Laws, rules and travel agents - need help

[Shih-Tzu]

I remember reading prior to my last trip something about the difference between Canadian travel laws and US ones and that is why Canadians should deal with a Cdn travel agent rather than using a US one (and Disney falls under the category of US agent). I remember it saying something about that should a trip be interrupted/cancelled/airline going under, etc.etc that the Canadian laws/entitlements are different and if we used a US agent then we may be caught high and dry as we are Canadian citizens and the US regulations governing travel agents may not cover us because we aren't US citizens....

For the life of me, I can't find anything now (but that was this time last year I remember reading it and thinking that I had always used a TA so it didn't really matter). On some other DIS forums there are plenty of suggestions to avoid a TA and book directly with Disney, but I don't want to get caught into some type of insurance/cancellation policy problems.

Can any one remember where that was, or is there anyone that knows what the differences are.....????? (or was my arthritis medicine tricking me that day??)

I'm asking this as my TA indicated that she sometimes can't apply a PIN or discount codes to a trip that was already booked - only new bookings, so of course for a trip in December, I don't want to book now in case the 4/3 deal, free dining, 30% off or a PIN comes....on the other hand, I don't want to miss out the the resort I really want to get...POFQ.

 

[Sue M]

First I have to ask if your TA is a WDW specialized TA? You can apply upcoming discounts to a trip already booked. I have it done all the time! And if she knew about WDW booking she would know this. So, I would go with a TA who specializes in WDW. They are free of charge too, unlike some Canadian TAs who charge $50 each person for booking fees.

There are quite a few. Personally I use Ears to You, but there are many good ones. It is a US company, which brings us to your question-
I do use a U.S. based TA, I have Trip insurance/cancellation/interruption Insur. thru BCAA. I also like to book my own flights. I watch air fares closely and book when I see a good fare. I feel (IMO) I can get a better fare then a TA because I'll put in the time to wait and watch. So I just use the TA for WDW booking of package. Because I book my own flights, I would be covered if there was a problem with airline going under, etc. I think I would be covered too using Visa.
Hope this helps some.

 

[Tower]

There are quite a few. Personally I use Ears to You, but there are many good ones. It is a US company, which brings us to your question-
I do use a U.S. based TA, I have Trip insurance/cancellation/interruption Insur. thru BCAA. I also like to book my own flights. I watch air fares closely and book when I see a good fare. I feel (IMO) I can get a better fare then a TA because I'll put in the time to wait and watch. So I just use the TA for WDW booking of package. Because I book my own flights, I would be covered if there was a problem with airline going under, etc. I think I would be covered too using Visa.

We also are using a TA for our next DCL cruise. Doris from MouseEar Vacations came highly recommended from another cruiser at the time. Mind you, we also book our own flights etc for the same reasons as you.

 

[averysmom]

The only time I have ever used a TA for any of my trips, has been a US TA.
Perhaps it wasn't a TA issue, but an insurance issue you were thinking of?

My parents recently booked a flight on Delta, flying out of a US city, and they bought Delta's trip insurance. Well, when my Mom got her confirmation email, the insurance is only valid for US citizens. Could it be something like that?

 

[JumpinJ]

Ok. I know what you're talking about.. .but I also can't find any information now either! I do know that B.C. agencies have coverage if you book through them. But I do believe that there is an industry 'fund' to cover the rest of the country if you book through a Canadian company. I'm going to check a couple sources at work tomorrow and get back to you.

It sounds like you are more worried about supplier default correct? Because typically cancellation/interruption coverage does not cover this. It is seperate. If you've booked through a credit card you can always go through the 'services not rendered' department to try to recoup the funds (and this is typically what the defunct airline/tour company advises if it happens).

But if it was me, I wouldn't be too worried about Disney going out of business (which is what the info about the Canada vs. US travel agencies pertains to). I'd be more worred about cancellation/interruption coverage and you can purchase that from anywhere. But if you book through a US travel agency, just make sure their cancellation/interruption coverage is good for Canadian citizens. The travel insurance we sell through RBC is only for Canadian residents and unless you know that beforehand you'd be stuck as an American if you had purchased coverage buying directly through Westjet etc. (that sells RBC insurance)....

J

 

[JumpinJ]

Ok. Found out a bit more... it is regulated by province. In Ontario there is the Ontario's Travel Compensation Fund which covers supplier default by Ontario registered travel agencies. I was not able to find any information about NB though.

If you have any questions about cancellation/interruption/supplier default etc. send me a PM. I deal with this stuff everday and would be happy to answer any questions!

Julie

 

[Shih-Tzu]

The only time I have ever used a TA for any of my trips, has been a US TA.
Perhaps it wasn't a TA issue, but an insurance issue you were thinking of?

