Co - Wednesday, January 11, 1984 - North Shore News

Reimbursing jilted travellers

When companies go belly-up

travel-wise

HOW MUCH protection does the traveller have
should the tour company he has booked with go
belly-up& I recently asked a few questions of Brian
Pike, first vice-president of A.C.T.A. (Alliance of
Canadian Travel Associates), who reassured me
but gave me some cautions to pass along.

First of all, only three pro-
vinces have legislation and
travel funds to re-imburse the
jilted traveller - British Col-
umbia, Ontario and Quebec.
These programs are broadly
similar. To qualify, the
traveller must reside in the
province and book his travel
through a local agent or firm.
That means if I book a holi-
day for myself. and my
mother who resides in Alber-
ta, 1 will be covered while she
will not be. Secondly, if 1
should book my tour using a
Seattle firm I'll be out of tuck
should anything go wrong.
That’s another good argu-
ment against trying to save

money by using American
suppliers.

One loophole in the legisla-
tion is that there is no indica-
tion of degree of protection
for the stranded traveller. So
far, this has created no pro-
blems but you can see how it
might, especially if there
should be an unprecedented
draw on the insurance funds.
These funds are_ replaced
yearly on a percentage basis
from all agents. A number of
large companies went into
receivership in 1983 but with
the majority of the claims
paid there was still over
$100,000 in the fund.

Should you be unfortunate

by Barbara McCreadie

enough to book with a firm
that folds, you may apply on
your own to the Registrar of
Travel (Department of Con-
sumer Affairs) or have your
agent apply on your behalf.
It may be advantageous to
have your agent do the apply-
ing as many agencies will re-
imburse you immediately,
covering the funds them-
selves until the claim is paid.
‘The time you use your
head is before you pay. If a
tour sounds too cheap to
believe, don’t believe it. To
stay in business, they’ve got
to make a profit. Some
travellers get lucky - the com-
pany continues to operate in
the red and they get their
bargain. Next week, hun-
dreds of others lose money.
Even if -you get your
money back immediately it’s
often too late to make alter-
Nate arrangements. This is
particularly true with

seasonal bookings - Hawaii
for Christmas, Disneyland at
Spring break and mid-
summer Alaska cruises.
Worse, you may not be able
to afford the price charged by
a more reliable company.

Your own trip cancellation
insurance doesn’t do you any
good in cases where the com-
pany is at fault.

Remember, an experienced
travel agent knows what
companies are verging on
failure. Gossip abounds in
the industry and your agent
should say to you, ‘‘Yes, |
know that Fly-By-Night
Tours is offering Mexico for
$300 less than Reliability
Tours. But I urge you to pay
the extra.’” It is not that he is
trying to make more commis-
sion - he’s trying to save his
reputation. It isn’t ethical for
him to say, ‘‘Look, F-B-N
has the Receiver five paces
from the door.’’ Also,
rumours can ground an
airline or company before the
last, heroic moves can be
made to save it.

ee ee 86 4 8
I don’t know if I’m ready
for this but my _ middle

daughter (grade I1) just
brought up the idea that she
and several of her friends are
planning a trip to Hawaii
right after high school
graduation next year. Now,
isn’t that enough to make a
mother’s blood run cold?
Well, I hate to be a wet-
blanket but I don’t like the
idea at all. First of all, some

eighteen year old kids have ©

the maturity and the ex-
perience to handle a big trip

by themselves. Others
haven’t. The larger the
group, the greater the

chances for some kid who
can’t deal with freedom to
get the rest into some sort of
trouble. At 18, no matter
how mature, a kid is still
vulnerable to peer pressure.

‘*‘Come on, Lisa! Don’t be~

yellow. Try some of this
Kona Gold.’’ Or Moosehead
beer. Or Mai Tai cocktails.
Next thing you know the
police are calling you collect
to retrieve your kid from the
local pokey.

Hawai isn’t the safest
place in the world. I’m not
sure where the safest place is -
certainly not Canada - but a
group of pretty eighteen year

old girls without protection is
asking for every hoodlum
and creep in the area to move
in. As tourists, they don’t
have the protection of
familiar laws and family to
provide immediate help in
emergencies.

Money, too, is a problem.
These kids don’t have the
loose change to go first class.
Consequently, they’ll find
themselves in cheap areas
where more trouble can be
expected. To save money,
they’re apt to try hitchhiking
even if they’d never dream of
it here. There’s something
about a vacation that gives
people an illusion of safety.

1 know kids everywhere
who’ll be screaming that I’ve
*‘let them down’’ but | hope
parents will consider care-
fully before permitting their
kids this kind of trouble.

‘And, parents will probably

scream when I say that I’d
rather see my daughter go to
Hawaii with a_ boyfriend,
alone, than with a group of
five or six young girls. Now
that I’ve got half the popula-
tion angry, I'll quit for the
day.

Larsen honored for 20-year relationship

FROM PAGE C1

many months locked in the
dark, frozen sea, the ship
eventually arrived at the
eastern seaport in the fall of
1942 — a voyage which took
nearly 28 months and marked
the first time a ship had
travelled that route.

Two years later, Larsen
and his ship once again made
history on the St. Roch’s
return journey. Completing
the 11,700 kilometre trip in
only 86 days through the
deep waters of the Arctic ar-
chipelago, at was the first
vessel to complete the
Passage in a single season, as
well as being the first to
travel both the deep water
route and the Northwest
Passage in both directions

Larsen, who remained with
the ship over a span of 20
years, was showered with
honors, and distinctions for
Tis role in the epic journeys,
as was the St Roch, which

with Buttechetd & Matos

was placed in dry dock in
1954 at the Vancouver
Maritime Museum.

Although a memorial ex-
ists in Ottawa in tribute of
Larsen, who died in 1964, the
Kiwanis club is anxious to
highlight the connection bet-
ween the Burrard dry dock
where the St. Roch was built
and Western Canada’s most
famous explorer.

Earnshaw said a sculptor
has not yet been chosen for
the project, but added that
the club anticipates the statue
to be similar to a small statue
of the veteran skipper created
by the late sculptor Sidney
March

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926-4344 or 926-8616

on visit oue office
Kapitan 100 Bustding Park Royal

Anyone wishing to make
donations to the historical
project can mail their con-
tributions to the Henry

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Club, 170 West 2nd Ave.,
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