimental said.

And find out if the company belongs to the United States Tour Operators Assn., which has a default protection plan.

USTOA recently raised its bond per member from $100,000 to $250,000. This is the amount that would be available as a refund to customers if a tour operator goes out of business.

Some tour operators also may belong to tour protection plans of the American Society of Travel Agents or National Tour Assn., which have $100,000 bonds for members.

And both groups have been considering raising the amount of this bond, which critics say is too low.