My parents recently booked a flight on Delta, flying out of a US city, and they bought Delta's trip insurance. Well, when my Mom got her confirmation email, the insurance is only valid for US citizens. Could it be something like that?

You could possibly be right on the money with that - but I just can't remember enough exactly to know if it was the insurance or not (must be my age

 

[tone.def]

I'm asking this as my TA indicated that she sometimes can't apply a PIN or discount codes to a trip that was already booked - only new bookings, so of course for a trip in December, I don't want to book now in case the 4/3 deal, free dining, 30% off or a PIN comes....on the other hand, I don't want to miss out the the resort I really want to get...POFQ.

Maybe she meant that sometimes you might have to re-jig your dates or the resort you're staying at, but you SHOULD be able to get a pin code applied to a package. Perhaps you don't have a Disney specialist TA?

 

[tone.def]

I remember reading prior to my last trip something about the difference between Canadian travel laws and US ones and that is why Canadians should deal with a Cdn travel agent rather than using a US one (and Disney falls under the category of US agent). I remember it saying something about that should a trip be interrupted/cancelled/airline going under, etc.etc that the Canadian laws/entitlements are different and if we used a US agent then we may be caught high and dry as we are Canadian citizens and the US regulations governing travel agents may not cover us because we aren't US citizens....

Oh - what you're thinking of varies from province to province. Seeing that you live in New Brunswick, your province does not have consumer protection laws to protect travellers, so purchasing vacation insurance is super important (and buy insurance from a Canadian company like RBC or Travel Guard because airlines and consolidator's insurance will snag you like that Delta dilemna averysmom found out about).

Ontario has TICO where if you book your vacation with a storefront Travel Agent (because all travel agents in Ontario HAVE to be licensed by TICO, otherwise they are illegal), you are protected for refunds, etc should volcanic ash cause your airline to go belly up!

 

[Shih-Tzu]

Thanks Tone.def. I knew there was something - I just wish instead of every province having something that it was just national and you knew where everything stood....(and of course travelling to a US airport to fly out probably complicates things a bit)....there's always things that could crop up - volcanic ash, storms, airport closure due to some emergency, etc....or sudden illness of one of our very elderly parents...
I remember our last trip, the company our TA dealt with was RBC insurance - we only needed to buy the cancellation/trip disruption one - we are both covered from our work health insurance while travelling in the US.
If you hear of anything else (or new) please post. Appreciate it

Perhaps the TA did mean that dates would have to be re-jigged (but of course once the airline ticket is booked, unless you pay a lot extra for the ticket, they're usually non-changeable) so probably the other people that she tried to help were caught in that delimma and couldn't budge on their dates...of course, once we book the airline and put in for vacation time, we really don't have any flexibility either

 

[minnie56]

You should purchase your vacation (any vacation) with a Canadian registered agency that belongs to TICO. The link below will answer pretty much all you need to know.
http://www.tico.ca/

It does not matter that you do not live in Ontario to be protected by the fund.

As for applying a pin...your TA can of course apply a pin to an existing booking. I do it all the time!! Perhaps they were not familiar with pins or the Disney agent wasn't...that can happen too!:confused

As for this Disney Specialist label..I have asked before what constitutes a Disney Specialist? There is only one course offered by Disney to Travel agents and many have completed that. I would prefer to think it's hands on personal experiece that makes one qualified not just the course because it's pretty simplistic in nature!

You are of course safe booking directly with Disney...as best we all can know!! But when you deal with a U.S based supplier or middle man..you take a chance that they are viable and your money makes it to where it is intended to go. TICO will not cover an incident with them if it doesn't.

 

[casper_jj11]

We book our Disney trips directly through disney and charge it to our credit card. We book our flights on our own, again using our credit card. We have cancellation insurance, trip interruption service etc. That will not cover us if the company goes belly up. It will if WE cancel the trip or if the company cancels the flights I believe. But bankrupcy of the travel company isn't covered. We're taking the chance that Disney and Air Canada won't go under. We would likely get reimbursed thru our credit card but no guarantees.

We recently took a trip to Mexico using Transat Holidays. I intentionally booked through a registered Ontario travel agency to protect us in case Transat went under. As OP mentioned, all Ontario travel agencies are registered with TICO which WILL protect you if the company goes under, either before or during your trip. You would need to check with TICO to see if its just for ONtario residents. I doubt it so if not, and if NB doesn't have a similar consumer protection agency, I would use a TICO registered travel agent if you feel you need that type of protection.

 

[minnie56]

As I mentioned previously, the fund protects those outside of Ontario as well.
See below from the TICO site...

There is no residency requirement to have an eligible claim against the Compensation Fund. No matter where a person resides, if they purchase their travel services from an Ontario registered travel retailer, they will benefit from the consumer protection provisions found under the Act and Regulation.