Additional Information for Your Travel Connection

The following comments provide general information for consumers, and do not necessarily reflect the practices or record of any particular company.

Billions of dollars annually are spent on travel. Good planning is a major factor in making vacation travel a delight.

If you choose to use a travel agent, ask friends and business associates for a referral. The travel agent will need to know your travel budget and special interests.

Travel agents offer many services including arranging reservations for air, sea, bus and rail travel, cruises and car rentals here and abroad. They may provide information on travel and luggage insurance, visas, passports, inoculations, traveler's checks, currency exchange, weather. A travel agent can prepare your itinerary and arrange for package tours and for personally escorted tours or group tours.

Travel agents are compensated from commissions earned from carriers, tour operators, and hotels. Services are provided at no charge to the customer. You may have to pay for any special or unusual services you request, however, you have every right to assume that the tour and its accommodations will be exactly as they were represented-the oceanfront hotel will be on the beach not a mile away, the charges you pay will match the charges you expected, and that your charter flight will get off the ground at the promised time of departure (barring, of course, impossible flying weather, mechanical difficulties or airport strikes).

Also, consider the line that generally appears (in small print) in many tour brochures: "We reserve the right to change accommodations without prior notice ". No one should mind changing accommodations if the facilities are at least equal to those originally contracted for.

Contact your Better Business Bureau for a reliablitiy report on the travel company before making your purchase.

These are some helpful tips from your Better Business Bureau.